NAP 2014: Voluntary vehicle inspection to be introduced for cars over five years old

puspakom 1

The National Automotive Policy (NAP 2014) thankfully did not include any Vehicle End of Life Policy as previously speculated. However, there was a mention of something called VVI, or Voluntary Vehicle Inspection, which from what we were briefed, was still under development.

As of now, Voluntary Vehicle Inspection will apply to cars over the age of five years and is aimed at improving road safety in Malaysia. Inspection centres will not be limited to any one agency or company like Puspakom, but didn’t go into details as to how many companies will be appointed, what was the procedure to apply to be certified as one of these companies, or any other details. However, since Puspakom already exists, it would be no surprise if they will eventually be one of the inspection centres.

There will be a cost to the inspection of course. And since it is voluntary, the government intends to implement some kind of ‘carrot’ to incentivise people to go for inspections. We learned last week that one of the proposals being fielded now is to have some kind of road tax rebate if you send your car for inspection, assuming you pass the inspection of course.

Of course, this is all just at the proposal stage. There is a general vagueness of the NAP as a whole and many things are just mentioned at a top of the line stage without going into any detail whatsoever.

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Paul Tan

After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Comments

  • wishy on Jan 21, 2014 at 12:29 pm

    Another barrier to pass, another opportunity for corruption. When will our politicians ever learn.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 29 Thumb down 3
    • Do you know who owns Puspakom? That’s why lah…

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 0
    • biggest joke of the year. road tax rebate for sending ur vehicle in? i pay the stupid puspakom to tear my RM2k v-kool and the stupid government gives me a rebate in my road tax? i wonder if the person who said that actually ate a filthy pussy the night before.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • shawal on Jan 21, 2014 at 12:30 pm

    Preve’s roadtax is rm90, how much rebate can anybody benefit from it??? Vehicle inspection is not cheap, i rather send it to unbiased non gov appointed companies for valuation / or manufacturer 3s centres for service .

    We have to take into account the amount of time, money , fuel needed to go for these inspections, izzit worth the rebate?

    You want to make roads safer, reduce excise tax on safe cars, reduce further excise tax on ckd cars to encourage foreign investors, make 6 airbags and vsc mandatory …simple!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 31 Thumb down 1
  • nacho on Jan 21, 2014 at 12:40 pm

    puspakom every day is full.. how can be every body going to inspect their cars?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 17 Thumb down 1
  • motorhead on Jan 21, 2014 at 12:47 pm

    Free inspection? I think not.. And Puspakom monoply the business.. Where is anti monopoly act? Harrrktpuih.. Again.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 16 Thumb down 1
  • This could be something fishy. They can say if you dont pay for voluntary inspection, you pay hefty road tax. Either way you are have to pay. Potentially another creative project to squeeze your money by beloved Barang Naik.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 20 Thumb down 1
  • Critique on Jan 21, 2014 at 1:00 pm

    Instead of spending time and $$ on setting this up for private vehicles, the focus should be on the numerous buses and lorries that ply our roads.

    Due to the high wear and tear of these commercial vehicles, this is where strict inspection and enforcement is reallyyy needed!

    Tgh I am pretty sure there are existing regulations in place, enforcement is still pretty lax cuz we still see buses and lorries spewing out thick black smog on our roads. Also, more often than not, most of us have been stuck in km’s long crawls cuz of a stalled/broken sand lorry/prime mover+trailer… Were these vehicles road-worthy??

    So I do wonder, once this VVI is implemented, would there be honest to goodness improvements on our road conditions??

    Cheers :)

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 16 Thumb down 1
  • azrai on Jan 21, 2014 at 1:09 pm

    How about rebate on insurance renewal? Since the car inspected and passed insurance company also share benefit from this. Hopefully the G will closely work with central bank and the industry player for this incentive.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 0
  • This is to just enrich Syed Mokhtar. Can you imagine, rice is so important staple food also and yet it is controlled by this one man.

