CAR stuck in Italy - MOT expired
Discussion
OutInTheShed said:
Desiderata said:
How many times does it need to be said? It's perfectly legal to drive it to a pre-booked MOT. If it's a UK registered car, and it's legal to drive in the UK, then it's automatically legal to drive it through France.
The problem is you may end up arguing the point with un gendarme.The legality of driving to a UK MOT is quite limited in the small print.
Directly there, non stop, no diversions for other purposes.
It doesn't matter how man times it's said, it has limits.
My understanding is that people repatriating vehicles have been fined heavily in France for no MOT.
For sure, like all motoring offences, lots of people get way with it.
But if things go Pete Tong, your car gets impounded it can get messy and expensive.
Then all the people on the interweb saying JFDI go quiet.
And I don't think the general principle of UK legal cars being legal in France even exists.
Winter tyres? odds and ends you need to carry?
bimsb6 said:
Do people carry their mot details with them to europe ? I never have , insurance and license yes .
I do take MOT with me , might as well , but when I was stopped in Germany he took licence and V5 and maybe passport to check and nothing else .Luckily the car didn't get a look over as there was a 12" crack in the windscreen .
Bobajobbob said:
I can only speak from personal experience but having accidentally driven a car for almost a year without an MOT due to insurance/tax getting our of sync over Covid I can say that it wasn't picked up by any cameras/systems.
I have been stopped for no mot, drove past stationary traffic car which then came after me w blues n twos, pulled me over and told me I had no mot. My mum drove a car for months w no mot but was lucky, as we're you. As some have said, it is a minor offence, no points, £85 fine so maybe you were picked up but the police had more important things to do. It's not relevant tho as op can drive to a pre-booked MOT.Griffith4ever said:
Agreed. I've driven for 6 months with no MOT in error, as has my Mrs. All over the place. Your chances of getting into bother are (seemingly)
a) being a toe rag and getting pulled - because that happens.
b) being involved in a crash and having to produce documents
c) being stopped in a specific "operation" - of which I think I can recall seeing one in my lifetime.
My coper mate confirmed to me they don't set their cars to ping every single MOT and TAX offence or they'd never get any work done. Insurance, yes, they do, as that also leads to the other two usually. This is of course not the same country wide as the resident plod on here will probably chime in.
To be frank - our roads are fairly lawless these days what with the almost absence of police cars - certainly here in Somerset.
And, despite all this, I got stopped for no mot. Just because you haven't experienced something doesn't say it doesn't happen. You're giving an opinion, I'm stating a fact.a) being a toe rag and getting pulled - because that happens.
b) being involved in a crash and having to produce documents
c) being stopped in a specific "operation" - of which I think I can recall seeing one in my lifetime.
My coper mate confirmed to me they don't set their cars to ping every single MOT and TAX offence or they'd never get any work done. Insurance, yes, they do, as that also leads to the other two usually. This is of course not the same country wide as the resident plod on here will probably chime in.
To be frank - our roads are fairly lawless these days what with the almost absence of police cars - certainly here in Somerset.
bimsb6 said:
How do you know that ? You only know that the “ping” wasn’t acted on. Years back i was in the police “station” at granada services at toddington the anpr system was pinging away hits that nobody acted on .
Thank you. Confirmed by someone who actually knows what they're talking about, instead of guessing.
Pitre said:
Draxindustries1 said:
Booking an mot is fine.
However, don't infringe any traffic laws coming back through France as the Gendarmerie Nationale will be very keen to impound the car if you cannot show a valid mot...
With respect, the gendarmes don't care about a UK MOT. All they would ever ask for is proof of ownership, insurance and driving licence.However, don't infringe any traffic laws coming back through France as the Gendarmerie Nationale will be very keen to impound the car if you cannot show a valid mot...
I've been asked to produce an mot in 2016 coming back from Italy and for our Spanish registered car an ITVthis year..
