New MOT system query

Stuart Gray (me@home) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

The new sticker's an integral part of the certificate - you can't possibly not get it.

Guy King ( snipped-for-privacy@zetnet.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

The logo on the new one is just the same as the old one...

I think he means that it's not the Ministry of Transport's logo any more for anything but the test - but then, there's not been a Ministry of Transport for god knows how long.

Volff ( snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Like the people that defined the fail comments?

Mr Digital ( snipped-for-privacy@nospam.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

How the FUCK can it not? I mean, seriously, that's absolutely gobsmacking.

I'm intrigued to know what the V5 can tell you that'd narrow it down beyond "It's a blue Mondeo" - which you can see...

Cheers for that. I'll just have to wait for the new style one to appear in my neck of the woods. I've got a car on Sorn at the moment, no Mot on it either. Maybe I'll get to see one when I get that on the road in a month or two.

That last bit puzzled me too. Is cloning rife? or is the original database slightly screwed? Sounds like it could be a victim of cut and paste style input.

The message from "Mr Digital" contains these words:

If Renault can't supply the right dampers when presented with all the data on the plate, why should the DVLA/VOSA do any better!

Stuart Gray (me@home) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Umm, I thought the whole point of a cloned car was that it wouldn't show up on DVLA's 'pooter...?

The message from Adrian contains these words:

Engine number. I've known a fair few vehicles where the engine number's so buried as to be for normal purposes not there. Perkins Prima engines, for one. You can see it once the head's off, but the rest of the time it's behind a load of other stuff.

Or, in the case of my car, not there at all. It fell off and I lost it!

Guy King ( snipped-for-privacy@zetnet.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Indeed - so will it ever be changed on the paperwork if the engine's swapped over?

The message from Adrian contains these words:

Not in my case.

I mean that one car will pop up with the same chassis number as another, be the same type of car, possibly with the same reg plate, but has been motted previously, well within the year timespan of the Mot.

they

no reminders, ( we send mot reminders out from our garage, but its from our own customer data base ), but its some thing they are looking at, prolly be posible in the future when they have more vehicles on their data base, if i recall they only have around 1000 ( approx ) garages running the system at the mo, they have 19000 ( approx ) to get on line.

if you think about it we are doing DVLA's work for them ( unpaid ) correcting all the mistakes they have made over the years on the V5's.

I once had a problem like this with a motorbike I owned. After a bad crash, I rebuilt it which involved getting new engine casings amongst other things. The engine number was stamped on the original engine casing, but obviously the new ones I got were blank. Put off one prospective buyer, but he was the wanker who wheelied it away claiming that it was more powerful than the last bike he had owned 25 years ago - duh! I asked dvla about the blank engine casing and they said to get a bike shop to stamp it with the old engine number for me. I phoned the local bike shop who told me to piss off, so I left it blank.

That's distinctly the impression I get too. Once you guys have cleaned the database, they can get the cloned cars, who is going to MOT thier car more than once a year, eh? ;-)

Mind you, I had a sudden thought, if you have a perfectly cloned car, same plate, reg, chassis numbers etc. you don't have to bother motting it on the new system, or to get it taxed, insured, they would just look up the database to see your details. All you would need to do is confirm the name and address of the original car, and DVLA would probably give that to you if you gave them just cause. Only problem I can see is the car license details not matching the car, ie. a duplicate license holder for the same vehicle.

One for you Adrian. Am I talking s**te as usual, or is this a real possibility?

Stuart Gray (me@home) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

So it sometimes pops up on the db as two AB51XYZ blue Mondeos chassis number xxxx999x999x9x9x9x9 - one MOT'd 11 months ago, one MOT'd 6 months ago?

I'm baffled.

The whole "cloned car" theory presupposes that the person driving the clone knows it's a clone. Do they always? There's always the ringers. Would the VIVN be convincingly cloned? I'd doubt it.

Multiple plates are possible - DVLA cockup on the registrations are not unknown, AIUI.

But multiple VINs tied to the same plate? No, it strikes me as a problem with the db - and I still can't quite see how having the V5 present would resolve "which AB51XYZ blue Mondeos chassis number xxxx999x999x9x9x9x9" is looking at you...?

I usually book the car in 2/3 weeks before the MOT expiry date

What happens if its a fail and the work can not be done on the day. This is not a problem at the moment with the manual system as any work carried out at a later date will result in a MOT cert being issued.

In the meantime I still have a valid indate MOT as I have taken the car in early. I could still be proscuted if the vehicle is involved in an accident and the car is not roadworthy. However, if its a new exhaust or similar thats required then it may be noted but it would hardly be the cause of an accident.

The new computer system will record a fail - quite rightly! and any PNC check will highlight the computer test result.

Will this mean that the vehicle will have to be driven from the MOT station and parked off road until the garage is able to carry out the remedial work? The car is then booked in for a retest and can NOT be used for any other purpose?

Bit of a problem if there is no off-road parking!

Any thoughts!