New safety regulations start July 1st?!? | GTAMotorcycle.com

New safety regulations start July 1st?!?

J

johnscruiser

Well-known member
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http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/trucks/motor-vehicle-inspection-stations.shtml#passenger

Friend works at a garage and they had an MTO rep come by on Friday and run through the new rules. He gave me that above link. I ran my car through the list...

1. Electrical system "not of OEM quality"

IMG_20151008_222146.jpg


2. Rear ride height too low (from the tractor batteries and audio equipment in the trunk). Could probably get two tickets also with "insufficient suspension travel" too because it's pre-compressed (not just lowered).

3. HID headlights.

4. Might have a problem for removing my rear seat or those seatbelts.

Freaky.
 
Do existing small garages have the equipment to do all of the tests?

What will be the cost of the new safety?

I foresee some angry ricers.
 
I applaud giving idiots who put HID bulbs in halogen and halogen projector housings fix it tickets.
 
Seems they'll get to joyride your vehicle too under the name of the test. This is not good for those of us with manual transmissions.

In a previous stick car, the mechanic needed to move my car 20 feet. Said he could drive stick. No problem right?

He then proceeded to stall my car at least 30 times in a row and kept asking what happened each time he stalled? Took him at least 10 minutes to move my car those 20 feet. Super painful.
 
mudmojo said:
Seems they'll get to joyride your vehicle too under the name of the test. This is not good for those of us with manual transmissions.

In a previous stick car, the mechanic needed to move my car 20 feet. Said he could drive stick. No problem right?

He then proceeded to stall my car at least 30 times in a row and kept asking what happened each time he stalled? Took him at least 10 minutes to move my car those 20 feet. Super painful.
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Oh damn, didn't notice that. My car is stick, with a horrible idle bounce, and super sticky clutch (it's new). Yikes is right :(
 
Isn't this only if you are getting your car safetied to sell? Would be worse if there were yearly mandatory inspections.
 
conundrum said:
Isn't this only if you are getting your car safetied to sell? Would be worse if there were yearly mandatory inspections.
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Whats the difference its a huge cash grab anyway. I mean cmon who are they kidding with this ****.. do unsafe cars account for a disproportionate number of accidents and injuries/deaths? This is bogus keep-busy bs from the beaurocrats. When they stop making new rules they lose their jobs. Meanwhile with every new rule we're that much poorer.
 
mmmnaked said:
Whats the difference its a huge cash grab anyway. I mean cmon who are they kidding with this ****.. do unsafe cars account for a disproportionate number of accidents and injuries/deaths? This is bogus keep-busy bs from the beaurocrats. When they stop making new rules they lose their jobs. Meanwhile with every new rule we're that much poorer.
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It's gotten so bad I didn't even have to read the link to know your assessment is accurate. This is maddening beyond belief. We are in for a world of hurt going forward. When I tour thru Mennonite country I just drool at what we've lost. There's got to be a happy medium.
 
mmmnaked said:
Whats the difference its a huge cash grab anyway. I mean cmon who are they kidding with this ****.. do unsafe cars account for a disproportionate number of accidents and injuries/deaths? This is bogus keep-busy bs from the beaurocrats. When they stop making new rules they lose their jobs. Meanwhile with every new rule we're that much poorer.
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Actually I think there is a link between unsafe cars and accidents, possibly a disproportionate amount.

Hot rods have existed since the automobile was invented, then came the "tuner car" , often built cheap and cheerful, poorly fitted rims and spacers, then the crash happens. HID lamps get installed off Ebay, never get aimed right.. it goes on.

Sort of like the loud pipes saves lives club. Keep doing dumb stuff and you get dumber regulations.
 
crankcall said:
Actually I think there is a link between unsafe cars and accidents, possibly a disproportionate amount.

Hot rods have existed since the automobile was invented, then came the "tuner car" , often built cheap and cheerful, poorly fitted rims and spacers, then the crash happens. HID lamps get installed off Ebay, never get aimed right.. it goes on.

