To MOT or not to MOT?

[Alan Wolstenholme]

Hoping to benefit from another member’s experience here.

My 50+ year old Lotus Elan has historic vehicle status but on the V11Z it says “This vehicle may require an appropriate test”.

I think this may mean I need to take a V112 form along to a post office as this cannot be done online, if I choose not to put it through the annual MOT test.

Has anyone else gone through this process?

Regards

Alan

[Tony Penman]

Hi Alan,
When the new rules came in, my 1966 MGB was automatically ‘rolled over’ to the new reality.
The V11z is the new version of the V11 for vehicles attracting a ‘zero’ rate of tax.
Not all ‘zero’ tax vehicles are historic. As far as I’m aware, electric vehicles will get a V11z too and if they are over 3 years of age, they need an MOT test.
Given the age of your Lotus, it should have ‘rolled over’ to the new world correctly. The only issues tend to be where the vehicle was falling into the exemption criteria when the law was changing and application for Historic Interest status had to be made before you could stop taking the MOT test.
We can still take an MOT test on a voluntary basis without affecting the Historic Status of our vehicles.
Hope this helps!
Anyone else have more info on this?

Tony

[Alan Wolstenholme]

Hi Tony,

Thanks for the response.
I’ve checked and I got a V11z reminder last year with a tax class of “Historic Vehicle” so it looks like I’ve been ‘rolled over’ too, despite it saying “This vehicle may require an appropriate test”. And my registration document says V5C, which I’m thinking might stand for “Classic”?

I agree in getting vehicle safety checks regularly but am concerned that the full modern MOT may be too high a bar for 50 year old car. Still an obligation to be fully roadworthy, naturally.
Many thanks.
Alan

[Alan Wolstenholme]

Oh, and I tried to renew the (zero) road tax with a V112 form at the Post Office but “computer said no” in that it wasn’t accepting it, so that is further corroboration, I hope.

Alan

[Tony Penman]

Good stuff. Glad it’s sorted. On the MOT Test (Which coincidentally is 60 years old today!), the Lotus wouldn’t be subject to a modern test, rather it would be subjected to the standard test of the day, so no emissions other than ‘does it smoke badly’ and brake biases / headlight heights / condition. The Govt. position seemed to be that classic enthusiasts take care of their machines and will keep them in good order as a matter of course; that combined with the low mileage they do in normal circumstances and the difficulty in finding mechanics who have the skillset to test a classic car seems to have led to the decision.

[Steve MacKenzie]

MOT’s are important, and its nice to have it done at your own discretion rather than the govt’s, and its also a rare time to take a look under your car as well,
..but, exempt or not, if it fails, it fails, and you will need to fix it and re-MOT it with a pass to get using it again.

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