The MOT test avoided by almost 20% of vehicles in Spain

According to the Spanish Association of Collaborating Entities of the ITV, between 15 and 20% of vehicles found a way to evade the ITV inspections during 2011, out of a total of 16.58 million vehicles checked.

It is worth looking at some of the details regarding ITV inspections. For example, out of those 16.5 million vehicles inspected, 3.2 million failed the first inspection for not meeting the minimum safety conditions to be driven on public roads or for having harmful emissions above the permitted limits. A total of 2.87 million vehicles passed the second inspection during the past year, while 183,911 vehicles that had to return for a second inspection were rejected.

Of the faults detected, lighting and signalling was the area with the most serious defects, at 19.3%, followed by axles, wheels, tyres and suspension, at 18.2%, and brakes, at 15.7%.

During 2011 there was also a sharp increase in serious and minor defects detected in the emissions category. Thus, serious faults accounted for 12.9%, 2.4% more than in 2010, while minor ones made up 11.1%, whereas in 2010 they were only 2.5%.

We could go on about the ITV until we wrote a book. A form of hidden tax, costs that can exceed 50 euros depending on the area where you have it done, local bosses within the ITV (in short, what is known as one of Spain’s mafias, or call it whatever you like)… I know the crisis hits everyone, but deep down we shouldn’t worry so much about the ITV; why? Because we should put more automotive culture first and a bit of responsibility on our part to keep the car in good condition so that it isn’t forced upon us.

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