Wellington’s whopper WOF worry

The anxiety many experience when driving in for a Warrant of Fitness (WOF) now has some statistical basis, with revelations 1.38 million inspections in 2016/17 resulted in failure.

The most common reason for almost 40 per cent of WOF inspections missing the mark was lights with 716,339 faults picked up in that year alone.

And the news is even worse for Wellington motorists.

The region’s 43 per cent failure rate over the same period was 6 per cent higher than the rest of the country.

Nationally, cars first registered in the 1990s were the worst offenders with only one in two cars passing their warrants (49 per cent), which meant 663,571 did not make the grade.

The numbers, released by the New Zealand Transport Agency under the Official Information Act, capture all WOF tests including those carried out at compliance centres where used cars entering the country are first checked.

Agency road safety director Harry Wilson said that while ‘‘roughly one in three cars’’ was not getting the green light, often only minor changes were needed.

‘‘In some cases, vehicles can fail an inspection for a single fault which can be quickly and easily rectified. In other cases, more serious issues are picked up. Whatever the case, the purpose of the WOF inspection regime is to ensure that all vehicles undergo a basic safety check on a regular basis,’’ Wilson said.

The higher rates of failure in the capital have not escaped the Motor Trade Association (MTA).

‘‘It’s very, very unusual. We’ve compared it to the age of the fleet and there’s just no correspondence there,’’ said MTA WOF sector expert Graeme Swan.

‘‘So are Wellingtonians reluctant to get their cars serviced [and] maintained properly? Do we have tougher inspectors? Are we travelling more miles? It’s something that we’re trying to get to the bottom of.’’

In July 2014, new rules governing the frequency of WOF testing were introduced.

That meant new cars would not need a WOF for three years after their initial inspection, and cars registered after January 1, 2000, would have annual inspections instead of six-monthly ones. Cars

registered before 2000 would still need to undergo twice-yearly checks, with the suite of measures predicted to save motorists and businesses $159 million a year.

Since the new testing regime came into play, the most common reason for being knocked back for a warrant was for lights - more than double the next highest problem area, tyres, which accounted for 379,132 faults.

‘‘New Zealanders seem to rely a lot on the WOF system as a reminder to service their vehicles and with a lot of vehicles extending out to a one-year warrant, that’s another missed opportunity to get things fixed,’’ Swan said.

A WOF inspection is a general safety check in which everything from tyre and brake conditions, through to airbags, seat belts, steering, suspension and exhausts are examined.

Wilson wanted motorists to understand that passing a WOF did not give your car ‘‘a clean bill of health’’.

‘‘It simply means it was up to standard on the day of inspection. We want to change the way people think a current WOF sticker represents a safe vehicle to one where vehicles owners take more ownership and ensure their vehicles are in a safe condition at all times,’’ Wilson said.

For three years running, Toyota Corolla and Subaru Legacy vehicles were listed as the cars most likely to fail an inspection.

Vehicle Testing New Zealand general manager of operations Greg O’Connor wasn’t surprised given the popularity of the two models.

‘‘The Toyota Corolla is the most common car, hence the volume of fails will be high, although we would expect that the failure percentage would be average,’’ O’Connor said.

Ford Falcons and Nissan Primeras have also featured, with the Toyota Hilux the most failed goods truck. ‘‘Both the Nissan Primera and Subaru Legacy tend to be older ... and are commonly modified,’’ O’Connor said.