cerevantes

Right where to begin...I recently became the proud owner of a fabulous 1996 Japanese import WRX Turbo. It is in good nick and runs like a champ. It has the typical used car problems but all in all I am pleased with it. Everything was going well and I was happy until I took it in to get it's MOT, that's when my world came crashing down to earth with the force of a 300 Megaton bomb. There were the usual bits and bobs that you find during an MOT no problem, then the first issue reared it's head; rear shocks...destroyed. Fine no problem as I had noticed the ride wasn't like it should be and I knew they were going to be replaced. Next found out the RH rear wheel was cracked, bit of a bugger but I wanted to get some new shoes for it anyway but just not this soon. Then I got hit with the showstopper. It failed also because the emission was WAY too high. After speaking with the tester he then informed me he tested with the default testing standards as he said there wasn't an exact match in the guide however, he did say there was a similar vehicle listed but he didn't test it to those standards. He also said that the Lambda sensor had been removed and that he could not find the wiring that would connect the Lambda sensor to the car. After taking the vehicle away and doing some more investigation on the car myself I noticed that the downpipe had been de-catted and the centre section only had silencer that leads into the back box. I rang up the MOT test station and informed him that if the exhaust system did not have any cat at all then it would most certainly fail. He said yes but that even if the cats were installed that he would fail it because it did not have the Lambda sensor. Okay here is where it gets strange, I did an RAC vehicle check to see when the vehicle was imported into the UK. It showed that it was imported into the UK in Aug 2002 but it was registered as an M reg vehicle but according to the DVLA it was first used on 31 Dec 1996. My question to the masses is why would the DVLA give it an M reg plate on first registration if the date of first use was the LAST day of 1996. Wouldn't it have received a P reg prefix or at the very least an N? Also does this vehicle even have a Lambda sensor? Shouldn't this vehicle actually be a 1995 vehicle as it was first registered as an M designation? What emmision standard would it be tested to if it turns out to be a 1995? Has anyone ran into this problem before. I apologise if this all sounds like the rantings of a madman but I am desperate and need any help I can get. I really don't want to have 2,200 quid paperweight sitting in my drive.

Here are the vehicle specifics:

VIN: GC8-033063
Model: CG8C48D
Engine: EJ20GDW4HE