Westfield/Q Plate Knowledgeable/Friendly MOT Station near Huntingdon

[thebutler]

As the title says. Have recently moved to the area and need an MOT soon. Not looking for an 'easy pass' or anything like that. Just a station than understand the regs around a Q Plate! I don't want to be told I need a fog light for instance.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Steve

[Toma1982]

Could you explain more about A plate?

I am french and not very aware of this specificity.

[TableLeg]

Maybe Clark @Howsafe Workwear and Safety Equipment can help?

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

11 hours ago, Toma1982 said:

Could you explain more about A plate?

I am french and not very aware of this specificity.

 

The Q Plate?

 

In the UK our cars front and rear registration plates, have a two digit code representing the six month period of time in which the car was first registered as brand new.

 

If for whatever reason, there is doubt about when that was, or in the case of a kit car, it can’t be proven that the parts it’s made from were all either brand new, or mainly* from a single donor car, then instead of a “year plate” it gets issued with a plate that begins with a letter Q. So it’s not possible to tell how old the car is from it’s plates.

 

Because of this, Q plate cars have special regulations when it’s time for the MoT. Many aspects of the MoT test vary slightly depending on the age of the car, everything from engine emissions to lights. During the test, for most things, a Q plate car is considered “officially” to be the same as a car first registered in 1971 or earlier. So it doesn’t need a rear fog lamp, engine emissions testing* consists of a visual check to see if the exhaust is smoking etc.

 

*There is a chart that tells you how much of the original car must be reused to retain its year of first registration for the plates.

*Recently the emissions rules have changed, so some Q’s that have emissions numbers from their IVA test may start to be tested on an analyser, if I recall correctly.

[Toma1982]

Thank you 👍

So in the V5 there is still an official date of 1 st registration then? (Which can differ from the actual date by few monty? Am I right?

 

I want to import a car in France so I want to avoid any unnecessary trouble (french admin is already good at that without adding new ones)

[MattV]

Hi @thebutler,

 

Try Fengate MOT in Peterborough - http://www.fengatemot.com/about

Very friendly and knowledgeable about kit cars.  Has done the last couple of MOT's on my car and found them to be very fair

[Tim Reid]

I've just changed MOT center after 12 years. All I did was call the new one and say it was a Q so didn't need things like emissions test. They said "oh yes, no problem, our testers know their stuff and will prepare for your visit by refreshing their memory". 

It was easy. 

 

If they had not sounded so confident I would have tried a different place. 

[thebutler]

On 07/09/2019 at 16:03, Tim (TimDave25) - Joint Thames Valley AO said:

I've just changed MOT center after 12 years. All I did was call the new one and say it was a Q so didn't need things like emissions test. They said "oh yes, no problem, our testers know their stuff and will prepare for your visit by refreshing their memory". 

It was easy. 

 

If they had not sounded so confident I would have tried a different place. 

Yeah, that was plan B. Can't beat a good recommendation

[Howsafe Workwear and Safety Equipment]

On 05/09/2019 at 12:06, MattV said:

Hi @thebutler,

 

Try Fengate MOT in Peterborough - http://www.fengatemot.com/about

Very friendly and knowledgeable about kit cars.  Has done the last couple of MOT's on my car and found them to be very fair

 

I would also recommend Gary at Fengate MOT in Peterborough - he has done lots of kit cars, owns one himself and was making and launching his own model (not sure if that is still going or not)

[geejay]

On 07/09/2019 at 16:03, Tim (TimDave25) - Joint Thames Valley AO said:

I've just changed MOT center after 12 years. All I did was call the new one and say it was a Q so didn't need things like emissions test. They said "oh yes, no problem, our testers know their stuff and will prepare for your visit by refreshing their memory". 

It was easy. 

 

If they had not sounded so confident I would have tried a different place. 

 

My Westfield failed its MOT last week on emissions test – had it done at Kwik Fit in Wokingham – its been there before with no problems (they have a sunken ramp) but they have a new tester who admitted he hadn’t done a kit car MOT until that morning having now had 2 in one day!  He said he tried and tried o the fast idle but couldn’t get it to pass ….. last MOT was in June 2018. MOT was only £27 or something like that which is why I tend to go to KwikFit ….

 

Most of the posts on various forums aren’t that clear on changes on MOT emission requirements and what is required – various hearsay …...

 

Tim - I was just reading your post below – where did you go?? 

 

Mine is a 2009 registered car with a Vauxhall XE red top engine (so prob a 90s engine I guess). There is no CO2 noted on the V5. I have an engine number, but not sure how to get the date of teh engine form the engine number - ive tried some google searches ...

 

Help appreciated re advice as to whether my car should have had am emissions test or not ...…. so i can go back to the tester ....

[Kingster]

1 hour ago, geejay said:

Help appreciated

Is it a Q?

[geejay]

Yes - its a Q plate .... 

[SXRORY]

6 minutes ago, geejay said:

Yes - its a Q plate .... 

Should not of failed then,

smoke only is tested

Advantages of a q reg

[Captain Colonial]

Correct.  Q plate and no emissions on V5 = no emissions test, visible smoke only.

 

 

Go back and complain.

[shrops-paul]

Lets hear it for the Q plate