Does a new MOT automatically supercede an old one?

[robsco]

tvrgit said:

Liquid Knight said:

Fail for a single light bulb? Advisory surely.

Don't be obtuse. Whatever it fails on, previous MOT is STILL valid, in answer to OP.

Are you absolutely sure about that? Everything that I hear from my technicians at work suggests that if a vehicle fails its MOT, it immediately invalidates the prior valid certificate.

[*Al*]

This is what i was told by the boss of my MOT station.The newer MOT test superceeds the old one from the time of test so if the car fails, it doesn't have a current valid MOT and that's regardless of how much MOT is left on the old MOT.

[Tunku]

Noisy said:

tvrgit said:

Ring VOSA if you like. The answer is still the same. The old MOT remains valid.

Are you absolutely sure about that? I was told different when I worked at a MOT testing station.

The amount of times I've had an old banger that needed work and failed an early MOT, but was still OK under the original MOT while I did the required remedial work. People are confusing roadworthy with having a valid MOT. The two are not the same ...

[Tunku]

*Al* said:

This is what i was told by the boss of my MOT station.The newer MOT test superceeds the old one from the time of test so if the car fails, it doesn't have a current valid MOT and that's regardless of how much MOT is left on the old MOT.

The man needs to be retrained.

[jagracer]

Deva Link said:

fadeaway said:

martin mrt said:

Nope, Fail im afraid, as is with any bulbs that are part of the MOT that are inoperative

You must use a really poor garage.
Mine would replace the bulb, give me an MoT and charge me an extra couple of quid for the new bulb

More and more unlikey now. What my garage would do (and did on one of our cars due to headlamp alignment) is fail the car, rectify the fault and then retest that item and issue a pass. They don't charge any extra for this or for the work.

Apparently it's absolutely mandatory that garages test the vehicle "as presented" these days.

That's not quite how it works at a proper MOT centre but your not a million miles away.

[Noisy]

Tunku said:

Noisy said:

tvrgit said:

Ring VOSA if you like. The answer is still the same. The old MOT remains valid.

Are you absolutely sure about that? I was told different when I worked at a MOT testing station.

The amount of times I've had an old banger that needed work and failed an early MOT, but was still OK under the original MOT while I did the required remedial work. People are confusing roadworthy with having a valid MOT. The two are not the same ...

The test never required you to present your old certificate, so you could still drive on that although I believe (maybe wrong) its technically not legal and once its failed a test it needs a new certificate issued, now there is a computer system they can track this and know it has failed.

[mcford]

The old certificate is valid until its expiry date regardless of the number of tests it has failed before the expiry date.

A car can be roadworthy with or without a valid MOT certificate, the penalty for not having a valid MOT certificate is £60.

A car can fail on number plates, which does not make it unroadworthy, whereas another car can pass and have heavily tinted front windows which would gain it a prohibition notice in a VOSA roadside check.

The PRS system is there to give the tester a bit of flexibility, if the car fails on a light not working (they can't fail it on a bulb not working, as it's not part of the test to diagnose the fault), he can try replacing the bulb and if it fixes the problem he can then issue a pass. This has to be done within 1 hour of issuing the fail, though it is usually done straight after the fail, before he registers another vehicle for test. What the tester can't do is issue a pass until the fault is fixed.

You only get one retest per test, so you need to ensure that any repairs are done correctly first time (brake pipes not leaking when replaced) and that failures are not introduced during the repair such as twisting flexible hoses on calipers when brake pads are replaced. Otherwise it's a full test and another test fee.

[tvrgit]

robsco said:

tvrgit said:

Whatever it fails on, previous MOT is STILL valid, in answer to OP.

Are you absolutely sure about that?

Yes.

robsco said:

Everything that I hear from my technicians at work suggests that if a vehicle fails its MOT, it immediately invalidates the prior valid certificate.

Then they are wrong.

*Al* said:

This is what i was told by the boss of my MOT station.The newer MOT test superceeds the old one from the time of test so if the car fails, it doesn't have a current valid MOT and that's regardless of how much MOT is left on the old MOT.

Then he's wrong as well.

Noisy said:

The test never required you to present your old certificate, so you could still drive on that although I believe (maybe wrong) its technically not legal and once its failed a test it needs a new certificate issued, now there is a computer system they can track this and know it has failed.

Doesn't matter if it failed. The old MOT Certificate is still valid if you have to present one.

mcford said:

sensible things that people should listen to.

As someone else said earlier, people are confusing MOT expiry and roadworthiness. MOT certificate lasts a year, whatever happens in between. Roadworthiness at the time you are stopped is not the same. Only difference is that if you had an accident due to, say, a defective tyre, you could claim you didn't know - unless it turned out that the car had just failed an MOT because of that defective tyre, in which case you'd be in deeper doo-dah - but you would still have a valid MOT to present at the nick with your HORT1.

Edited by tvrgit on Monday 1st November 07:27

[K50 DEL]

robsco said:

tvrgit said:

Liquid Knight said:

Fail for a single light bulb? Advisory surely.

Don't be obtuse. Whatever it fails on, previous MOT is STILL valid, in answer to OP.

Are you absolutely sure about that? Everything that I hear from my technicians at work suggests that if a vehicle fails its MOT, it immediately invalidates the prior valid certificate.

