Driving with no MOT
Discussion
Hi all,
Tomorrow I'm going to buy a car from south Surrey with no MOT, the vehicle has not failed an mot in the last 4 years and is only out currently by 3 days, if I were to book the car in at a local mot station in Luton where I live, would I be covered under the law in that I was driving to an mot? Trip is somewhere around 100 miles door to door.
Obviously I will carry out preliminary checks on the vehicle to ensure it is fit for road use to the best of my knowledge
Tomorrow I'm going to buy a car from south Surrey with no MOT, the vehicle has not failed an mot in the last 4 years and is only out currently by 3 days, if I were to book the car in at a local mot station in Luton where I live, would I be covered under the law in that I was driving to an mot? Trip is somewhere around 100 miles door to door.
Obviously I will carry out preliminary checks on the vehicle to ensure it is fit for road use to the best of my knowledge
The Spruce goose said:
A better option would be motting it near the place of sale and if it fails you can still drive it home as long as road legal. This would also mean you are only driving a safe vehicle.
This is the best advice, if it were to not pass far better to rely on a failed MOT cert which you have freshly printed than have to contact a garage to hopefully confirm your mot booking
V8LM said:
Is it a new week already?
There is no restriction on the distance you can drive to the pre-booked MOT. But you have to drive there directly. Whether you can stop for fuel is more questionable. Probably not.
You certainly can - Secretary of State for Transport V. Richards (1998) JP 682 QBDThere is no restriction on the distance you can drive to the pre-booked MOT. But you have to drive there directly. Whether you can stop for fuel is more questionable. Probably not.
The Court accepted the submission that it is a question of fact and degree in each case for the court to determine whether the exemption is satisfied. But the court said, it is only if this court is satisfied that no court could reasonably have come to the conclusion that it did that it can interfere. On the facts of this case, it is ridiculous if a driver could not stop to obtain petrol on the way. it would fly in the face of common sense if some short stop cannot be made by the driver, for whatever purpose, providing he is on his way to the test station.
Lord Justice Henry: said "I am surprised at a time of financial stringency that public money was spent in the pursuit of this appeal."
ging84 said:
This is the best advice, if it were to not pass far better to rely on a failed MOT cert which you have freshly printed than have to contact a garage to hopefully confirm your mot booking
-Not really such good advice because if it fails on a minor point, you then have to drive it home to fix it and either drive all the way back for a low-cost re-test or pay the full price again.
In fact I bought a car with no MoT 3 weeks ago. It was 50 miles from my home, so I drove it to an MoT station 1/2 a mile from my home, called in at my home on the way and checked it out - it just needed some washer fluid - then it passed with a couple of small advisories.
Just have a good look round it before starting off to make sure the lights are working, the tyres are not split.
You are allowed to stop off for fuel (obviously) or to 'pop into a shop' for a newspaper of fags. That was decided in a court case a while back. Who decides on which route you take. The shortest route may not be the easiest or the one shown by a sat. nav.
Cooperman said:
Not really such good advice because if it fails on a minor point, you then have to drive it home to fix it and either drive all the way back for a low-cost re-test or pay the full price again.
This is one factor, but you are talking a difference of £15-25, which is significant compared to the fine for no MOT, but probably not significant compared to the amount of hassle you'd get from a jobs worth traffic cop who decides after trying to ring your mot centre and getting no answer because they are busy, that he'd issue you a fine for no MOT, possibly no tax, then spend an hour going round the car looking for a reason to ban the car from the road, and possibly finding one or at least deciding that he's found one, which might lead to you receiving points, and having to pay for the vehicle to be recovered.Cooperman said:
You are allowed to stop off for fuel (obviously) or to 'pop into a shop' for a newspaper of fags. That was decided in a court case a while back. Who decides on which route you take. The shortest route may not be the easiest or the one shown by a sat. nav.
