Jose Andrade from Aerton Motor Repairs in St Helier, has also played down recent reports from one car-dealer, that they were being forced to scrap over 50 cars a year because they were in such a poor state.
And he has said that many defective vehicles which were stopped during a recent Traffic Focus Week, could have had very minor issues, such as faulty light bulbs.
‘The way he came across, saying that he dumps 52 cars a year, I think gives the wrong impression,’ he said.
‘We see a lot of cars and about 99 per cent are absolutely fine. There are a few where I just have to say to them, “look, this work is going to cost you £1,000 and the car is only worth £200, just get rid of it with a dealer and they will give you £2,000 off a new car.’’
‘It is usually things like the clutch, tyres or brakes. I have been doing this for about 35 years and just have to be honest with them sometimes and say it is not worth spending more on it than it is worth.’
In a recent Traffic Focus Week, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Department stopped 124 defective vehicles, of which 12 were impounded and two were scrapped.
However, Mr Andrade said he thought many of the faulty vehicles could have simply had very minor issues.
‘They were recently talking about 500 cars being stopped in a road-check and a lot of them had defects,’ he said.
‘These are often things like brake light bulbs that unless someone tells you about, how do you know?
‘When people come in for fuel, I normally point it out to them and I sort it out for them then and there because it is such a small job.’
In March, it was revealed by the JEP that, owing to Brexit, Islanders may have to have their cars certified in MOT-style checks before taking them to Europe.
However, enforcing the tests on all Jersey-registered vehicles – whether they leave the Island or not – has not been ruled out.
Mr Andrade said: ‘With commercial vehicles, they maybe have a point but why do we all need this? About 99 per cent of the vehicles we have over here stay on the Island so to have an MOT or a road-worthiness test, I do not think is fair,’ he said.
‘We just need to have a bit of common sense with this. I do not think there are enough non-roadworthy cars in the Island to warrant it and I deal with vehicles from the 1930s all the way up until now. I know they will have to conform to European regulations and if that is the case, then they should do it but I do not think people take heaps away with them when they are going to be driving on motorways.’
The mechanic also questioned where the additional staff to facilitate the tests would come from. And he also raised concerns about the fairness of the potential measures.
‘There is also the question of who is going to be allowed to do it? It has the potential not to be fair and could cause some garages to lose business. If I could not do MOTs, then why would someone bring their car to me when they might have to take it to another garage afterwards? I would not be a one-stop shop.’
