Safe Speed Forums

You should check but IIRC 1991 cars can legally have the cat removed.

J reg cars, anyway. Someone once told me to remember 'K for cat'. I don't know if the dates are exact or approximate.

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Paul Smith
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The way the MOTs are done these days, the requirements are specific to the car. They type in the registration / VIN and "the computer" will tell the tester what sort of emissions test that particular car needs to meet. If it was built with a cat, it will need to pass a cat test - even if it was registered before the mandatory introduction of those requirements.

I think that only applies to post 2001 cars. (happy to be corrected)

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

When I had the fiesta done earlier in the year, the guy scrolled down through a list of engines and picked one out of the list.

They've had a book called the "emissions publication" for some years now which has the list you describe. You go through finding the make and model and then it gives ranges of engine numbers which are supposed to meet such-and-such emissions requirements. The problem with that is that it's incredibly tedious (especially if they don't know where to look for the engine number or if the number is hard to get to and / or obscured). Computerisation of all the MOT stations was supposed to stop this but what you describe sounds like a halfway house - where the "emissions publication" is available on computer but is not yet liked to the VIN on the car. I thought most stations had this by now but I could easily be wrong there.

Paul, I think the 2001 thing you're thinking of might have been when the DVLA started putting CO2 figures on registration documents. Again, I'm not at all sure but I think it was round about then that the EC "Harmonised" registration documents came in. I'll ask about the computerisation process and post back.

I think it's post 2001 that they started adding the specification of the individual car to the records. So when a post 2001 car is tested the system comes up with original spec features like ABS - amongst other things, including emissions spec.

Clarification welcomed.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

OK, spoke to my man "in the know" today and here's what he said:

First of all, EVERY car does get its registration and / or VIN typed in on arrival regardless of age. BUT this doesn't automatically generate the emissions test requirements. It's really just there (at present) to link to the DVLA's computer so they can check it's not incorrectly registered or stolen or wanted for some other reason. It also checks the VOSA recalls database and should flag up any outstanding recalls from the manufacturer.

He then interogates a separate list (as JohnM said) which is (effectively) the "emissions publication" but in electronic format. This is what generates the emissions test requirements. Interestingly, this probably only happens the first time the car turns up for a "computerised" MOT. After that, the VOSA computer ought to "remember" the requirements which went with that particular car, so subsequent MOTs shouldn't need him to go through the emissions publication again.

FInally, it is quite possible that many cars made with cats but before the mandatory introduction of them, will NOT have to pass a "cat" test (so I was wrong there)! The "emissions publication" stresses that the tester needs to find an "exact match" of VIN and / or engine code and make / model / year / engine size etc in the listings. Cars made before the mandatory introduction of cats but fitted with them often have VINs that are outside the range listed in the publication - so althought all the engine details might suggest a cat test, there won't be an "exact match".