MOTs on caravans (Braked Trailers)

[Stephen_374341239]

Hi all

I have been hearing a lot of talk about MOTs coming in for braked trailers can anyone confirm this? I under stand that in Germany you have to get you braked trailer MOTed every two years

and we here in UK will be following this practice soon.

Best regards Steve.

 

[colin(bridgend)]

Probably either "elf & safety" banchies or the EU stirring more trouble for the British citizen.

 

[Lutz]

Not only braked trailers in Germany, Stephen. All trailers are treated as vehicles in their own right and have to be registered, taxed, insured and the equivalent of MOT'd, the same as cars.

 

[DavidKlyne]

Whilst not against the idea of an MOT for caravans it would require, as Lutz suggested, all caravans to be registered in their own right as vehicles. To set up a registration scheme would not be without cost and its not really something that the general tax payer should fork out for so the full cost would fall on the owner of the caravan. Again I am not against that idea but there would be many that would be.

David

 

[Lutz]

To give you some idea of the potential cost involved, here's what I have to pay for my 1800kg MTPLM caravan in Germany:

Registration (to issue log book): 30_ (1 off payment with change of ownership)

Tax: 7.46_ per 200kg = 67.14_ per annum

Insurance (third party content only, because fully comp coverage, if desired, is normally taken out in the UK anyway): 13.22_ per annum

T

 

[Steve L]

I'm certainly in favor of a type of MOT test for all trailers. It would stop boat owners disconnecting their trailer brakes because they bind up after immersion in salt water. It would also stop those home made trailers that obviously should not be on the highway.

Now before you lot start, I actually own all of these types of trailer and mine are both road worthy and regularly maintained.

I carry a grease gun for my boat trailer and although it has no brakes due to being a dinghy trailer, I do grease the bearings before driving home after putting the trailer in water.

My goods trailer which was built by me (a qualified engineer)again has lubrication pointa built in.

Being a trained HGV1 driver, I always do the pre use safety checks of brakes, tyres, lights and hitch before moving off. Even to the point of having a purpose cut to length stick to activate the car brake lights to check they and trailer lights work fully.

Every year I strip down the hubs on the trailers and the caravan and replace any parts that are worn out. Considering our local mobile service man charges a mere

 

[Surfer]

Every few months thsi rumour crops up and it seems it has no foundation. On the British Isles there are probably not a lot of trailers around in constant use. To implement a system that is going to cost millions may not make financial sense at thsi time although I do agree with soem sort of safety check. But by the same token we are already taxed to death so do we really need another tax. In retrospect how many accident per year are with a car and a trailer incl caravans? How many deaths have occured because of this type of accident?

 

[Lutz]

I am not surprised that the subject of registration and MOT of trailers crops up regularly, not so much with regard to the private user, such as the caravanner who is less likely to be affected, but more for commercial vehicles used internationally. As the law stands at the moment, there is no way a foreign registered vehicle can pull a UK trailer legally. This is because the trailer doesn't have its own number plate and the truck's insurance doesn't cover the use of a trailer. This makes things very difficult for international haulage contractors who are constantly swapping trailers on their artic units.

I would only be affected inasmuch as I am not be able to take my car to the UK and borrow or rent a trailer or caravan to tow. This would only be possible if the vehicle licensing systems were harmonised throughout Europe.

 

[Lutz]

ps: Another possible scenario which would raise problems is if a UK caravanner has an accident or major repair to his towcar while on the Continent, requiring a the rental of a foreign registered car to tow the caravan back to the UK. This would also not be legal unless the caravan insurance explicitly includes third party coverage. The UK number plate on the caravan would have to remain, though, even though it is being towed by another car, possibly causing another problem when the outfit arrives in the UK.

 

[Gafferbill]

.... we will all get plenty of warning anyway!

You can not have a robust system of annual MOT for caravans unless they are registered to a legal Owner who would be responsible for having an up to date MOT certificate.

This would mean that the CRIS system would have to be adopted as each caravan has a unique VIN number.

Etching this number on all the windows renders altering the caravan ID difficult and not so cost effective to a fraudster or thief

.... if the CRIS system were not used then there would have to be a very similar system.

The first part of a car's MOT is identifying the car to which the MOT certificate is to be issued

...it would be no different for caravans

 

[ProfJohnL]

I cannot agree with Steve in Leo's suggestion that a trailer serial number is added to a car logbook, that would cause no end of problems when you change cars, or buy a new trailer.

It would have to be a separate document for each trailer.

 

[DavidKlyne]

Lutz makes an interesting point about the theft of caravans. I would have thought that it makes separate registration of caravans very attractive, especially with the success that NPR is having on uninsured and untaxed cars.

David

 

[Steve L]

Actually John, it would cause no more of a head ache than just filling in the change of ownership form on a sale, and then doing likewise on the purchase of the replacement car.

Why spend money developing a new paper document when a simple extra line on an existing document would do.

Even if you have more than one tow car/trailer, all you have to do is register the trailer to each car.

This system automatically shows up a rogue car towing the trailer at a spot check.

Steve L.

 

[602]

Hi,

Some people may only use their caravan or trailer once a year. Dumping the price of an MOT onto the cost of that holiday could be a financial burden.

