Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

Peter_L · Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2016 1:01 pm Post subject:

Maybe the big difference, is I get my tax in 30seconds. If the vehicle is 1 or 100 years old the process is the same and if I am not using it I don't pay, or I can change the plates to another vehicle (summer cars are popular) and enter the new info.

I can remember standing in line at the Barnsley Town Hall (1960's) for what seemed hours, for my new perforated round tax disc. Why was it round when rectangular or square was easier to produce. ? We don't have ANPR in this corner of nowhere. But now the RCMP have acquired new high tec equipment that allows them to draw a picture of the offending vehicle, next year they hope to bring in coloured pencils. Wink

Riley Blue · Joined: 18 Jun 2008 Posts: 1751 Location: Derbyshire

It's not so bad in the UK these days Peter, I can pay VED or declare a car SORN (Statutory Off Road Notice) on line but best of all, for my four cars, one of which is a 4.2 litre V8, I pay just £325 a year VED and can drive them all the year round - I'm not complaining Very Happy

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David

1963 Riley 1.5
1965 Riley 1.5

petermeachem · Joined: 23 Sep 2013 Posts: 358 Location: Chichester Sussex

'in fact so easy there is no way the British bureaucracy system could ever adopt it.'

When did you leave here? All online, same as you except we don't get a sticker.
I think ANPR is used to check whether cars have insurance, I'm pretty sure I saw a programme about this a while back. It is dead easy, get the registration off the ANPR and look up the insurance status in the MID database. I expect the dvla have a link to their database too.

Peter_L · Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2016 4:10 pm Post subject:

alastairq · Joined: 14 Oct 2016 Posts: 2126 Location: East Yorkshire

Minxy · Joined: 22 Sep 2010 Posts: 273 Location: West Northants

petermeachem · Joined: 23 Sep 2013 Posts: 358 Location: Chichester Sussex

Riley Blue · Joined: 18 Jun 2008 Posts: 1751 Location: Derbyshire

alastairq · Joined: 14 Oct 2016 Posts: 2126 Location: East Yorkshire

Whilst on the topic of tax [VED]....I would happily recommend still visiting one's sub-Post Office for the annual event.

Whilst all may be peace and calm at DVLA now......not so very long ago, there was much frantic paddling, IT-wise, down in Swansea.

For, over the past couple of years, they have changed [I hesitate to call it an upgrade...this is a Government-sponsored IT contract, after all]...their computing systems.

As usual, in government departments and agencies, this leads to quite frequent loss of data [including, in my case some time ago, all my staff records!!].....or a refusal of the system to recognize what was normal.

After a calm 12 month period, I found myself quiet able to 'tax' my '51 Dellow online.....everything accepted....though no money changed hands.
[Especially accepted it was exempt from MoT]

The following year, I tried the same thing, online.
Only this time, the system [now 'upgraded]...refused to recognize the MoT exemption......[it apparently did this for all vehicles!]

One phone call to DVLA later, to be told, the system, which cost the tax payer millions of quids, was a bit of old junk really!

The suggestion was [wonder what happened when the recorded conversation was listened to?}, if possible, for me to download teh relevant exemption form, tick the bottom box, sign it...then take the VED form, insurance, and the exemption certificate, to my local village Post Office....where it would be dealt with by a real human being [how did he know?}

The nub being....the sub post office would be happy to do the admin work...a quick glance at the relevant form was all it took....no money changed hands...yet the village Postmistress was then able to charge DVLA for the privilege of doing their admin work, with DVLA getting zilch in return!

This seemed to appeal to the DVLA guy too.....meaning DVLA would have to stump up all these admin fees, for zero return,which might just encourage someone up top to get off their backsides and do something positive with the system?

Now, many local old vehicle enthusiasts do this, simply to burger up the system!

As for getting my car MoT'd, simply for the qudos of it?

My 'examiner' suggested not doing so....far as things stand, my car is not ''on the system''........if it were MoT'd, then it would go onto the system, and the system is far from fallible!

It's really all about keeping a low profile these days?

MikeEdwards · Joined: 25 May 2011 Posts: 2722 Location: South Cheshire

JohnDale · Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2016 12:12 pm Post subject:

It appears that no-one checks the MOT info anyway. I recently did an MOT history check on my Corsair as I don't have the actual certificate(although vehicle check could tell me it was MOTd & the expiry date. Anyhoo, the first record on the supplied list was for an MOT on 20th Jan 2016 - expiry 19th Jan 2017, result - pass. The next little gem was for an MOT on the 20th Jan 2016 - result FAIL - loose front suspension lower ball joint bolts(which were still loose after me driving 430 miles home although the lock tabs were over) The mileage for both tests was identical? I had noticed in the history file that at one time the registered keeper was the MOT tester. Now surely no on thinks the MOT was just a paper exercise???? Cheers,JD.
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1958 Ford Zephyr Mk2 Convertible
1976 Ford Granada Ghia.

alanb · Joined: 10 Sep 2012 Posts: 517 Location: Berkshire.

I understand from my son who is a qualified mot tester that a car can be unsafe to drive yet still pass an MOT, or fail the MOT and be perfectly safe to drive?
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old tourer

Morris 8 two seater

alastairq · Joined: 14 Oct 2016 Posts: 2126 Location: East Yorkshire

Must surely depend on how one defines 'safe?'

On a nice dry day, a bald tyre probably won't cause any driving issues....for example?

Much of this 'safety' issue is subjective.

That will very much depend on the driver, their levels of awareness, and understanding of the potential effects any mechanical issues may display?

Another example...the ABS warning light? If the light is lit, one assumes the ABS system has 'failed' in some way...in any event, an MoT pass would be hard to achieve without work.

But, does the ABS failure, in itself, mean the brakes don't actually work?
No! Of course not.
Where any perceived 'safety' issues rear their ugly heads will be, if a driver fails to adjust & adapt their driving style to allow for a lack of ABS.

So, [IMHO] where a vehicle is deemed to be in an 'unsafe' condition, makes the assumption that any ol' tom, dick or harriet is going to leap in behind the wheel, and drive off without a care.

Instead of one particularly skilled, fully aware driver who will always arrive at their destination having done their utmost to reduce the risk levels to other road users.

{Note, I didn't post...''arrived without harm''....for that can be, and too often is, achieved more by luck & circumstance, than by any courses of action taken by an individual driver....but that's just my jaundiced view.

Sorry....I'm retired from all that stuff now.