DVLA...aaaargh!

[merseymouth]

Morning all, Way back, when I worked at the "Bee Motor-Cycles" in Liverpool, one of my duties was to get the bikes legally compliant.
So it was a nice work down to the Royal Liver Buildings, stand in the correct queue, set down the number plates, the document relating to the machine frame & engine number, hand over our company insurance certificate, and cheque for the Duty, then simply smile.
This was usually done in small batches, but no hassle encountered.
I would also go there in a personal capacity to re-new my "Red Book Licence" every 3 years, again no hassle.
Then they moved the Licencing service to the Corn Exchange building in Brunswick Street, then we suffered a little bit of hassle.
Then came the cock-up service in Swansea! What a mess. They grabbed all of the records from the local bodies, then things went pear shape.
If I had a query as to the specific dates when I passed my first test and also what dates I added different categories, they at the Local Office could flick through the card index and provide the details, smile nicely they deserved it.
Come Swansea they took the record, merely ticked relevant boxes as to what categories a person had, the binned the paperwork? Note they never set down details, so other than the fact they had ticked a box they held no details?
Folk would come to have real problems later on because even the simple tick box procedure got screwed up?
So when foolishly folk sent their licences to Swansea for any service those who failed to take a photo-copy of the nice bitt of green paper they could well suffer as badly as a chap I heard about. Because of their abysmal record keeping procedures they got back to say to him that they had no record of his actually holding a valid licence?????? It was much worse than most folk would imagine, as along with his car qualification they also denied knowing about his motor-cycle and HGV qualifications!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The end result was that he had to retake all of the tests again, bugger thrice fold.
With the current computer system I expect things don't run too smoothly? IGICB MM

[Jules59]

From a safety point of view, one would think that a regular MOT is exactly what an old historic vehicles should be having. It's only £30 at my local garage.

[al_yrpal]

From a safety point of view, one would think that a regular MOT is exactly what an old historic vehicles should be having. It's only £30 at my local garage.

Most historic vehicles do no more than 1500 miles a year. You are reminded that you must not drive a vehicle that is unsafe and you may take your historic vehicle for an MOT if you so wish. With the 40 year rule inching forward every year I believe we may see a lot more people choosing to drive historic vehicles in future, particularly those that cant afford electric vehicles. One problem is modern petrol that can rot fuel lines and damage valve seats. Then theres the availability of spares particularly electronic bits. It can be green to choose an old vehicle rather than go with the current 'drive it then scrap it' mentality. The average length of ownership of motorhomes is said to be only 2 years although judging by the number one sees they are breeding like flies

Al

[rjb]

Motoring organisations are recommending that vehicles made before 2002 avoid using fuel with biofuel additives due to the increased risk of corrosion especially to lead, brass, zinc fittings and platings commonly used in older vehicles. Fuels with up to 10% bioethanol additives are being introduced this autumn, a doubling of the current allowance. Drivers with older vehicles beware.

[Jules59]

From a safety point of view, one would think that a regular MOT is exactly what an old historic vehicles should be having. It's only £30 at my local garage.

Most historic vehicles do no more than 1500 miles a year. You are reminded that you must not drive a vehicle that is unsafe ....

Al

The distance these vehicles drive in a year is irrelevant if the brakes/steering etc are poorly maintained.
The problem is some people only find out that their vehicle is a death trap when the faults are found at an MOT and up till then have been driving the defective car knowing something was wrong but chose to ignore it.

My Series 3 Landy is about to go back on the road after a 4 year rebuild and will have a MOT as its only 39 years old. But if it was 40 years old I could put it on the road without having any part of it tested for safety - which is madness IMO

[peetee]

Looking back, I have rebuilt and run several historic vehicles over the years. While I felt competent enough to do the work needed, I am by nature doubtful of my own capabilities so I found putting the car through the test very reassuring and indispensable.
I feel very tuned in to mechanical devices and can usually hear, feel or otherwise detect when they don’t run properly. Unfortunately having that ability is not a prerequisite of classic car ownership so the abolition of this certificate for Historic Vehicles is rather worrying.

[Oldjohnw]

I used to own a classic BMW although it wasn’t a classic at the time I had it.