Thank-you for posting.
This has been a long time coming. As a full time MOT tester i'd make the following observations -
1. The basis for the recommendation about 40 years as opposed to 30 years seems to revolve around the failure rates. This was the case put when pre 1960 were removed from testing as well. Pre 1960 cars didn't fail very often - Govt assume this is because they are so well maintained. WRONG!. Younger testers unsure of the particular vehicle would give benefit of the doubt to older cars - often incorrectly = lower fail rate. Also testers tend to be more generous to older vehicles - " get it fixed before next year" kind of thing = lower fail rate. So the figures which they base the decisions on are not accurate. However-
I don't think the current MOT industry can actually cope with older cars anyway - so few testers seem to have a clue when it comes to the older stuff - not just austin 7s but Morris Minors and cars of the 1960s as well.There just isn't the pool of skilled people coming along to do it.
I'm sure they will go for option 3 - exemption rolling @ 40 years like the tax disc. Good thing? I worry that a non-tested "classic" will end up causing a road death and it could limit our right to use old cars.
I tested a 1972 landrover today. Owned by a local old chap of 70plus years who asked me to be kind to it!
Not only was the petrol tank leaking but the brakes pulled violently to the right - proper across the road stuff. He knew of this but couldn't get the drum off to fix it and assumed it would be Ok because he didn't use it much..... No MOT and he'd be using this on the public road - an accident waiting to happen. His mind set i'm afraid is all too common.
As an aside - although we voted to leave the EU we are still full members and our govt will continue to fully implement eu laws. Democracy? The same people in suits are likely to allow that old landrover free reign to put others lives at risk.
Rant over.
