MOT Reminders

Doesn't everybody get a reminder in the post from the DVLA? We always do.

 

I dropped into my local garage when the owner has been servicing my cars over a couple of decades. I haven't been in there since the last MOT and full service was done and when we shook hands he grinned to a new customer he was talking to and said "This gentleman has come to get his car serviced and MOT'd", which impressed the new customer as I hadn't said a thing!!

 

That is for VED, not MOT.

 

Yes, that is right - the reminders through the post are for VED and not MOT.

In some areas, it is becoming almost impossible to have a car that is more than a few years old. I got rid of my car when I got out of hospital in May as I had been told that my recovery would be protracted, and my eyesight was in question - - following my recovery going a wee bit better than expected, and an eye test confirming my eyesight to be well within the requirements for driving, I have been taking a look about with a view to maybe getting 'something' next year. I have absolutely nothing in terms of trade in or deposit, so was trying to get an idea of what was out there that I could potentially try and gather the money together by next summer, or finance without spending a fortune.

I started looking at things like older Volvo estates, or even things like Discoverys or Land Cruisers, thinking that we could get one cheap and run it into the deck, whilst having tons of space for garden stuff and dump runs etc. There was quite a few cars out there, reasonably cheap - - the majority are absolutely no good to me, however, as they are diesel and living where I do I would get punished by TfL's emissions charges. A wee bit more digging, and it turns out that a hell of a lot of cars are in the same boat, and the only way to get round the problem is to spend more money and buy something petrol, or spend even more (hundreds a month to finance) and go even newer. Somewhat ironically, Renault are doing PCP deals until 1st October where it is a couple of hundred quid deposit, a couple of hundred quid a month and chop it in a three years old......

Everything is biased to sell you new metal at the moment, and they are making it harder and harder for someone around here to run an older motor. Trouble is, that quite literally keeps me off the road for the forseeable, and means I will lose my 24 years no claims bonus.