Safe Speed Forums

My wife had an old 'G' reg car which she bought at Christmas for £350. it had 5 months MoT on it at the time she bought it.

With about £100's worth of work done to it, it passed its MoT again at the end of May.

On the 2nd weekend in June, the car was driven into by a third party causing damage which would have cost around £600 to rectify at a bodyshop. Her insurers, Fortis Insurance, want to write the car off but value it at just £250 before the policy excess.

I acknowledge that my wife's car is an 'old banger' (perfectly roadworthy - but old and with the odd knock and rust mark here and there) However, I dispute the insurance company's valuation because at the time of the accident there were 11½ month's MoT left. I have accepted that had the car been at the end of its MoT it would be worth what they want to pay but seeing as it had almost a year's ticket, it should be valued at £500.

Question: Is an old banger in perfect mechanical working order with say 2 month's MoT worth the same as an identical car (for comparrison purposes) which has 11½ months MoT?

My argument that the length of time left on the MoT is very material has been completely dismissed by the insurers - so I'm looking to people on here to either back my viewpoint or bring to my attention what a wally I am.

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We have a complaisant but venal judiciary and police force - all too eager to pervert the Law to satisfy their own aims

The MOT certificate I believe actually says something on the lines of "this does not guarantee the vehicle is in perfect mechanical condition" or words to that effect...

Oh, and

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Pecunia Prius Equitas et Salus

Hi There,

It’s worth considering that you can surrender your tax disc and get a rebate. I don’t know if insurance companies take this into consideration.

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Useless laws weaken necessary laws.

My personal view is that its not worth anymore with a full MOT then its worth without, or at least I wouldn't pay anymore for one. Reason being is that I would find one that did have a full MOT on for the same price, and Im certain I would. Alright it might not be in the right colour, or it might have had more owners, or it might have a little more rust - but when your talking a G Reg car that isn't collectable these things don't matter. People just want to run them into the ground and if its going to cost more then £100 to pass an MOT they will throw them away.

Sorry to sound harsh, but thats the way I would view it. To be honest you would struggle to sell a G-Reg car without a resonably long MOT, or at least without a fail report to detail exactly whats wrong. Thats like I say, assuming its not collectable or does not have a fan club etc. Its definately a buyers market at that end of the motoring scale.

I don't put cars through MOTs any more, unless I'm reasonably sure they'll pass. Last year I bought a Volvo 240 estate for £130 off ebay, and ran it for 10 months until the MOT ran out. I then bought a Volvo 480 with 12 months' MOT and will break the 240 and sell the bits. It's the cheapest way to run cars nowadays, especially if you're not too bothered what they look like!

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We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the kerb.

No.

If you are talking real old, "will it last me 12 months" type bangers then the length of MOT is critical.

You buy them on the grounds that you will get to the next MOT and have to either scrap it and buy another or pay the equivalent on repairs.

Insurance comapanies will always undervalue a car in the hope that you will take it without an argument. Tell them you are not accepting.

Another thing to think about, find out what they think the car is worth now and ask to buy it back from them at that price. They are usually more than happy to let you have the car since it would cost them to dispose of it. You could then have it made roadworthy at a fraction of the cost.

The other option is to take your own insurance company out of the loop, and to chase the guilty party / his insurance for a complete repair to the vehicle, which they are legally bound to do regardless of whether it would be more "cost-effective" for them to write the car off.

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CSCP Latin for beginners...
Ticketo ergo sum : I scam therefore I am!

Exactly - and get stopped days later - who gets done -- oh no not the MOT Station - (well maybe if the mot inspectorate is informed) --certainly you , unless you get a cop with some sense of justice - (they've all fled to Durham)

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

The MOT certificate (by its own admission) gives me no guarantee of the roadworthiness of the vehicle, so I would still check/get checked critical safety items whether the car had 2 months MOT or 12.

However, I would pay at least £100 extra not to have the hassle of going for an MOT for 12 months. Plus, the car could be perfectly safe to use, but fail an MOT on emissions. And catalytic converters ain't cheap.

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“For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.” - H. L. Mencken

An MOT is only valid for the day the inspector signs it. The owner could have gone home and refit his illegal bits that night.

By the way, my car passed recently and I got the new type certificate, with an 'amber alert' to say the cambelt would need changing soon due to mileage. That would devalue my car.
Bit of a shame the same dealer (a major dealer at that) had put a new one in it two weeks earlier, and logs all work on a database.