Consultations CTSI HAS ITS SAY Some of the institutes contributions to government policy debate Extending the date of the first MOT from three to four years Extending the date of the first MOT from three to four years Department for Transport, March 2017 Rather than move the date of a vehicles first MOT from three to four years, CTSI proposes reducing the time to the first test to two years. With the increase in potential clocking of personal contract purchase (PCP) vehicles, extending the first MOT by a year would mean another 2.2 million vehicles not having their mileages logged. As 86 per cent of new car sales are made via PCP, and 2.63 million cars were sold in 2015, this represents a major gap in tracing vehicle-mileage histories. At the three-year period alone, the change could enable 400,000 unroadworthy cars to remain on the road for another 12 months, as 20per cent of vehicles fail their first MOT. This current high initial MOT failure level is a real concern to CTSI; so is the potential increase in the car-clocking window, based upon extrapolation of current figures, as owners of PCP cars seek to have their odometer illegally reduced to avoid mileage penalties. With fewer and fewer consumers carrying out even basic tests suchas checking that their lights work and their tyres are legal the three-year MOT is a belated backup for these shortcomings. Any extension of it could mean more traffic accidents. Although build quality is probably better than ever, the condition of Britains roads, combined with high mileages, mean that modern cars should be checked more not less often. The consultation claims the extension to four years would introduce an annual consumer saving of more than 100m but with more than 29million MOTs carried out at 22,000-plus garages, these businesses would incur a loss of income every year from any reduction in test numbers. The proposal could also cost consumers more in repairs, as faults will develop, causing additional expense. Joint lead officers: Tim Milsom and Gerald Taylor For more details and to contribute to consultations such as these, visit www.tradingstandards.uk Credits Images: iStock.com/nd3000 To share this page, in the toolbar click on You might also like CTSI has its say April 2017