The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has completed a landmark prosecution of an independent repair garage for fitting unsuitable parts to a vehicle which would consequently make it illegal to drive on the road.
The work by the garage was designed to make the car noisier than permitted levels and to potentially increase the car’s power.
The DVSA said its investigation found that the independent workshop AET Motorsport in Wakefield “had been openly advertising illegal alterations to vehicles likely to be used on the road”, notably decat exhaust systems and noise-generating ECU remaps.
The unit’s investigators then engaged AET Motorsport to carry out those modifications on a Ford Fiesta ST.
When the work was completed, DVSA established that the Fiesta’s catalytic converter had been swapped out for a pipe linking the fore and aft sections of the exhaust. Such a modification increases a car’s emissions and is an immediate MOT fail.
The ECU remap retarded the ignition and caused higher than normal fuel flow off-throttle, generating the ‘pop bang’ effect. This increased the Fiesta’s drive-by noise emissions to 77dB, 2dB over the legal limit.
According to the DVSA, at no point in the process did AET Motorsport give warning of the illegality of the modifications.
The business was convicted in a prosecution by the DVSA at Kirklees Magistrates Court this month, and it was ordered to pay a total of £7,234 in fines and costs.
The case sets a precedent that could well lead to independent garages withdrawing such modifications from their range of services. The DVSA’s report into the case states: “We will continue to investigate defective or unsuitable vehicle parts being supplied during 2024.”
In 2021 the DVSA highlighted to the public that they could anonymously report makers or sellers of unsafe or illegal vehicle parts to the DVSA Market Surveillance Unit and it could take action alone or in partnership with the police.