And if it’s at one of those places where you can see the workshop, I try to resist watching - but I can’t help it.
So I see my car at the front of the queue, and I watch one of the inspectors grab the keys off the board and make their way up to it. I say “make their way up to it” because no one’s ever in a hurry at these places, are they?
Cars queued out onto the street. More and more people streaming into the waiting area. But a warrant is not something to be rushed.
And so, once the inspector in the overalls gets behind the wheel, they crank the car up, drive into the workshop and slams on the brakes. I’m watching and I think ‘that stopped pretty quickly, that’ll be a tick for the brakes. Surely. Hopefully'.
And it’s at this point where the imagination cranks into full gear. I watch them go underneath with their torches to inspect the chassis and I imagine that they’re seeing the worst case of vehicle rust they’ve ever seen. The kind of thing they’ll talk about for years.
I know the rust isn’t there but I imagine that suddenly the whole thing’s full of it. And then I see them looking in the wheel area and imagine that they can see the axle is about to split in half or one of the wheels is about to fall off.
And so on and so on. I just can’t help myself. And I think the worst possible scenarios the whole time.
Because you hear stories, don’t you? Someone goes for a warrant and walks out facing a repair bill worth hundreds, if not thousands.
So all this turmoil is going on in my head and I’m trying to look cool as anything, and I toy with the idea of sitting down and flicking through that Hot Rod magazine on the table next to the water cooler, but I can’t do it.
I just stare through the glass at the trainwreck happening right in front of me. Well, the trainwreck happening in my head.
Then, after what seems like forever, the car is driven out of the workshop and parked out the back somewhere. And one of the inspectors picks up the clipboard and heads in my direction.
Well, kind of in my direction. They head back into the office. But why haven’t they come straight into the waiting area?
I knew, I knew it. The inspector isn’t in the waiting room because they’re behind the counter in the office writing the full list of all the things wrong with the car.
Fail, fail, fail. I knew it. I could just tell from that serious look on the chops. Oh, this is not going to be good.
And then they appear - they’re coming down the hallway to the waiting area. Look calm John. Look calm.
And everything goes slow motion. Like time is almost standing still. Just tell me, just tell me. I know it’s gonna cost thousands. Just tell me.
And then they speak: “The blue Toyota.”
“Yep, that’s me.”
“Ah, everything’s pretty good. Just keep an eye on the front left tyre - might need replacing before the next warrant. But you’re good to go”
And, at that point, I just want to kiss them.
Sound familiar to you? It’s a scene that plays out day in-day out. The Warrant of Fitness check. A process or a system that the Motor Trade Association is saying needs an overhaul.
It’s put a challenge out to whoever forms the next government to take a serious look at the way we check whether the vehicles on our roads are up to scratch. It thinks we are way too slack.
One of its main bones of contention is the fact that old rust buckets don't have to be checked-over any more often than modern vehicles. And I agree - it’s nutbar, isn’t it?
It says the stats show that 46 percent of vehicles fail their warrant first time around. And the state of our vehicles is a much greater cause of fatal crashes than it used to be.So it wants six-monthly warrants for older cars. And I think it’s a brilliant idea.
The other thing the Motor Trade Associations wants the next Government to do, is help low income families pay for a warrant on their car.
Now I know there will be people who will say that that’s all nanny state and if people have got a vehicle it’s their responsibility to get a warrant - and pay for it themselves.
But if there are unsafe cars on the road - partly because some people just can’t afford a warrant - then why not do something about it and help these people out?
John MacDonald is the Canterbury Mornings host on Newstalk ZB Christchurch. This article was first published HERE
And it’s at this point where the imagination cranks into full gear. I watch them go underneath with their torches to inspect the chassis and I imagine that they’re seeing the worst case of vehicle rust they’ve ever seen. The kind of thing they’ll talk about for years.
I know the rust isn’t there but I imagine that suddenly the whole thing’s full of it. And then I see them looking in the wheel area and imagine that they can see the axle is about to split in half or one of the wheels is about to fall off.
And so on and so on. I just can’t help myself. And I think the worst possible scenarios the whole time.
Because you hear stories, don’t you? Someone goes for a warrant and walks out facing a repair bill worth hundreds, if not thousands.
So all this turmoil is going on in my head and I’m trying to look cool as anything, and I toy with the idea of sitting down and flicking through that Hot Rod magazine on the table next to the water cooler, but I can’t do it.
I just stare through the glass at the trainwreck happening right in front of me. Well, the trainwreck happening in my head.
Then, after what seems like forever, the car is driven out of the workshop and parked out the back somewhere. And one of the inspectors picks up the clipboard and heads in my direction.
Well, kind of in my direction. They head back into the office. But why haven’t they come straight into the waiting area?
I knew, I knew it. The inspector isn’t in the waiting room because they’re behind the counter in the office writing the full list of all the things wrong with the car.
Fail, fail, fail. I knew it. I could just tell from that serious look on the chops. Oh, this is not going to be good.
And then they appear - they’re coming down the hallway to the waiting area. Look calm John. Look calm.
