UK Govt Classic Car consultation

[Sadbrewer]

An article in the Daily Telegraph

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/1 ... pport-dft/

Edit...if you're not able to access it, copy the link and paste it into archive.ph

[trw99]

I feel most responsible classic car owners running their cars on todays roads will be content to continue having their cars inspected annually.

Tim

[SimonH]

Can’t read the article but I have no problem if it’s removed and the mot is required again. Better than allowing some rot boxes on the road based on what the, let’s face it, unqualified to assess the condition in most cases owners think is ok.
I’d be more bothered if they decided to stop the tax exemption considering how little the cars normally get used.

[Andy8421]

While I don't disagree with Tim, what is the purpose of this?

The original exemption was put in place because much of the modern test was inapplicable to historic vehicles, and given the low mileage and high standard of maintenance of historic cars, there was little point in testing. The article suggests that a tailor made test could be put in place for vehicles that wouldn't meet current test criteria.

No statistics have been provided to indicate the number of accidents that are attributable to historic vehicles having faults that would have been caught by an annual test. Without numbers it is hard to argue the case, but if the aim is reduce road traffic accidents, a reasonable question would be whether money spent on introducing a new test would be better spent on other road safety initiatives.

A greater concern would be removing the road tax exemption for historic vehicles. An estimated 340,000 vehicles are tax exempt, with 1 in 8 off the road. Assuming (say) a historic tax of 200 GBP per year, that would be approximately 60M GBP per year to HMRC. Given the current government are searching for change down the back of the sofa, this may become a target.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-13092453/DVLA-reveals-just-classic-cars-40-years-age-road-today.html

[sng]

60 Million would assume everybody payed for a full year, how many owners would only pay for the months that their car is being used on the road. The amount collected would be much lower than £60 million and probably not worth the admin overhead but you never know.

[Sadbrewer]

Can’t read the article but I have no problem if it’s removed and the mot is required again. Better than allowing some rot boxes on the road based on what the, let’s face it, unqualified to assess the condition in most cases owners think is ok.
I’d be more bothered if they decided to stop the tax exemption considering how little the cars normally get used.

Sorry...I should have said if it doesn't open....copy the link and paste it into archive.ph
you'll be able to read it then.