The organisation overseeing the certification of modified vehicles is searching for a new generation of car enthusiasts – with almost a third of its certifiers nearing retirement.
The Low Volume Vehicle Technical Association (LVVTA) oversees the certification process for heavily modified vehicles to ensure they meet New Zealand's legal safety standards.
Around 6000 vehicles are certified each year by 46 certifiers nationwide.
But LVVTA chief executive Ken McAdam said nearly a third of the current certifiers were approaching retirement, with more than a dozen expected to leave the industry in the near future.
He said a shortage of certifiers could mean longer waits for people wanting to get their modified vehicles certified.
"If we end up with gaps in certifiers, it means it takes a lot more time for people to certify cars," McAdam said.
The LVVTA works with police Serious Crash Unit investigations and has seen cases where uncertified vehicles have been involved in crashes.
McAdam said modifications had sometimes contributed to those crashes.
The Toyota Hiace was the most commonly modified vehicle being certified, largely because of its use as a taxi van, while the Ford Ranger was increasingly common.
One of the newer certifiers was Kāpiti man Matt Lauder, who had been working on cars since he was young.
He spent about a decade drifting, including competing in cars he built himself.
Lauder said the experience taught him about modifying vehicles and understanding what worked and what did not.
Last year, he became an official low volume vehicle certifier, inspecting and testing modified vehicles to ensure they met safety standards.
His customers said his expertise had helped them build vehicles to a standard that could ultimately be certified for road use.
McAdam said there were no specific prior qualifications required to become a certifier.
Instead, the assessment process was heavily focused on understanding how vehicles were modified and identifying potential faults.
"The main focus will be on finding the right people to do the job," he said.
"They are out there, it's just some of those people have their head down, buried in workshops."
The New Zealand Transport Agency did not say whether it was concerned about the number of certifiers approaching retirement, but said it was confident work was underway to ensure overall coverage remained at an appropriate level.
The LVVTA was hoping more car enthusiasts would consider becoming certifiers.
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