And everything goes slow motion. Like time is almost standing still. Just tell me, just tell me. I know it’s gonna cost thousands. Just tell me.
And then they speak: “The blue Toyota.”
“Yep, that’s me.”
“Ah, everything’s pretty good. Just keep an eye on the front left tyre - might need replacing before the next warrant. But you’re good to go”
And, at that point, I just want to kiss them.
Sound familiar to you? It’s a scene that plays out day in-day out. The Warrant of Fitness check. A process or a system that the Motor Trade Association is saying needs an overhaul.
It’s put a challenge out to whoever forms the next government to take a serious look at the way we check whether the vehicles on our roads are up to scratch. It thinks we are way too slack.
One of its main bones of contention is the fact that old rust buckets don't have to be checked-over any more often than modern vehicles. And I agree - it’s nutbar, isn’t it?
It says the stats show that 46 percent of vehicles fail their warrant first time around. And the state of our vehicles is a much greater cause of fatal crashes than it used to be.So it wants six-monthly warrants for older cars. And I think it’s a brilliant idea.
The other thing the Motor Trade Associations wants the next Government to do, is help low income families pay for a warrant on their car.
Now I know there will be people who will say that that’s all nanny state and if people have got a vehicle it’s their responsibility to get a warrant - and pay for it themselves.
But if there are unsafe cars on the road - partly because some people just can’t afford a warrant - then why not do something about it and help these people out?
John MacDonald is the Canterbury Mornings host on Newstalk ZB Christchurch. This article was first published HERE
8 comments:
That would be the short term fix. We're so good at that in NZ and it always seems to involve taxpayer's hard-earned money.
Why don't we fix the economy and provide decently priced rents and houses and decent wages?
We should all be able to afford to live a normal life with safe cars but the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
One thing is for sure, everything can't be provided by taxpayers forever. The profits are privatised in NZ but the losses are socialised.
Socialists can get knotted. And this government is stuffed.
MC
'So it wants six-monthly warrants for older cars. And I think it’s a brilliant idea.' This is already the rule. Or my warrant place is ripping me off.
' help low income families pay for a warrant on their car.' Nice idea, but the choice was either this or help the rich but a new Tesla. I am sure it took milliseconds for them to arrive at the answer. Best result for the least number of people is the way forward.
Well said John.
I always say it's a bit like going to he dentist for a check up, you know everything feels OK but you're scared up the wazoo the dentist will find something that needs filling or pulling out or whatever.
Even worse than a WOF check is a 6 monthly COF check. Vehicle has only done the miles to and from the testing station since the last check, (maybe 30Km) and they still manage to find something wrong. When you query them, they say "it's on the list of things we are on the lookout for" Ok, but is the vehicle safe? Yes but you need to get it sorted before next check.
Take it back 6 months later to the same place and strike the same inspector and all is OK and nothing has been done.
The system does need sorting.
Pay for the warrant! Sorry. If you can't get a warrant it means you've got to pay for the repairs first don't you?
And that simply isn't going to happen. So the idea that paying for the warrant will remove unwarranted cars from our roads is fairy dust. Mind you our current Minister of Transport would probably think it's a great idea.
I think John has been got at by the Trade or has succumbed to trade propoganda. Those with expensive late model cars loathe the many others motoring for next to nothing in old $2000 Toyotas, avoiding the exorbitant compulsory service charges associated new cars. Without the old cars, essential transport costs for many would be impossible. By postponing new manufacture the cars contribute to low CO2.The well off want the old cars hounded of the road so traffic will be freed for them.
NZ has a very severe wof regime. There are huge anomalies. A police car hammered for 60,000 km a year has one warrant. My car, doing 3000, the same. Its older predecessor required two. A vintage car doing 200km a year requires two wof. Australia has no wof. The UK seems far more lenient on rust (tv restoration programmes old cars literally falling to pieces, not the case here). The regime is Big Business and the govt was conned into many aspects. Failure statistics are meaningless. Our wof discourages owner checking of tyres, stop lights etc. A large sample needs to be analysed by an expert engineer to determine real degree of danger. A reduction of testing would release many to drive busses etc.
If you find wof for a modern car daunting, do not try for an an older one. The " experts" are totally unfamiliar with the typical new and acceptable working clearances of older vehicles. Any debate and they vindictively fail everything. Rust which is significant on a modern made of paper thin steel is much less so on older cars with a high degree of strength redundancy The danger on our roads is not primarily older cars with some rust, but the distraction in moderns due complex obscure instrumentation, small obscure controls, phones, satnav displays, entertainement controls, general false sense of security etc.
Agree Roger, the stupidity of some astounds. So assistance to pay for the WOF inspection will encourage the owner to get the repairs done. Whats next, TAXPAYER ASSISTANCE TO PAY FOR THE REPAIRS?
What about tax payer assistance to pay for the fuel as well?
If on a benefit, chances are repair cost will be met anyway. Persons without assets can afford to run without a wof because thay have no insurance cover or assets to lose in the event of being judged liable. And depending in part on race, police are likely to not pursue in any case.
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