Jaguar World – July 2019

July 201 9\JaguarWorld|2 3

haveanyissuesthatwouldfailtheMOTtest?Well,no.Becauseeven

ourownJimPatten,whometiculouslymaintainsandcheckshis

ownE-typeOTSrecentlydroveittohislocalMOTtestingstationto

discoverthatoneofthesuspensionball-jointshadasmallamountof

play,eventhoughitwasarelativelynewcomponent.

So,theargumentsforavoidingtheMOTandtakingupexemption

don’tseemtomakesense,buttherearetwoissuesthatsupportit

andmayleadpeopletodoso.Thefirstconcernsobsoleteparts.If,

forexample,youdiscoverexcessiveplayinasteeringcolumn,the

sensiblesolutionwouldbetofitanewsteeringcolumnbush.But

whatifthebushisnolongeravailable?On

avehicleeligibleforMOTexemption,it’sall

tootemptingtoavoidthehassle,especially

ifyouthinkit’snorisktothesteering.The

samedilemmaappliestolow-riskaspects,

suchasaweakhandbrakethat’srarelyused,

especiallyifthebrakesareingoodworking

orderandthefootbrakeprovidessufficient

brakingefforttopasstheMOTtest.

Thesecondargumenttowardsexemption

concernstheMOTrules.Iftheemissions

becomestricter,the braketest values

change,orsomethingelseisintroducedthat

wouldmakeitharderfora40-plus-year-old

cartopass,surelythiswillforceownerstolooktoexemption?And

itcouldhappentoclassiccarsbecauseithasalreadyhappenedto

modernvehicles;lastyear,theemissionslimitforaturbodieselvehicle

registeredbefore 2008 wascutbyathirdinsomecases.Atpresent,

it’sperhapstooearlytoseethefullaffectofthis,butitmayillustrate

thefutureofclassiccarsthatwishtoremainMOTtestedandavoid

thetemptationofexemption.Eventhoughvehiclesthatareclassedas

exemptcanstillundergoanMOTtest,itwon’tbereassuringifthey

cannotpassduetostricterlimitsandobsoletecomponents.RH

MOTexemption

WHENTHErolling40-yearexemptionfromthe
annualMOTtestcameintoforcefromMay20last
year,Iinitiallyhadmixedopinions.Afterall,MOT
exemptionforvehiclesregisteredbefore1 96 0had
alreadybeenintroducedanddidn’tseemtobecreating
toomuchchaos,buttheseyoungervehiclesarepotentiallymore
affordableanduseable.
TherevisedMOTexemptionappliestoavehiclethatwasfirst
registeredmorethan 40 yearsago.Thatmeansthatin 2020 cars
firstregisteredin 1979 willbeeligibleforexemptionfromthe
MOTtest.Therearenumerousexclusions,
basedonmodifications,orwhattheDriver
andVehicleStandardsAgencycallsubstantial
changes,butwhenitcomestoaSeventies
JaguarXJ6orXJ-S,themajorityofthese
carsarestandardspecificationand,therefore,
eligibleforexemption.Andwhenitcomes
toJaguarsandtheirreputationforcorrosion
andwornsuspensioncomponents,wouldyou
trustdrivingonethathasn’tbeenMOT-tested
forseveralyears?
AccordingtothemanyindependentJaguar
specialistsandgeneralmechanicsIspeakto,
thesensibleapproachtoMOTexemptionisto
avoidthetemptation.Theirreasonsforthisareplausible,basedonthe
groundsofsafetyandachanceforasecondopinion.
The arguments forMOT exemption seem quiteweakin
comparison.Savingyourselftheannualtestfeeisridiculous(£54.85is
therecommendedcost,butI’veseenadvertisementsaslowas£29)
–barelythepriceofafulltankoffuel,anditlastsforawholeyear
(unlikeafulltankoffuel).
Shouldavehicle’sannualmileagebelow,istherejustificationinthe
assumptionthatafullyrestoredclassic,suchasanE-type,shouldn’t

THEREVISED

MOTEXEMPTION

APPLIESTOA

VEHICLETHAT

WASFIRST

REGISTERED

MORETHAN 40

YEARSAGO