TERRIBLE QUALITY: Half of the cars more than 5 years old are NOT ROADWORTHY

PETALING JAYA - The Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) director-general Professor Dr. Wong Shaw Voon said, studies show that half of the vehicles over five years old have failed the Puspakom roadworthiness tests.

In other words, these cars are not suitable to be put on the road again.

Wong told Sin Chew Daily car manufacturers normally design the vehicles for a specific length of life span. Vehicles that are driven frequently on the road without regular replacement of faulty parts actually only have five years of life span.

"Vehicles for normal driving and with regular maintenance can last for eight years. If an owner has taken very good care of his or her vehicle, then it can last up to 12 years."

However, he said vehicles older than this can still run on the road, but their fuel economy and efficiency would be drastically compromised, with increasingly higher chances of breakdowns and the owners will need to fork out more money and time to fix their vehicles.

He said this is why many car manufacturers have offered only three to five years of warranty, adding that compulsory inspection could help the owners better understand the conditions of their vehicles in a bid to reduce risks of traffic incidents.

"Older cars will also consume more fuel as their combustion efficiency lowers, causing more harm to our environment. Vehicle inspection helps rectify such problems."

He said vehicle inspection is necessary although members of the public are concerned about irregularities during the execution stage, adding that the government should give priority to solving such issues.

He said it is not sure whether Puspakom will be wholly authorized to inspect aging vehicles or other inspection centers will also be allowed to participate in vehicle inspection. However he said the government can emulate the system in UK where vehicles are inspected and maintained simultaneously.

Compulsory inspection for vehicles over five years of age has not received positive response from everyone. Some said the government should first resolve the issue of Puspakom's efficiency before considering implementation of compulsory inspection.

In addition there have also been calls for the government to liberalize the vehicle inspection market, allowing other operators to also participate, otherwise it would be unfair for consumers to send in their vehicles over five years old for inspection.

They said the policy should be carried out on a voluntary basis instead of making it compulsory for all vehicle owners to send in their cars for inspection, thus aggravating their financial burden and mental stress.

A car critic told Sin Chew Daily it is not really necessary to send all cars over five years old for inspection. He proposed that the government should instead make it compulsory for owners to send in their vehicles older than ten years.

According to insider information, a large Puspakom center can handle an average of 800 commercial and passenger vehicles each day, while the centers in Klang Valley normally handle around 300 to 800 a day.

On average a vehicle will take about an hour to complete the inspection process.

According to the Puspakom website, there are a total of 55 Puspakom centers in the country. Commercial vehicle inspection costs between RM25 and RM90 while passenger vehicle inspection costs between RM25 and RM300, based on the vehicle models and inspection types.

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