Sort of like the loud pipes saves lives club. Keep doing dumb stuff and you get dumber regulations.
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I say bull unless you find stats. I've driven by enough accidents and its almost never a tuner or modified car. Its soccer moms and Chinese people in Camrys (no offense to Camrys)
 
mmmnaked said:
I say bull unless you find stats. I've driven by enough accidents and its almost never a tuner or modified car. Its soccer moms and Chinese people in Camrys (no offense to Camrys)
Click to expand...

A buddy of mine now lives in Brampton (moved from Markham) and he said Brampton has worse drivers by far.

That is a valid point, all this attention to something that is probably less than 1% of cars on the road.
Usually those tuner guys have their cars in good working order. It seems more ppl get killed from truck tires than tuner cars.

hmm, maybe we are next, we pay a special fee to add after market parts approved by MTO, lol
 
-D- said:
A buddy of mine now lives in Brampton (moved from Markham) and he said Brampton has worse drivers by far.
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This is why the rates in Brampton or so damn high....

I work in Niagara Falls, during tourist season it feels like you take your life in your hands when the tourists get up and start milling about after 9-10am
 
Okay, i lived in brampton 5 years.... its made me a better driver by doding the ***** that happens up there.

Also my buddy's friend was with us on a ride, he's an electrical contractor under the region of peel and he is amazed at the amount of electrical posts he has to replace/rewire in brampton. The rate is ridiculous compared to the rest of the GTA and i think that gives you a good idea of how awful they are.

And yeah id have to agree that nowadays, tuner cars usually make the cars safer rather than more dangerous.

Now with those changes in regulations... i hate to say it but fak them. I don't want someone else driving my standard car.
I won't care as much now, but 4-5 years ago, after i got a new clutch put in (it wasnt worn out...but engine was out so i thought, might as well) i would never have wanted someone else to burn a brand new clutch for testing purposes.

Oh well.. its gonna become like quebec where policemen are after tuners like sniffer dogs are after crack... stop you, inspect and try to nail you for anything (loud exhaust, too low of a clearance in your wheel well, etc etc etc)
 
Some things done to "tuner cars" are indeed conceivably unsafe (Having no functional suspension, having excessive camber, having screwed up steering geometry, etc) but the number of those cars on the road has got to be 0.1% or less. I've seen the outcome of a case where a VW Jetta with excessive camber evidently had the connection between the knuckle and the strut break. Those cars are not designed for that connection to be adjustable and it has to be modified (a.k.a. weakened) in order to allow it. But a customer of mine had a bone stock Honda Civic have the front suspension collapse because of a broken ball joint, so it isn't just modified cars that can have stuff break. Fortunately that one happened at low speed.

The bigger problem for the average person is that the new procedure takes around 3 hours of labour to do properly ($$$) and normal wear and tear will result in a "fail" even though the situation is not really unsafe. Basically it means any car will be more or less worthless after 3 years because of the excessive cost of having the inspection done and of replacing all the suspension and steering parts that have rubber bushings or boots.

I know my own car (which is a 2008 with 230,000 km on it) would fail:
- Aftermarket HID headlamps (in projector housings ... the beam pattern and low beam cutoff are good ... The new standard doesn't recognize that aftermarket lighting might actually be good)
- Aftermarket muffler (flex pipe broke on the original - the replacement is just a smidge louder ... but it's not OEM ... definitely not obnoxious. Broken flex pipes are a common occurrence on this model ... the aftermarket is warrantied for life and has already been replaced once, the dealer will tell you to pound sand and make you pay for the replacement)
- Non-stock ride height - Complete Bilstein kit designed for the vehicle and professionally installed ... and with appropriate bump travel in reserve ... but it's not OEM parts. The interesting bit is that Bilstein is the OEM suspension supplier but the OEM parts are built to a price (no adjustments, cheap valving) and the aftermarket bits have the proper valving and adjustable ride height.
- Non-stock tire and rim sizes. The tires come within 1" of the fenders when turning ... but they don't hit. Not a safety hazard ... but it's a fail. I think the STOCK tires come within 1" of the fenders when turning, but the only way to prove that is to put the stock tire sizes back on. (fortunately, that's just a matter of swapping to the winter rims). The rims on the car are actually OEM rims, just not for the trim level that mine is.
- Worn front swaybar bushings. This one I will grant as a legit reason for failure although it hardly makes the car unsafe to drive ... it just makes noise over bumps.
- It will probably need new front lower control arms ... that's the only way to get new ball joints and bushings since it all comes as one assembly.

