Drivers back two-year MOT plans, report suggests

69 per cent of used car buyers think their car would remain safe

Drivers back two-year MOT plans, report suggests
Image: Bigstock.

More than eight out of 10 (84 per cent) used car buyers would back government proposal to switch to a two-year MOT interval.

The new monthly Startline Used Car Tracker shows that 69 per cent of used car buyers believe their car would remain safe despite the longer gap between testing.

Of the 16 per cent of people who don’t agree with lengthening the test, half cited concern about the safety of other cars and 27 per cent about the safety of their own.

Over a fifth (23 per cent) don’t believe longer gaps between tests would save money.

Related: DVSA emails testing stations amid fears over a new two-year MOT schedule

Paul Burgess, CEO at Startline Motor Finance, said: “This is a widely reported idea that was apparently floated by the cabinet as a potential way of helping people save money during the cost of living crisis but was widely criticised by the motor industry on safety grounds.

“Certainly, any MOT tester could tell you horror stories about the cars that they see every day under the current one year system and before any move was made by the Government towards longer testing, we’d like to see widespread consultation.”

The DVSA recently emailed MOT testing stations about what it described as “potential changes to MOT requirements”.

In an attempt to reassure workshops, the agency said a public consultation would need to be held before new legislation would be introduced.

10 Comments

  1. All you have to do is consider how many owners bother to have advisory items attended to, the answer of course is virtually none!
    Then think that those advisories are going to be ignored for two years rather than one.

    Reply
  2. Drivers would think that their cars would be safe. But fail rates say different.

    Reply
  3. A stitch in time saves nine and you can be penny wise and pound foolish are just to old adages that ring true today.

    Reply
  4. It’s not the general public that should have a say here
    The mot is to do with road safety
    Don’t ask the public about gas and electric safety do we

    Reply
  5. In a world that is driven by health an safety all I can say is this makes no sense. Should an INCIDENT occur resulting in injury or loss of life within a workplace or public area surely the proses is the find out how this happed and whether it could have been avoided, and my point being why make a safe working system less safe?
    If this legislation comes into affect The government should be held accountable for every life lost.

    Reply
  6. I think it’s a ridiculous idea. As a manager of a well run Mot centre I see daily the lengths people go to to save a pound or two against safety. When they see advisories they just simply say “ok but it past though yeah, and it’s safe until next year”.
    Basically people are not educated enough in this country on road safety, most car owners don’t even know how to check oil,water and tyre pressures.

    Reply
  7. best way to stop this is if we get the idiots who think it is a good idea to work in an mot station for a week they would then see what lengths the public go to avoid paying to make there car safe

    Reply
  8. Hopefully, the insurance industry will step in and make it a mandatory requirement for an insured vehicle to have an annual MOT – Asking the motorist what they think shouldn’t even be on the consideration list, it is like giving the convicted criminal a choice on the outcome of a trial!

    Reply
  9. 2 year road tax would help as well

    Reply
  10. Im a landlord and I would back 2 year gas safety checks so what if a few tenants die
    The problem is the government accept road deaths 1000s a year
    and let unsafe cars kill pedestrians
    One tenant dies from a faulty boiler and your in jail

    Reply

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