    From non compulsory, slowly it will be compulsory. What they need to do is clean up Puspakom. It is diry to the core. Everything there need undertable money. The ulat and the Puspakom guys work hand in hand. Everyday, hundreds of thousands of ringgit go into corruption into Puspakom officers pockets

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 14 Thumb down 1
  • Alifz on Jan 21, 2014 at 1:11 pm

    If the agency are broad in choices other than Puspakom it will be good, or else this should not be implemented. Look at current Puspakom center long queue with headache..

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
  • deaftek on Jan 21, 2014 at 1:15 pm

    Half cooked policy

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 0
  • Denaihati on Jan 21, 2014 at 1:17 pm

    i think with road tax rebate, probably a good incentive later. hope no extra cost for 2nd inspection if fail the test….

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1
  • clutch_plate on Jan 21, 2014 at 1:24 pm

    Improving road safety? On other side, harap kerajaan jangan lupa jugak untuk improve kualiti jalanraya di Malaysia especially on state road. Bumpy & pot holes everywhere. Don’t always blame on cars / drivers only.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 9 Thumb down 0
  • kadajawi on Jan 21, 2014 at 1:26 pm

    Road tax rebate? My car is RM 90 or so per year, how much rebate do they want to give, how much does the inspection cost? Won’t make much sense… And then what if my car fails? Quite risky…

    It should be made compulsory…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 3
  • Black Dog on Jan 21, 2014 at 1:28 pm

    As usual, everything is blur blur typical of our kangkung masters.

    Even after countless studies, overseas field trips, million ringgit research, delays, there’s still no final decision made. Sad.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 0
  • Observer on Jan 21, 2014 at 1:44 pm

    Not any sort of motor expert. The Government may also urgently need to look into the motor service and repair industry.

    My experiences with motor repairs, whether manufacturer or third party, lead me to conclude honest mechanics or workshop owners who do not over charge, over service and who do a quality job is as rare as diamonds.

    When in fact, it should be the norm and standard. Hope the government will seriously look into this.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 0
  • sudonano on Jan 21, 2014 at 1:44 pm

    Having a VVI is nice fine and well, but how they are going to implement it will be the most important part.

    The UK has a good system, called the MOT Test. The MOT test covers the following aspects:
    ~Lighting and signalling equipment
    ~Steering (including suspension)
    ~Brakes
    ~Tyres and wheels
    ~Seat belts
    ~Body, structure and general items
    ~Exhaust, fuel and emissions
    ~Driver’s view of the road

    which is sufficient to tell if it is roadworthy or not. Instead of having a single body, they allow numerous service stations like your regular mechanic and even the authorised service centres (as long as they are trained and certified) to be able to issue the MOT.

    By having many places, we won’t have the insane lines like what we have at Puspakom, and it is more likely to be reliable.

    And as for insentive to get people to do it, why not they include the inspection fee as part of the road tax. No increase in road tax (after all we pay crazy prices for it anyway), instead just take a small sum from it for the inspection. So like the inspection is RM 50, and your yearly road tax is RM 200, so when you do the inspection, you can renew the road tax at RM 150 instead. You pay the same amount. In this case, you can make the inspection compulsory now too.

    And if you are failed, there must be a detailed report, with valid reason as to why you were failed. And an appeal system to make sure those people who try to con motorists will not get away. Done.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 13 Thumb down 0
  • Observer on Jan 21, 2014 at 1:46 pm

    Not any sort of motor expert. The Government may also urgently need to look into the motor service and repair industry.

    My experiences with motor repairs, whether manufacturer or third party, lead me to conclude honest mechanics or workshop owners who do not over charge, over service and who do a quality job are as rare as diamonds.

