An automotive industry body says it is “very likely” that impending changes to Warrant of Fitness (WoF) rules will lead to more unsafe vehicles on the road.

The new rules, to be phased in from November this year, mean new vehicles will need their first WoF after four years, up from three, and vehicles between four and 14 years old will only be required to get a new WoF every two years.

Those older than 14 years will still need a yearly inspection, but that includes vehicles registered before 1 January 2000, which are currently subject to biannual WoFs.

Associate Transport Minister James Meager said the changes were influenced by the less strict certification rules of other countries such as Australia and Canada.

But Motor Trade Association head of advocacy James McDowall told Morning Report there were issues with comparing New Zealand with other countries.

“If you look at the overall age and quality of the fleet, it’s quite a different proposition to America and Australia and Europe where we’ve been compared to recently in this debate.”

Association members perform about 80 percent of New Zealand’s WoFs, according to McDowall.

There was a “good justification” for the current WoF rules, he said.

Although he acknowledged the new rules would still require annual WoFs for older vehicles, he said serious issues increased on vehicles that were eight to 10 years old.

“That’s when the fail rates on safety critical issues are around that 30-35 percent mark, and then it climbs from there.”

McDowall pointed out that the when the government consulted on the proposal, it had suggested increasing the WoF duration to two years for vehicles between four and 10 years old, but was now planning to introduce that for vehicles up to 14 years old.

“They’ve just turned around and come out with 14 years out of nowhere. That was not consulted on, and so that has come as a bit of a surprise.”

McDowall did not buy the government’s suggestion that it would save people a significant amount of money.

“If they’re deferring maintenance, if they’re deferring actually looking at some of these issues, your entire saving for many warrants to come is eradicated.

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs