I have recently emigrated to New Zealand and am hoping to bring my MX-5 over too. The car is currently garaged in the UK at a relative’s house.
The car is a 2009 1.8 MK3.5.
I am trying to work out if the car meets New Zealand’s requirements for pedestrian safety. It is not a showstopper if it does not, as I could apply for an exemption.
The relevant standard that it would have to meet is: “Directive 96/79/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1996 on the protection of occupants of motor vehicles in the event of a frontal impact”.
I have done lots of Googling and am struggling to find out much about what pedestrian safety certifications a MK3.5 has. Does anyone have any advice or know where I could look?
Directives are essentially instructions for member states to incorporate legislation into national law. These are really for the benefit of new members of the EU that had less developed legislation.
The car was, I assume, UK spec, and was UK Type Approved, thereby meeting all the relevant Type Approvals.
I think you can get a letter from Mazda UK declaring that the car conforms to the UK legislation at the time of first registration. You might have to pay a fee for this. The NZ government mentions this:
You are correct, it is a UK spec (and completely unmodified) car.
Do you happen to know if the Mk3.5 has a EC approval plate/sticker? I’m 11,000 miles away from the car and will need to ask my (non-car expert) mother to take a picture of it!
From the pictures of the car that I have with me, I don’t think it is in the engine bay. The tyre pressures are on inside the driver’s door, but I can’t recall what else is on that sticker.
If the EC sticker is not present/is not helpful, your suggestion of approaching Mazda is a good one.