The average cop looking at my car wouldn't know it ain't stock.

I don't own a vehicle which is not modified.
 
This will be funny later, old lady with her Camry and 10k km being told her car failed...lol
 
Brian P said:
Some things done to "tuner cars" are indeed conceivably unsafe (Having no functional suspension, having excessive camber, having screwed up steering geometry, etc) but the number of those cars on the road has got to be 0.1% or less. I've seen the outcome of a case where a VW Jetta with excessive camber evidently had the connection between the knuckle and the strut break. Those cars are not designed for that connection to be adjustable and it has to be modified (a.k.a. weakened) in order to allow it. But a customer of mine had a bone stock Honda Civic have the front suspension collapse because of a broken ball joint, so it isn't just modified cars that can have stuff break. Fortunately that one happened at low speed.

The bigger problem for the average person is that the new procedure takes around 3 hours of labour to do properly ($$$) and normal wear and tear will result in a "fail" even though the situation is not really unsafe. Basically it means any car will be more or less worthless after 3 years because of the excessive cost of having the inspection done and of replacing all the suspension and steering parts that have rubber bushings or boots.

I know my own car (which is a 2008 with 230,000 km on it) would fail:
- Aftermarket HID headlamps (in projector housings ... the beam pattern and low beam cutoff are good ... The new standard doesn't recognize that aftermarket lighting might actually be good)
- Aftermarket muffler (flex pipe broke on the original - the replacement is just a smidge louder ... but it's not OEM ... definitely not obnoxious. Broken flex pipes are a common occurrence on this model ... the aftermarket is warrantied for life and has already been replaced once, the dealer will tell you to pound sand and make you pay for the replacement)
- Non-stock ride height - Complete Bilstein kit designed for the vehicle and professionally installed ... and with appropriate bump travel in reserve ... but it's not OEM parts. The interesting bit is that Bilstein is the OEM suspension supplier but the OEM parts are built to a price (no adjustments, cheap valving) and the aftermarket bits have the proper valving and adjustable ride height.
- Non-stock tire and rim sizes. The tires come within 1" of the fenders when turning ... but they don't hit. Not a safety hazard ... but it's a fail. I think the STOCK tires come within 1" of the fenders when turning, but the only way to prove that is to put the stock tire sizes back on. (fortunately, that's just a matter of swapping to the winter rims). The rims on the car are actually OEM rims, just not for the trim level that mine is.
- Worn front swaybar bushings. This one I will grant as a legit reason for failure although it hardly makes the car unsafe to drive ... it just makes noise over bumps.
- It will probably need new front lower control arms ... that's the only way to get new ball joints and bushings since it all comes as one assembly.

The average cop looking at my car wouldn't know it ain't stock.

I don't own a vehicle which is not modified.
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Re suspension where does it say it has to be OEM height?

2.1
e)
- there is no or very limited suspension
travel due to a binding or seized
suspension component, or due to
improper stiffness or specification of
suspension (which is either topped or
bottomed out)

Only under air suspension it mentions OEM specs
2.4 Air Suspension
a)
- height is above or below OEM
specification
- vehicle leans to one side


Just get koni FSDs ;). No height drop, comfortable on GTA's ****** roads, handle great on pavement and do great on gravel roads.
 
Interesting, is this intentionally or unintentionally pushing us towards the Japanese model? When a vehicle in Japan is something like 5 years old, it requires a comprehensive refurbishment (~$20,000) so almost all vehicles get shipped out of the country as it's just not worth it.

If they push to hard on this, it will make cheap used cars go to scrap as the buying pool can't afford to get them back on the road. Is there a repair limit like on emissions (eg. pay $1000 in repairs and get a pass)?
 
daught said:
Just get koni FSDs ;). No height drop, comfortable on GTA's ****** roads, handle great on pavement and do great on gravel roads.
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I think he is talking about his smart car. I don't think they make FSD's for that car.
 
I think it's designed to reduce inner city congestion. Sort of an urban tax.
 
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