New Zealand WOF system is it a genuine necessity or a scam?

[ducatilover]

Frequency may be debated but without a WOF system there would be some seriously dodgey vehicles our their aimed at your loved ones.

Already are, and no the WoF system has no effect on this.
The WoF system is handy, people with little mechanical knowledge do need their cars checked, for our safety and theirs.
Yes, we need to introduce higher standards of car care where possible (I for one, am pedantic and always help out mates too)
6 monthly checks are fine in my head, there's no false sense of security either. People who drive and say the WoF will pick up the issue, will be doing it anyway. Then their wheel bearing collapses and they die, then others might, not likely, learn.


I'm a pessimist tonight, I was going to do some retail therapy but the interwebs has gone too slow for eBay, so fuck ya all!

[SS90]

Already are, and no the WoF system has no effect on this.
The WoF system is handy, people with little mechanical knowledge do need their cars checked, for our safety and theirs.
Yes, we need to introduce higher standards of car care where possible (I for one, am pedantic and always help out mates too)
6 monthly checks are fine in my head, there's no false sense of security either. People who drive and say the WoF will pick up the issue, will be doing it anyway. Then their wheel bearing collapses and they die, then others might, not likely, learn.


I'm a pessimist tonight, I was going to do some retail therapy but the interwebs has gone too slow for eBay, so fuck ya all!

He is not wrong.

Over the years I have seen some shocking bikes expecting WOF in NZ, and genuinely surprised if they fail.

But, as always, education is the key.

[jonbuoy]

Turns out we already have that system, I'm sure Scummy could tell you about pink stickers
Oh and people will start taking responsibility when we bring in sane laws like the rest of the world are either on or moving to, i.e. no WoF




Yes!





You seem to be under the impression that doesn't happen now, with a WoF system

I guess that's down to the WOF guys not noticing - supposed to be certified - maybe if its done discretely no one picks it up. I´m sure if a car came in dragging its arse on its bump stops it would/should raise an eyebrow.

[gammaguy]

In New Zealand we have such a piss poor "she'll be right" attitude that I shudder to think what we'd have out on the road if there weren't a periodic opportunity to ensure faults are remedied.

Not to mention the number eight wire mentality when it comes to fixing and maintaining increasingly sophisticated vehicles

[Kickaha]

Needed. Period.

Frequency may be debated

Going by the crap I see going across pits and on hoists it should be every three months and that might not be often enough

[5150]

i think people like you and ocean should be put on an airplane.
to the sun.

At night ofcourse

[Ocean1]

Already are, and no the WoF system has no effect on this.

The WoF system is handy, people with little mechanical knowledge do need their cars checked, for our safety and theirs.

Classic. WOF's make no difference..... BUT them other guys need them anyway.

Not to mention the number eight wire mentality when it comes to fixing and maintaining increasingly sophisticated vehicles

That sophistocation represents the biggest improvement in road safety in the history of the automobile, by the length of the main straight. A modern car that hasn't seen a professional mechanic for years is several orders of magnatude safer than the leading brands of 30 years ago. It's also true that level of complexity is increasingly beyond the ability of your local mechanic to assess, much less repair. So, again, outside of the obvious gravy train for small local garages what's the point in our current WOF system?

[Katman]

That sophistocation represents the biggest improvement in road safety in the history of the automobile, by the length of the main straight. A modern car that hasn't seen a professional mechanic for years is several orders of magnatude safer than the leading brands of 30 years ago. It's also true that level of complexity is increasingly beyond the ability of your local mechanic to assess, much less repair. So, again, outside of the obvious gravy train for small local garages what's the point in our current WOF system?

While the complexity of modern cars is many times that of 30 year old ones and the level of safety in an accident has been vastly improved it doesn't change the fact that many components wear out in exactly the same manner as older vehicles.

[Drew]

While the complexity of modern cars is many times that of 30 year old ones and the level of safety in an accident has been vastly improved it doesn't change the fact that many components wear out in exactly the same manner as older vehicles.

I'm not advocating one way or te other here. But although what you say is true, it lacks perspective of several flaws in the system.

Shocks for example. If they aren't leaking fluid, the pass a warrant. Now how can that be? My brothers Pulsar is one of the hardest cars to drive, I've ever been in. There feels to be no fluid in the rear shocks at all, but it's still legal.

[Scuba_Steve]

If you really want road safety in NZ, as someone mentioned earlier have an annual licence test.
WoF does next to nothing for road safety, costs more & more each year as it IS a profit making exercise, provides a false sense of security, stops or delays people getting problems checked (why get problems checked outside of WoF when you're going to be forced to pay for a WoF anyways), & doesn't stop the big problems anyways like cut springs & bald tyres.
It has no real world value, the disadvantages are far in excess of the advantages it really needs to be scrapped.

[unstuck]

I had a car here a couple of weeks ago, a 94 bluebird that had failed on right hand shocks being bouncy( I thought they were supposed to bounce) they seemed ok to me, so I took it to the VTNZ and it passed no worries. Silly me, did myself out of some work there.

[Katman]

I'm not advocating one way or te other here. But although what you say is true, it lacks perspective of several flaws in the system.

Shocks for example. If they aren't leaking fluid, the pass a warrant. Now how can that be? My brothers Pulsar is one of the hardest cars to drive, I've ever been in. There feels to be no fluid in the rear shocks at all, but it's still legal.

Clearly if there is no damping apparent in the shock then it should fail the inspection - regardless of whether it is showing visible signs of leaking oil.

I can't speak for every other issuing authority but I can assure you that I treat the process very seriously where safety is an issue.

[unstuck]

The COF system seems to be a lot tougher these day down here. But the WOF seems to be the same. I am not sure of the reliability of the rolling roads for the brake test either, there seems to be a lot of conflicting data coming from the one at our local, but they did say they were getting it seen to. I guess thats not gonna help the ones who have failed though due to inaccurate readings.

[Scuba_Steve]

VTNZ are known to fail new brakes in cars because their machines can't handle them, the pads need to be worn in a bit before their machines start giving proper readings

[Drew]

The COF system seems to be a lot tougher these day down here. But the WOF seems to be the same. I am not sure of the reliability of the rolling roads for the brake test either, there seems to be a lot of conflicting data coming from the one at our local, but they did say they were getting it seen to. I guess thats not gonna help the ones who have failed though due to inaccurate readings.

Dunno about the COF thing either. Our truck failed on the leaf spring slider things, (fair enough, it was missing one and the others had no rubber at all), but to fix the king pin slop, everyone told us to just grease the shit out of them. We bought a new set, but couldn't press the pin out. So we replaced all the externals and filled them with grease. Boom, COF.

Also, have they changed the rules on dual wheels? We've got a big difference in tread depth between the two tyres on the left rear, but they passed and I thought that was a no-no too.