APK

MOT:
MOT stands for: Periodic Technical Inspection. The MOT is mandatory. The MOT increases road safety and must resolve environmental issues. New gasoline cars need to be inspected 4 years after their first registration. Then twice every 2 years, and then every year thereafter. New diesel or LPG cars must be inspected after 3 years for the first time, and then every year thereafter. Cars older than 30 years only need to be inspected every 2 years. Cars from before 1960 do not need to be inspected at all.

The inspection report provided after each MOT states the expiration date. When this date is exceeded, the vehicle can be parked on public roads for up to 2 months after this date without being driven (except to the MOT station). After these 2 months, the car must be suspended, and parked not visibly on private property. If the car is not suspended, the owner will automatically receive a fine after the 2 months.

The MOT is a snapshot and does not guarantee that the car will not break down during the rest of the year. At the time of inspection, the car is safe enough to participate in traffic (snapshot). The MOT can be performed by garages or the RDW (Netherlands Vehicle Authority). Garages must have a permit and employ trained personnel for this. When an MOT is dismissed by a garage, there is a chance that an RDW random check will occur. The car is then re-inspected by RDW staff. These random inspectors check whether the garage correctly approved or rejected the car. If a defect is found during a random check that the garage overlooked, the garage receives penalty points. After a certain number of penalty points, the garage can even be temporarily prohibited from performing MOTs for several months, for example. No inspections can be carried out during this time.

A car is checked on many points. Here is a “small sample” of the checks:

• Tires (minimum 1.6mm tread, below that, rejection. At 2.5mm or less tread, a note will be added to the registration certificate as A.C. (advisory point). Additional checks for hairline cracks or large cracks where the canvas (metal) in the tire is visible, or metal parts such as nails, etc.
• Braking effectiveness (check deceleration on the brake test bench)
• Exhaust emission test (Gasoline 4-gas measurement, Diesel soot measurement)
• Headlight height (and the operative adjustment device if present)
• Lighting
• Seatbelts
• Battery mounting
• Shock absorbers (leaks, etc.)
• Springs (breakage)
• Rust on certain body parts and brake lines
• Brake hoses
• Rubbers / boots

There are many more points, but there is also an MOT book of a few hundred pages available for that. This can also be consulted on the RDW website.