Edited by Draxindustries1 on Tuesday 4th October 14:14
Draxindustries1 said:
With respect, they do and its a legal requirement.
I've been asked to produce an mot in 2016 coming back from Italy and for our Spanish registered car an IVA this year..
Interesting take.I've been asked to produce an mot in 2016 coming back from Italy and for our Spanish registered car an IVA this year..
DriveFrance.com and AboutFrance.com, the RAC, the AA, Green Flag and many other motoring sites make no mention of an MOT certificate being needed. Surely they cannot all be wrong?
MustangGT said:
Draxindustries1 said:
With respect, they do and its a legal requirement.
I've been asked to produce an mot in 2016 coming back from Italy and for our Spanish registered car an IVA this year..
Interesting take.I've been asked to produce an mot in 2016 coming back from Italy and for our Spanish registered car an IVA this year..
DriveFrance.com and AboutFrance.com, the RAC, the AA, Green Flag and many other motoring sites make no mention of an MOT certificate being needed. Surely they cannot all be wrong?
MustangGT said:
Draxindustries1 said:
With respect, they do and its a legal requirement.
I've been asked to produce an mot in 2016 coming back from Italy and for our Spanish registered car an IVA this year..
Interesting take.I've been asked to produce an mot in 2016 coming back from Italy and for our Spanish registered car an IVA this year..
DriveFrance.com and AboutFrance.com, the RAC, the AA, Green Flag and many other motoring sites make no mention of an MOT certificate being needed. Surely they cannot all be wrong?
However, get pulled for any reason and see what happens. For the sake of taking the copy of your mot certificate with you it's really a risk not worth taking , it coss nothing.t
I've driven many hundreds of thousands of km's over 17 European countries Inc Poland Czech Rep, Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Switz, to name just a few , if all docs are not carried Inc Mot/ (ITV as I worked from Malaga) you're risking either fines or vehicle impound.
Not all Police forces work the same way, some will work within the law some will work otherwise for their own benefit .Thos is from my own experiences of over 12 years.
Taking your V5, ins docs mot and obviously licence inc IDP takes out the risk of some over zealous copper causing untold problems for self..
Draxindustries1 said:
MustangGT said:
Draxindustries1 said:
With respect, they do and its a legal requirement.
I've been asked to produce an mot in 2016 coming back from Italy and for our Spanish registered car an IVA this year..
Interesting take.I've been asked to produce an mot in 2016 coming back from Italy and for our Spanish registered car an IVA this year..
DriveFrance.com and AboutFrance.com, the RAC, the AA, Green Flag and many other motoring sites make no mention of an MOT certificate being needed. Surely they cannot all be wrong?
However, get pulled for any reason and see what happens. For the sake of taking the copy of your mot certificate with you it's really a risk not worth taking , it coss nothing.t
I've driven many hundreds of thousands of km's over 17 European countries Inc Poland Czech Rep, Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Switz, to name just a few , if all docs are not carried Inc Mot/ (ITV as I worked from Malaga) you're risking either fines or vehicle impound.
Not all Police forces work the same way, some will work within the law some will work otherwise for their own benefit .Thos is from my own experiences of over 12 years.
Taking your V5, ins docs mot and obviously licence inc IDP takes out the risk of some over zealous copper causing untold problems for self..
MustangGT said:
I have also driven tens of thousands of miles in the EU and USA. Despite being stopped a number of times in several different countries I have never been asked for an MOT certificate. As others have pointed out a paper copy does not even need to be issued nowadays.
Me too, but then I think there is a distinct difference between different "groups", and I don't mean that disparagingly. On other threads there are a fair few who say, when discussing GB stickers (and which type are "correct".....), "Why would you not have one?".I don't have one, and never had, for the same reasons I don't carry my MOT around with me, nor my insurance docs, and rarely, my license. The only time I consider this stuff is on discussions here. The rest of the time, I'm focussed on living my life, and not, "preparing" for every possible eventuality.
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff