Emissions

[Carpasio]

I'm just coming up to the end of my PCP agreement and I am intending to pay the balloon amount and keep the car.  Two things will determine whether I go ahead:-

1.  The market value of the car compared to the amount I need to pay (obviously!); and

2.  A concern about emissions now and in the future.  This is one of the main reasons why Fiat ceased production of the 124 Spider, and I must say with the Monza exhaust, it is fairly smelly.  Has anyone had an MOT failure so far on this question?  With emission standards inevitably tightening over the next few years will the car be forced off the road eventually, or need significant alterations to remain legal here in UK.

[GreyThunder]

Had mine MOT'd last month. Coming up to 3 yrs old with 6,156 miles on the clock (it's an auto).

All the emission parameters were well within spec, except fast idle CO at 0.19% where the max allowed is 0.2% - very close!
Odd, because the natural idle reading was 0.04% where the max is 0.3%.

I suspect that an engine remap would sort this out, but if it should fail next year I will ask them to repeat the test in Sport Mode.

I really don't expect to be forced off the road because of emissions. I can't see it being affected by the increasing number of city emission zones either -  it would be odd if just one make and model was picked on.

PS - another thought. Get it MOT'd at an Abarth/Fiat  dealers - they can't afford to have lots of Spiders failing!

[Carpasio]

That's reassuring because I really want to keep the car for a few years.  I will be having it serviced at Ponthir Hereford (miles from me in S Warwickshire but I like the drive and have found Ponthir really excellent).  Incidentally Grey Thunder I got a £75 voucher for my next service following my moan about the Navigation update 9or lack of!).

[GreyThunder]

Excellent value moan!  Well done.

[rsk289]

A car cannot fail an MOT test on emissions if it meets the original manufacturer's figures for when it was new.  So far, the only MOT-testable item that has been made retrospective was the requirement for windscreen washers (if the vehicle has wipers fitted), back in the sixties.  So if your car is maintained properly it should not fail.

Roger

[Carpasio]

Good to know thanks