Most car MOT stations cannot test tall vans ...... insufficient headroom to lift them on a ramp. You have to book way ahead to get an appointment at a commercial test station.

An MOT certificate is not proof that a vehicle is roadworthy. It is only evidence that it has been inspected during the last twelve months.

My first question would be "How many accidents are caused by faulty trailers?" Next question would be "How many accidents are caused by driver error ... ie: incorrectly loaded?"

Having owned three tow cars and three trailers, all at the same time, I would be in favour of trailer registration....provided it was voluntary in the early years.

602

 

[Dustydog]

The idea is sensible but the application will cause all sorts of nightmares

Those whose caravans are serviced professionally get a year sticker to prove it's been serviced.

Could that be the proof? How many stickers would then get nicked at storage , site etc?

I doubt cris could cope with the additional workloads . No doubt another Government Quango would be invented adding to the overall cost.

Steve in Leo's idea is not that flawed in my view. The DVLA already know all about the car , MOT and Insurance. If they included the owner's caravan chassis / cris number that could give the control needed to track caravan MOTs like cars.

Where a caravan is say hired from a dealer then "trade plates" would suffice with the towing cars reg no also displayed. Thus the main infrastructure is already in place at Swansea and with a little tweaking it will work.

My only concern with these type of MOTs is policing it and the extra cost to the caravanner.

Cheers

Dustydog

 

[Lutz]

Referring to Dustydog's comment about stickers, our MOT equivalent issues stickers, too. They display the month and year of when the next test is due and they are applied to the rear number plate. The sticker will destroy itself if any attempt is made to remove it.

 

[SteveW77]

The main problem would be the lack of facilities for carrying out the test, new equipment would have to be installed to test the overun braking, and some sort of device for getting the van over a pit or on and off of a ramp,without the examiner having to push or pull the thing manually. All this equipment has to be paid for and most testing stations are all ready running at maximum capacity as it is, without dumping 250,000 extra tasst on them. As for the caravan dealers, it takes months just to book a service.

Steve W

 

[Lutz]

Of course not all caravan dealers over here have the necessary equipment to carry out the test, either, but the larger testing stations have mobile equipment which is taken to the respective dealers and when you make an appointment with the dealer, he will arrange for an engineer with the equipment to be there. Usually the dealers will bundle appointments and have fixed schedules, say once a week or once a fortnight.

 

[Surfer]

Think of all the new laws that would have to be implemented to make the MOT work, i.e. illegal to tow if no MOT. What happens if a caravan sits on a seasonal site for 11 months of the year? Does it have to have a MOT?

 

[BrianStAlbans]

Would I have to mot my Eccles garden shed?

 

[SteveW77]

As my nearest dealer of any sort, is nearly 20 miles away, how many caravans are going to be in the catchment area? Not to mention having to take your van to a dealer that you may neither like or trust, but as there is no alternative within a reasonable distance doesn't this leave you vunerable to sharp practice, as can be seen in the way car MOTs have been abused.

In my opinion having no MOT is better than having one that has not been done correctly, leaving people thinking that they are safe when that may not be the case.

Steve W

 

[Lutz]

We don't have a problem of possibly having to use the services of an unreliable or inscrutable dealer because although the test is carried out on the dealer's premises, the engineer from the T

 

[SteveW77]

Typical German efficiency, can't see that happening here, to many vested interests, The normal car MOT should in my opinion be carried out by ministry employed testers with no axe to grind, or profits to generate, that way we may, just may get a system that is fair and reliable.

Steve W

 

[Steve L]

To answer a couple of points.

The MOT station would not have to be substancially altered to brake test over run brake systems. You would put the trailer onto the standard roller system and then using a winch type system attatched to strong points in the floor and the existing caravan hitch coupling. One could then measure the ammount of force aquired to activate the brakes and the existing roller system would measure wheel resistance and balance of the brakes.

Service stickers are a very good idea and there opportunity exists for vosa to adopt the german system of secure stickers to clearly display and control MOT issue and expiry.

I totally agree that a MOT certificate is no guarrantee what so ever as to the condition of a vehicle and I have experienced a well known car dealership who sold me a Renault 18 estate with a new mot and the front brake flexi pipes were perished and showing the cord rienforcing. It took for me to offer to take the workshop manager out for a 70 Mph emergencey stop test before they replaced the pipes free of charge.

I agree not all garages could conduct the test due to height issues, but there again you already have MOT stations specifically for commercial vehicles 3500Kgs upwards.

So there realy are few hurdles in the way of a test and even those who seasonally pitch their vans should have their vans tested. I'm a seasonal caravanner and have to shift sites twice a year to accomodate site license stipulations.

Steve L.

 

[SteveW77]

Steve in Leo,

Although the extra equipment may not be a great problem, it still has to be paid for and you did not cover how the van would be put on and off of the rollers, man power, or mechanical device. My local testing station has one bay, to small for a caravan, but they already test 12 vehicles everyday, not a lot you may think, but pushing the limit, as the process is controlled by computer access to Vosa, if they push to much, they get a visit from the examiner to check that they are carrying out the test in full and not cutting corners.

Why would they take on another group of vehicles that would only slow the proccess even more.

Steve W