It’s going to be OK, your need not to MOT your car will save you……
The UK government recently announced possible plans to to help reduce the cost of living without actually tackling the problem that has caused the rising cost of living.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has suggested relaxing the MOT rules to having them every 2 years. This clearly doesn’t really help cut the cost of living. An MOT can cost up to £54.85 per car. That saving isn’t really a saving if you have once car and even less if you don’t own a car at all. And there are many homes out there that don’t have a car. So you can see, this is a ‘smokescreen’ offer that makes the Tories look like they care.
Data
At Driven It, I tend to disagree with the AA who have said it could in fact make costs worse for drivers due to higher repair bills. I don’t quite see this unless they are looking at or considering repairs that won’t have been found until the second year. That being the case it does make a little sense. I do however agree that it will reduce road safety and safety of drivers and pedestrians.
We also have SMMT (Society of Motor manufacturing and Trade) on Twitter saying that the number of miles people are driving is increasing. I did contact SMMT for comment. The data used came from Dft (Department for Transport) relative to pre pandemic levels. That makes sense but with the cost of fuel being over £1.60 a litre, I can see it coming down.
I certainly think about it. I recently when to the Bicester Scramble in the X1/9. I’d booked to attend in the Bus but at 20 to the gallon where the X1/9 can do over 30, I wanted a bit of cash left in my pocket.
Back On Track
Anyway , I digress. This whole MOT thing brings up the debate of classic cars over 40 years being exempt from the MOT all over again. Already we have seen this rule flouted on social media and eligible cars being sold as a selling point.
I was sold a car and this exemption rule for to be enjoyed apparently. I don’t agree with it. What I don’t agree with is this notion that classic car enthusiasts are just that, enthusiasts. We are not. Many are owners with no mechanical skills. With no mechanical understanding, are they going to notice a perished brake hose? Probably not.
The bi-annual MOT still doesn’t help in the cost of living crisis. At Driven It, there are 6 cars on the fleet. 2 are exempt. Later this year, 3 will be exempt. Yes I do agree that at £54.85, it is a yearly bill of £329.10 and that is a lot. But this is my hobby and my hobby is about maintaining cars to a safe level and beyond. If I can’t keep it safe, I’ll park it up and leave it. This however is not such an issue. There is more than one car in the Birdy Fleet of Broken Dreams.
What this is, is a lot of hot air from the government and it doesn’t answer what has put us in this crisis in the first place. Mainly the cost of heating our homes and running a washing machine. Or the cost of petrol and diesel. At current prices where I live, it is £1.62 for for petrol and £1.79 for diesel. And it changes daily.
Here Comes the Maths
So for a family with 1 car, that MOT exemption for the year works out at £1.06 a week. Or 20p a week for a bi-annual MOT. That is hardly going to help you heat your home or put food on the table. Or put it this way, to boil a full standard 3kW kettle will cost you 12.5p or around 1p per cup if you boil what is needed. Chances are you make more than 20 cups a week. And don’t think your other appliances are any more efficient. A standard oven will cost on average 51p for an hour. Your microwave is around 4p each use.
Your Business is Needed
So you can see, that MOT saving won’t really save you from hypothermia or hunger. It is as I said previously, all smoke and mirrors. A weak-willed gesture that really is more like clutching at straws and making shit up. And then we come to the garages that reply on MOT’s as a way of keeping themselves in business. The garage pays the MoD £2.08 per slot. At full MOT rates, that garage will make £52.74. Out of that you need to pay for the testers 45mins around £19.50. That leaves them with £33.24 which isn’t profit. Having worked as a service manager for a busy local garage, the overheads for a garage, rates, insurance and rent are huge. So huge that we had to close the doors in 2018. I’d like to say it was because demand wasn’t there. It was and we were always busy.
Garages that MOT need that income. Our MOT ramp kept us afloat for a long time. If it wasn’t for that side of the business, it is safe to say we would have closed sooner.
Here is the Problem
Let’s ignore the fuel duty tax cut the Tories have given us. I don’t think there is anyone who has seen a saving from that. What really hurts here is oil giant BP recently announcing £9.5bn in profits. BP went on to say they had more money than they knew what to do with. Shell announced even higher profits. It makes you wonder exactly how much they are paying for that litre of crude oil to be able to turn such a high profit. I read recently that the fuel giants are investing in future proofing energy.
I ask myself WHERE? I don’t see it or haven’t really seen it. And if you have too much money, then you are doing something very wrong of to get that means whipping the arse of your customer….sorry, ripping off your customers, Customers who let us face it, can’t really go anywhere else can we. The government are not tackling these companies like they should. This is where our problems have come from.