When I imported a car from Eire a few years ago, I asked the DVLA about my responsibility and they said you must drive to a prebooked appointment and must not stop. I laughed and said "Yep, no problem, obviously can stop for petrol" and they said "No". And he wasn't being funny. I clarified this and he said I was categorically not allowed to stop, not even for fuel. From Fishguard to Hertfordshire.
I applied reasonableness and did stop for fuel although I did essentially drive straight to the MOT station for a prebooked MOT (on Irish plates)
Kateg28 said:
When I imported a car from Eire a few years ago, I asked the DVLA about my responsibility and they said you must drive to a prebooked appointment and must not stop. I laughed and said "Yep, no problem, obviously can stop for petrol" and they said "No". And he wasn't being funny. I clarified this and he said I was categorically not allowed to stop, not even for fuel.
From Fishguard to Hertfordshire.
I applied reasonableness and did stop for fuel although I did essentially drive straight to the MOT station for a prebooked MOT (on Irish plates)
He was wrong. There was a court case a while back and it was ruled that it is legal to stop on the way to a pre-booked MoT.You may stop off the public road for as long as you wish and may stop on the public road to go to a shop. There is also nothing in the legislation to say that you MUST take the shortest route. If, for example, there are road works on the shortest there can be no reason why a less congested route may not be taken.From Fishguard to Hertfordshire.
I applied reasonableness and did stop for fuel although I did essentially drive straight to the MOT station for a prebooked MOT (on Irish plates)
My son did the same thing with his wife's car which was brought back from France where they had been living. He drove it from Dover to a pre-booked MoT in Biggleswade. It was insured still in France on its French plates. Now the shortest route was not necessarily the M2, M25 & A1, but that was the route he chose. He did the same thing with his own car which is UK registered, but had run out of MoT and tax whilst in France & Germany.
Kateg28 said:
When I imported a car from Eire a few years ago, I asked the DVLA about my responsibility and they said you must drive to a prebooked appointment and must not stop. I laughed and said "Yep, no problem, obviously can stop for petrol" and they said "No". And he wasn't being funny. I clarified this and he said I was categorically not allowed to stop, not even for fuel.
From Fishguard to Hertfordshire.
I applied reasonableness and did stop for fuel although I did essentially drive straight to the MOT station for a prebooked MOT (on Irish plates)
He was wrong. There was a court case a while back and it was ruled that it is legal to stop on the way to a pre-booked MoT.You may stop off the public road for as long as you wish and may stop on the public road to go to a shop. There is also nothing in the legislation to say that you MUST take the shortest route. If, for example, there are road works on the shortest there can be no reason why a less congested route may not be taken.From Fishguard to Hertfordshire.
I applied reasonableness and did stop for fuel although I did essentially drive straight to the MOT station for a prebooked MOT (on Irish plates)
My son did the same thing with his wife's car which was brought back from France where they had been living. He drove it from Dover to a pre-booked MoT in Biggleswade. It was insured still in France on its French plates. Now the shortest route was not necessarily the M2, M25 & A1, but that was the route he chose. He did the same thing with his own car which is UK registered, but had run out of MoT and tax whilst in France & Germany.
Cooperman said:
There was a court case a while back...
Do you mean...??Red Devil said:
You certainly can - Secretary of State for Transport V. Richards (1998) JP 682 QBD
The Court accepted the submission that it is a question of fact and degree in each case for the court to determine whether the exemption is satisfied. But the court said, it is only if this court is satisfied that no court could reasonably have come to the conclusion that it did that it can interfere. On the facts of this case, it is ridiculous if a driver could not stop to obtain petrol on the way. it would fly in the face of common sense if some short stop cannot be made by the driver, for whatever purpose, providing he is on his way to the test station.
Lord Justice Henry: said "I am surprised at a time of financial stringency that public money was spent in the pursuit of this appeal."
The Court accepted the submission that it is a question of fact and degree in each case for the court to determine whether the exemption is satisfied. But the court said, it is only if this court is satisfied that no court could reasonably have come to the conclusion that it did that it can interfere. On the facts of this case, it is ridiculous if a driver could not stop to obtain petrol on the way. it would fly in the face of common sense if some short stop cannot be made by the driver, for whatever purpose, providing he is on his way to the test station.
