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Someone happened to mention it on another forum, and linked to this 2008 post on a Skyline forum.

They're upping the prices and replacing ESVA with IVA and SVA with "Basic IVA" and more worryingly there is no mention of the 10 year MOT only rule in the guides I've found from the gov about the new scheme (IVA Guide, IVA Inspection Manual) Even worse the "Basic IVA" wont apply to an import unless it's a personal import ie. you were living abroad and owned the car, everyone buying a Japanese import will need the full test.

Anyone know if there's any truth in the thing about the 10 year rule going away?

I guess I should be glad I got my import registered earlier this week, but since I believe it's the only one of this specific version in the country I really hope it doesn't get written off as it's basically irreplaceable now.

It's been brought about by the EU's "Recast Framework Directive". It's part of a much bigger overhaul of type approval legislation right across the EU. The changes start to get rolled out from 29/04/09 and will be complete by about 2014. As far as I know, however, there are no changes to the 10 year rule - I believe it should have always been like that. As I understand the current system (and I don't get involved with imports, it has to be said), any import under 10 years old (unless it's someone in the forces and a few other odd exemptions) will need the "full monty" - ESVA. Currently we have SVA and ESVA ("Enhanced" SVA), the latter being what imports under 10 years old currently have to go through. I think ESVA has about 10 key areas where the presenter needs to demonstrate compliance with an EC standard or an accepted equivalent (usually done with a "model report"). In the rest of the areas, it gets the same basic test as a kit car. I believe that IVA is largely a straight sawp for ESVA and BIVA is a swap for SVA. Last I heard, the fees weren't completely finalised but I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up being higher!

Acronym overload

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

Reading the testing manual it seems like a relatively positive change, they list a whole bunch of acceptable US, Canadian and Japanese standards that they'll accept in lieu of a test, and will accept a dereg or export certificate as evidence of compliance with them. A surprisingly common sense approach for something coming from the DFT, though apparently it look a lot of lobbying from BIMTA as the initial version didn't even allow for foreign-size number plates.

Where does it say that the 10 year rule is being kept? I can't see anything about it in the IVA documentation at all, and this is the part that worries me, what with being a fan of imports and all.

I only have a draft copy of the regulations. As far as I know, they haven't been finally published yet, but they (rather obliquely, it has to be said!), exclude "old" vehicles. The regs then go on to define "old" as being (in the case of a passenger car) a vehicle, the manufacture of which, is completed more than 10 years before the date on which an application is made".

I'm fairly certain the intention is to keep the "10 year rule"!

In fact I've just noticed they're still on the DFT website:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/clo ... ations.pdf

Regulation 5, paragraph 2 (d).

The definition is a bit later on in Paragraph 8 (a).

(NOTE that a catgeory "M1" vehicle is what they call a passenger car).

So long as they keep the 10 year rule it looks like not a lot is changing. Officially recognising more foreign standards as equivalent should make things a bit simpler.

I'm surprised the 10 year rule is staying though. I thought most of Europe didn't have that, and the intend of this was to bring us into line with the rest of Europe. I understand it's very hard to register Skylines and the like over in Germany?

The Recast Framework Directive allows each Member State to have it's own, less stringent requirements for vehicles individually approved or made in small numbers, but no other Member State is obliged to accept vehicles registered via such schemes (although they can if they want to). We probably have a less onerous set of IVA requirements than most of the other major Member States.

Seems odd that the UK would still allow this to continue given that they're trying to screw us over in every other way, why would they still allow us to have interesting American and Japanese cars?