ISN Garage Assist Blog

2019 has been an incredible year at AMN Garage Assist – we have helped hundreds of garages with everything from brand new equipment installs to the management of their MOT Bay.As the year draws to a close it is natural to reflect on the changes that have impacted us & our customers. Much of this change was focused on the inevitable rollout of MOT Connected Equipment. We’ve been at every relevant gathering with bodies like the DVSA & GEA to ensure we are one step ahead of these new developments.This also means we’re ready to answer any questions you might have...

This February, the introduction of connected Decelerometer brake testers have been brought into circulation, as the DVSA continue to take the necessary steps towards securing a completely connected MOT process.As we have highlighted before in our previous blog, the DVSA will now only approve new applications for testing facilities if they include an approved model of connected decelerometer brake tester, as of February 1st 2020.This is only the second of two pieces of MOT equipment that have made the change to connected compatibility, with more MOT rule extensions drawing ever closer. The future of MOT services in 2020 Looking to the...

The latest DVSA figures show that an extra 20,000 MOT tests have been conducted every day so far this month. Garages have been pushed to their limits with the number of MOTs they are performing every day. At the beginning of August, the DVSA predicted twice as many MOT tests would take place leading into September and the rest of the Autumn period. With an exceptional rise seen in August already, a new prediction of 200% above the normal levels of testing is now predicted at the peak of this recovery. In the its Matter of Testing blog, the DVSA said:...

Many testing garages are raising the issue that the DVSA’s “Beat the Rush” Campaign isn’t doing enough to help with the incredible demand expected for the Autumn months.  The campaign calls on garages to urge their customers to bring forward their MOT test to spread out the increase in testing demand this autumn, across the remaining months in 2020.  A number of vehicle owners continue to put off their MOT test until the end of the 6-month exemption period, with many owners not wanting to pay out for the test and any associated fixes, as they are still on furlough.  Throughout August, the DVSA has stated that over 20,000 extra tests have been performed daily...

The government has announced new changes and restrictions to the guidelines surrounding the ongoing pandemic. A lot of industries and businesses have been affected once again. What do the recent changes mean for MOT garages? At the moment, the new restrictions do not affect MOT garages. Although the government put an MOT extension in place at the beginning or April, MOT testing has continued and been carried out safely, with everyone’s health in mind throughout the pandemic. Due to the incredible work by garages across the UK over the past 7 months MOT service has continued without interruption. There is no...

The testing numbers are in and no-one could have expected 3.7 million MOTs would be carried out in September - not even the DVSA. After receiving mixed reviews, the DVSA’s “Beat the Rush” campaign has been shown to have brought in over one million vehicle owners, that in turn brought their MOT test forward last month but were not due until between October 2020 and January 2021. The campaign that was released early in August to encourage vehicle owners to bring forward their MOT test, also shows that 310,000 more tests were carried out in August this year – an extra...

We know everyone is fed up of hearing about the coronavirus now – the year 2020 has been plagued with the news and reality of the virus affecting so many and impacting massively on the global economy. But for the garage sector, the end of Q2 and all of Q3 has been geared towards fighting back strongly to ensure the survival of numerous businesses. With the end of the MOT exemption and the furlough scheme, the beginning of Autumn saw the increase of vehicle users returning to the roads for work, and then the obvious demand for MOT servicing. Most garages...

Without taking a look on Google, could you have a guess at how many class 4 vehicles failed their MOTs last year? The Answer: 1.27 million That is a huge number of failures and a lot of garages are finding that they’re down to faults relating to exhaust emissions, especially with diesel engine vehicles, since new MOT regulations were introduced in May 2018. In fact, the last two years have seen more cars fail their MOT due to emissions than in any previous year. The regulations were brought in to reduce the number of vehicles producing excessive emissions, meaning manufacturers have...

Everyone has been through the mill over the past 18 months - whether it has been a business folding, furloughing staff or equipment breakdowns, you name it, someone has had to deal with a huge amount of stress to get to where they are today. However, as we emerge from the pandemic, it is great to see so many success stories, including those from the DVSA’s fourth annual review released last month. The published document celebrates the ‘Beat the Rush’ campaign set out last Autumn, to encourage vehicle owners to bring forward their MOT test to spread the demand for MOT...