Iltis Assistance in Alberta (Calgary) - new owner

[rob love]

Stuart: Some good information there on some of the work-arounds.

I think we are seeing some of the headaches some of the collectors in the US are facing: The bureaucrats don't really want to deal with military vehicles for on road use that don't fit the perfect mold of what is in the insurance listings. I know I have run into some very onerous people in our provincial insurance/registration program who said they had to consider whether something as simple and common as a 1971 M38A1 should be on the road. It is far easier for them to say "no" than to risk the consequences of an approval.

Jason: As Stuart said, more information is needed. But as to competency, for many civilian mechanics the military vehicles are very foreign to them, and for the one or two times a year they might see them, (and that number might be generous) there is really very little money in learning about them. It is a job to the mechanic and the shop, not a passion. Add to that the difficulty of finding most of the parts, and it can seem like the shop is dropping the ball.

If there are problems with the inspection process, most provinces will have a department to register a complaint. A friend of mine had the job of investigating the various shops who were either gouging customers on the safety inspection, or else passing vehicles for an extra fee that should not have been on the road.