Coronavirus May Change Car Service & Repair Forever

Updated 25.03.2020

The Dept of Transport announced today a 6 month extension would be granted to vehicle owners requiring an MoT after 30th March.

Here is the official UK government statement, offering advice to car and motorcycle owners.

Vehicle owners will be granted a 6-month exemption from MOT testing, enabling them to continue to travel to work where this absolutely cannot be done from home, or shop for necessities.

All cars, vans and motorcycles which usually would require an MOT test will be exempted from needing a test from 30 March 2020. Vehicles must be kept in a roadworthy condition, and garages will remain open for essential repair work. Drivers can be prosecuted if driving unsafe vehicles.

Read advice on keeping a vehicle in a good condition.

People should stay at home and avoid travel. The only reasons people should leave their homes is set out in the government guidance.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

We must ensure those on the frontline of helping the nation combat COVID-19 are able to do so.

Allowing this temporary exemption from vehicle testing will enable vital services such as deliveries to continue, frontline workers to get to work, and people to get essential food and medicine.

Safety is key, which is why garages will remain open for essential repair work.

Legislation will be introduced on March 30 and will come into immediate effect for 12 months, following a short consultation with key organisations. Drivers will still need to get their vehicle tested until the new regulations come into place, if they need to use it.

If you cannot get an MOT that’s due because you’re in self-isolation, the Department for Transport is working with insurers and the police to ensure people are not unfairly penalised for things out of their control.

Practical driving tests and annual testing for lorries, buses and coaches have been suspended for up to 3 months.

Traditional car servicing and garage repairs have been around for a long time, but the recent outbreak of COVID-19, also known as Coronavirus, will almost certainly see a rapid uptake in remote car servicing, plus repair collection and delivery services. Although restrictions will ease one day soon in the UK, many people – especially older drivers with pre-existing medical conditions – will almost certainly value a `Concierge’ approach to car servicing. Especially one that guarantees a super clean car when handed over after servicing. 

Such thorough cleaning of the interior of the car in particular is likely to become a standard part of mainstream vehicle servicing too. In fact Commercial insurers and brokers would be wise to add that as a standard condition, so that any future contagious diseases are fought with more distancing and better workplace cleanliness, as a matter of routine.

For claims management and accident repair specialists, there’s no doubt that sanitising a car that’s suffered a minor bump BEFORE the technicians get busy, and prior to customer handover, needs to become standard practice.

Increased home working may well become the norm for many from now on, but many jobs require travel and for fleet managers and company car owners alike, the Fixter experience is well worth reading;

• Fixter, the UK’s first end-to-end online car maintenance service, has busiest ever week and single busiest day on Wednesday 18th March
• In the COVID-19 crisis, customers are valuing the “physical contact free” Fixter service, as many are choosing not to leave their homes
• Their cars are picked-up then serviced, MOTed or maintained before being dropped back at their homes
• Large increase in demand particularly in the last few days is also evidence that customers are getting their private cars ready for the months ahead under COVID-19
• To respond to the COVID-19 emergency Fixter has introduced a sanitising cleanse for cars, before they are returned to customers, including a wipe down of the steering wheel, gear knobs, driving controls and handles
• Where Fixter appointed delivery drivers are operational in cities such as London, Manchester and Birmingham they will wash their hands with soap and water and use sanitiser gels at regular intervals while maintaining safe distances when dealing with customers to avoid all forms of physical contact
• New ways of working – being a digital business, Fixter HQ is fully operational but all staff are working from home, using the latest digital networking technology to keep operations running 100%

Limvirak Chea, Founder and CEO said: “We have seen a huge increase in demand for our service in the COVID-19 crisis as customers want to minimise contact or even leave their house. It is also becoming clear that customers see their private car as a key part of their armoury to protect themselves and their family in the crisis, so they have been getting them serviced and prepared for what might lie ahead.

“To respond to the COVID-19 emergency Fixter has introduced a sanitising cleanse to cars before returning them to customers and our appointed freelance Fixter drivers follow all the hand washing and gel protocols and maintain safe distances when dealing with customers and avoid physical contact. This includes customers no longer having to sign for collection so they don’t need to touch the screen.

“We have also implemented new ways of working with our entire head office team now working from home following the government guidelines.  Using the latest digital networking technology, we are now fully operational again.”