Proposed changes to the Warrant of Fitness (WoF) laws has one Tauranga motorist in disbelief as older car owners will have to pay double what newer car owners pay.

Under the new changes cars built after January 1, 2000 will only be required to undergo a WoF test every year, while vehicles built before 2000 will continue to undergo six monthly tests.

People with cars built before 2000 will have to pay for a Wof test twice a year.

New cars will undergo an initial inspection followed by annual inspections once vehicles are three years old.

The changes, announced by the Government in January, are expected to save motorists up to $200million a year and will be in place by July 2014.

Tauranga resident Ross Grifiths cannot understand how new changes to the WoF system, made through the Land Transport Rule: Vehicle Standards Compliance 2002, will help reduce costs as older car owners will still have to pay a higher annual rate.

The cost of a WoF on a standard car in Tauranga and Mount Maunganui ranges between $35 and $52.

Although Ross owns a 2001 model car, he does not believe it is fair that older car users will effectively have to pay double what new car owners pay. He says the New Zealand Transport Agency's (NZTA's) template for reducing costs will not work.

'Everybody will be in the same boat. People will have to pay the same price as someone who only has to pay once a year.”

He says people cannot afford to buy a newer car just because WoF's are six monthly for older vehicles.

NZTA Waikato Bay of Plenty Regional Communications senior advisor Glenda Dobbyn admits older cars owners will have to pay double as a result of evolving safety features.

'If they are required to undertake six monthly warrants, yes they will be required to pay double.”

She says NZTA does not dictate the pricing strategies, rather the inspections companies, but says they are looking at the decision from a safety perspective.

'For us the reason is making sure the vehicles are up to a safe standard and we are saying vehicles 12 years or older don't have the same features as the newer vehicles.”