Lord Justice Henry: said "I am surprised at a time of financial stringency that public money was spent in the pursuit of this appeal."
Cooperman said:
He was wrong. There was a court case a while back and it was ruled that it is legal to stop on the way to a pre-booked MoT.You may stop off the public road for as long as you wish and may stop on the public road to go to a shop. There is also nothing in the legislation to say that you MUST take the shortest route. If, for example, there are road works on the shortest there can be no reason why a less congested route may not be taken.
My son did the same thing with his wife's car which was brought back from France where they had been living. He drove it from Dover to a pre-booked MoT in Biggleswade. It was insured still in France on its French plates. Now the shortest route was not necessarily the M2, M25 & A1, but that was the route he chose. He did the same thing with his own car which is UK registered, but had run out of MoT and tax whilst in France & Germany.
Not sure the highlighted bit is correct:My son did the same thing with his wife's car which was brought back from France where they had been living. He drove it from Dover to a pre-booked MoT in Biggleswade. It was insured still in France on its French plates. Now the shortest route was not necessarily the M2, M25 & A1, but that was the route he chose. He did the same thing with his own car which is UK registered, but had run out of MoT and tax whilst in France & Germany.
Red Devil said:
You certainly can - Secretary of State for Transport V. Richards (1998) JP 682 QBD
The Court accepted the submission that it is a question of fact and degree in each case for the court to determine whether the exemption is satisfied. But the court said, it is only if this court is satisfied that no court could reasonably have come to the conclusion that it did that it can interfere. On the facts of this case, it is ridiculous if a driver could not stop to obtain petrol on the way. it would fly in the face of common sense if some short stop cannot be made by the driver, for whatever purpose, providing he is on his way to the test station.
Lord Justice Henry: said "I am surprised at a time of financial stringency that public money was spent in the pursuit of this appeal."
The Court accepted the submission that it is a question of fact and degree in each case for the court to determine whether the exemption is satisfied. But the court said, it is only if this court is satisfied that no court could reasonably have come to the conclusion that it did that it can interfere. On the facts of this case, it is ridiculous if a driver could not stop to obtain petrol on the way. it would fly in the face of common sense if some short stop cannot be made by the driver, for whatever purpose, providing he is on his way to the test station.
Lord Justice Henry: said "I am surprised at a time of financial stringency that public money was spent in the pursuit of this appeal."
f you are not on the public road, then the length of the stop is not important. it would, perhaps, be important if the car was parked on a public road whilst the driver went shopping as that could be keeping a vehicle on a public road without tax or MoT, but that is different.
I know that when I collected the car I just bought, I had to pass my home on the way to the MoT test station which is 1/2 a mile beyond my home, so I pulled off into my drive, checked the vehicle over, and then continued to the test about 2 hours later - well, I needed lunch! Can't see how that might be illegal.
I know that when I collected the car I just bought, I had to pass my home on the way to the MoT test station which is 1/2 a mile beyond my home, so I pulled off into my drive, checked the vehicle over, and then continued to the test about 2 hours later - well, I needed lunch! Can't see how that might be illegal.
Cooperman said:
That's the one. Well found Bert.
That seems to answer the question.
Oi! He wasn't the one who did the digging... That seems to answer the question.
V8LM said:
So you could drive to your friend's house 250 miles away, park in their garage, have a meal and stay overnight, then drive to a hotel another 500 miles away, stay in their carpark, then drive back to work, parking in their carpark, then ....
Highly unlikely imo. You seem to have overlooked this bit (in bold).The Court accepted the submission that it is a question of fact and degree in each case for the court to determine whether the exemption is satisfied.
In Richards there were two stops. He was nabbed at the latter when he was parked outside the shop for around 10 minutes.
The test was to take place at a garage some six miles from his home. At 11.30 in the morning he left home. On the way he stopped at a garage to buy petrol. Shortly after stopping to buy petrol he stopped to buy cigarettes.
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