    When in fact, this should be the norm and standard. Hope the government will seriously look into this.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Steve Jobs on Jan 21, 2014 at 2:20 pm

    insurance rebate pls… 10%-15% ekekekeke on top of NCB.

    my road tax only RM90 :p

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • totti on Jan 21, 2014 at 2:24 pm

    What to inspect? wasting time and money.

    What they know is to ask you to remove your tinted sun screen and install again at your expense.

    This is their main job function that cause you few hundred ringgit to reinstate.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 9 Thumb down 0
  • takNakP1 on Jan 21, 2014 at 2:27 pm

    road safety? did they do anything to control reckless bus and lorry drivers? How about ultra slow over weight and overload lorries?

    if is only save me tens of RM… i rather skip the queue and keep my cool.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 9 Thumb down 0
  • madman on Jan 21, 2014 at 2:43 pm

    talking about road safety, i strongly think most “private” car accident happen is because of the driver’s ego, and those mostly involved are from the newer cars. this is because most drivers will think their car is new, powerful, got all the active/passive safety features, so it was safe to drive at faster & faster speed. this can be seen from the recent preve’s accident, lamborghini accident… older cars are prone to breakdown, it may causes inconvenient to other road users, but the accident occurrence rate seems to be lesser as people are mostly using it for basic nearer transit.

    sorry but i personally do not think this vehicle inspection program will cut-down the accident rate. vehicle inspection are necessary for public transportation but it was too much for personal vehicle.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 9 Thumb down 0
  • Loading for 7 years & above on Jan 21, 2014 at 3:17 pm

    I just renewed my car insurance for my 10 year old perdana and was charged 30% loading fee. Insurance company mention any cars 7 years and above will be charged loading max of 30% if your car has reached 10 years. I paid almost the same amount for my insurance as last year even throughout my market value of the car has drop significantly and the sum insured is much lower than my previous year !

    Why should they impose high loading fee on local/national cars when its still road worthy and safe cars to be used, especially if its a local manufactured car !! My ncb which was 55% was cut to 25% because of this 30% loading fee !

    I think this is not fair at all, if they want to impose inspection for cars above 5 years & above to make sure those cars are still road worthy and safe, that is fine but the cost should not be with the owner. We are paying road tax for our cars, therefore inspection cost should not charged to the car owners !

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
  • Sam Loo on Jan 21, 2014 at 3:57 pm

    For kimchis, inspection needs to happend 2X a year after the 1st year

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 1
    • Besi Buruk on Jan 21, 2014 at 8:14 pm

      Hidden due to lowcomment rating. Click here to see.

      Poorly-rated. Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 113
  • sonyman on Jan 21, 2014 at 4:10 pm

    stupid system, you go see the estate how many cars are road worthy.

    Stupid gomen, you should impose all cars with 6 airbags, VSC as compulsory. Rather than VVI. Waste of time.

    No Hope…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
  • Lets say we failed the inspection, so we need to used our money to fix it then reinspect again with our money also. the person that cant afford to buy a new car is not a rich person..if second time also cannot pass, then how? ask that person to buy a new car?.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
    • Besi Buruk on Jan 21, 2014 at 8:22 pm

      Lets say we failed our first exam, so we need to used our money to resit again. The person that cant study is not a smart person..if second time also cannot pass, then how? ask that person to ………………..?.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Archangel on Jan 21, 2014 at 5:34 pm

    Improved road safety in Malaysia? Our country road is terrible with many potholes and others. Fix the road first then we talk about VVI.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
  • Banyak juga yg belum siap dengan nap ni

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • just another lubang for extra $ to the ular.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
    • Sam Loo on Jan 21, 2014 at 11:44 pm

      Well, where do you think that the money used to get easy votes in East Malaysia came from?

      All our pockets, off course

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • Jebonr on Jan 22, 2014 at 4:03 pm

    Why 5 year? Isn’t that too young of a car age. 8 year and above are more appropriate. Isn’t it enough with rising cost of living now, that we need to fork our money for this. Where have all the fairness in today’s Government go?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
 

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