CATs

To be honest, they are probably the same spec but the ones with the nice stamp on can command a better price.

cjj wrote: To be honest, they are probably the same spec but the ones with the nice stamp on can command a better price.

Does any one know the rationale behind this?
If the car passes emissions, what's the problem?

David Aiketgate wrote:

cjj wrote: To be honest, they are probably the same spec but the ones with the nice stamp on can command a better price.

Does any one know the rationale behind this?
If the car passes emissions, what's the problem?

I suppose it is just the type approval route that seems to be more and more evident in car components nowadays. There used to be counterfeight cats too. Not sure if that still goes on, but then, what would be stopping them counterfeiting the approval stamp. :dunno:

cjj wrote:

David Aiketgate wrote:

cjj wrote: To be honest, they are probably the same spec but the ones with the nice stamp on can command a better price.

Does any one know the rationale behind this?
If the car passes emissions, what's the problem?

I suppose it is just the type approval route that seems to be more and more evident in car components nowadays. There used to be counterfeight cats too. Not sure if that still goes on, but then, what would be stopping them counterfeiting the approval stamp. :dunno:

That was exactly my thoughts too.

In a similar vein, Scuba diving cylinders have to be pressure tested every two years. They stamp the pass date into the cylinder neck. It's not cheap either. But safety wise, it's sensible.
...until you realised that some unscrupulous people were just buying a set of number stamps and doing their own 'testing'.:shrug:

midlife martyr wrote: Yes but I should imagine the regulations work on date registered and manufactureres are allowed a fair bit of leeway as cars can be manufactured in some cases years before there registered for example for work I run a mk1 Octavia tdi the mk2 were launched in 2005 yet the mk1s were still available to taxi companies up till 2010

You can get the approximate build date from the Vin number and an exact date for the princely sum of £100 (as Rich will confirm) If you PM me the full VIN i can tell you the approx build date. The MGFs and TFs did not hang around long between build and registration although there were some unique examples. I questioned an article in MG Enthusiast which referred to an "early" car and i found that the car was built in early 1996 but was not first registered until 1999 !!! (the early pre-production "F"s were made in early 1995 and registered in August 1995 in Coventry :ohmy: