WOF Reform

Taken from the MTA webb site.

New Zealand has one of the most frequent inspection regimes in the world for good reason. We have an old fleet by world standards and it is getting older. The age profile of our fleet is also out of step with that of other countries, with a huge ‘bubble’ of cars manufactured from 1996-1998. Only a minority of our state highway system is rated at greater than 3-star, with few roads enjoying any form of permanent lane separation system.

With WoF and CoF inspections acting as a trigger for vehicle maintenance for many owners, it plays a key role in maintaining the state of our fleet at a very basic level. MTA will be providing a strong submission to Government to retain current inspection frequencies, but believes the inspection process can be improved to take into account the many new safety technologies in today’s vehicles.
There should be no changes to the current system unless there is a stronger commitment to education on maintaining vehicles and significantly more police enforcement. While that might be achievable in the longer term, it is likely to result in a transfer of costs from motorists to government thereby defeating the very aims the reforms set out to achieve.
Stronach says “While you might save $52 a year and perhaps 40 minutes out of your day, there may well be increases in other costs, including higher insurance premiums. We think all motorists want to have confidence that every vehicle on the road is safe, not just theirs, regular and comprehensive inspections are a good value for money way to achieve this.”

I totally agree. Leave the inspections at 6 months.

Sandra.