I had this happen to me on my 306 a couple of months ago.... it had 3 weeks MOT left, so I took it in... it failed on handbrake efficiency.
I said to the tester (a mid 50's chap who's been doing them for years) "that's OK, I've got three weeks left to get it fixed"

He said no, under the new computerised system, a failure immediately invalidates the existing MOT, no matter what the failure is for.

[Deva Link]

K50 DEL said:

He said no, under the new computerised system, a failure immediately invalidates the existing MOT, no matter what the failure is for.

Report him to VOSA.

[tvrgit]

Deva Link said:

K50 DEL said:

He said no, under the new computerised system, a failure immediately invalidates the existing MOT, no matter what the failure is for.

Report him to VOSA.

Yup!

[4Lmike]

Right, I rang VOSA and they said that even if you fail a new MOT, your old one is still valid until it expires, but only on the basis that the faults reported are rectified. So tvrgit you are indeed correct - thanks!

It passed anyway

Edited by 4Lmike on Monday 1st November 13:10

[*Al*]

4Lmike said:

Right, I rang VOSA and they said that even if you fail a new MOT, your old one is still valid until it expires, but only on the basis that the faults reported are rectified. So tvrgit you are indeed correct - thanks!

It passed anyway

Edited by 4Lmike on Monday 1st November 13:10

Cheers guys, this was bugging me! I will inform my MOT guy.

[Ean218]

4Lmike said:

Right, I rang VOSA and they said that even if you fail a new MOT, your old one is still valid until it expires, but only on the basis that the faults reported are rectified. So tvrgit you are indeed correct - thanks!

It's no surprise that people are confused when even VOSA get it wrong, the MOT is valid until it expires - full stop.

[Deva Link]

Ean218 said:

4Lmike said:

Right, I rang VOSA and they said that even if you fail a new MOT, your old one is still valid until it expires, but only on the basis that the faults reported are rectified. So tvrgit you are indeed correct - thanks!

It's no surprise that people are confused when even VOSA get it wrong, the MOT is valid until it expires - full stop.

I was thinking that too - aren't there any MOT failure points that would still allow the car to be roadworthy?

If not, then I suppose the comment is logical, even if not strictly correct.

[Ozzie Osmond]

Ean218 said:

It's no surprise that people are confused when even VOSA get it wrong, the MOT is valid until it expires - full stop.

The vehicle still has an MoT "pass" within the previous 12 months so you cannot be nicked for "no MoT".

But you CAN be nicked for driving an unroadworthy vehicle at any time. If you've just failed an MoT for defective brakes then it's 100% certain you would be in trouble. If it's a monor emissions fail you're away and laughing.

[K50 DEL]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Ean218 said:

It's no surprise that people are confused when even VOSA get it wrong, the MOT is valid until it expires - full stop.

The vehicle still has an MoT "pass" within the previous 12 months so you cannot be nicked for "no MoT".

But you CAN be nicked for driving an unroadworthy vehicle at any time. If you've just failed an MoT for defective brakes then it's 100% certain you would be in trouble. If it's a monor emissions fail you're away and laughing.

When this topic first appeared, I e-mailed VOSA directly to ask them.

I have just received this reply

Dear K50 DEL,

Thank you for your email enquiry dated 1st November, 2010 concerning the
attached.

Unfortunately, what the tester has told you is completely incorrect.

An MOT is valid until midnight on the date of expiry even if the vehicle
fails a new test before the expiry date of the existing one.
This is one of the reasons that you are allowed to take the car for test
up to one month before the expiry- so that if any repairs are needed the
car can still be driven provided the car is roadworthy ( i.e you could
not drive with bald tyres etc as this would be illegal).

I hope this information has assisted you with your enquiry, but if you have
any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Kind Regards
Ian Byrne
VOSA Contact Centre
Operations Directorate
Tel: [phone]

[Deva Link]

Person at VOSA said:

An MOT is valid until midnight on the date of expiry even if the vehicle
fails a new test before the expiry date of the existing one.
This is one of the reasons that you are allowed to take the car for test
up to one month before the expiry- so that if any repairs are needed the
car can still be driven provided the car is roadworthy ( i.e you could
not drive with bald tyres etc as this would be illegal).

Most of us knew that. It does beg the question that I asked earlier though - what could cause an MOT fail but not make the vehicle unroadworthy?

[K50 DEL]

Deva Link said:

Person at VOSA said:

An MOT is valid until midnight on the date of expiry even if the vehicle
fails a new test before the expiry date of the existing one.
This is one of the reasons that you are allowed to take the car for test
up to one month before the expiry- so that if any repairs are needed the
car can still be driven provided the car is roadworthy ( i.e you could
not drive with bald tyres etc as this would be illegal).

Most of us knew that. It does beg the question that I asked earlier though - what could cause an MOT fail but not make the vehicle unroadworthy?

I wondered whether "unroadworthy" became a legal definition at this point (bald tyres as mentioned etc)
under the vehicle defects to driver notice.

Maybe resident BiB could quantify?

[Ozzie Osmond]

Deva Link said:

the question that I asked earlier though - what could cause an MOT fail but not make the vehicle unroadworthy?

Minor fails for any of,

Emissions
Cracked number plate
Dodgy windscreen washers (provided screen is clear)
Dodgy wipers (if it's not raining)
Dodgy headlamp (if it's good daylight)
Dodgy tail lamp (if it's good daylight)
Dodgy side lamp (if it's good daylight)
Dodgy horn
Dodgy seat belts
etc, etc