Now you definitely can't use a car once it's failed its MOT

[Sheepshanks]

Government has updated its 'guidance':

"You must not drive the vehicle on the road if it fails the test, even if the MOT hasn’t run out, except to:

have the failed defects fixed
a pre-arranged MOT test appointment"

https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/after-the-test

[Sheepshanks]

tumble dryer said:

Bit ambiguous.

I thought that as well. I'm not 100% sure it means what it says, as it seems to assume a failure would render the car un-roadworthy.

Discussions elsewhere seem to have taken it very literally though.

[Sheepshanks]

DaveCWK said:

It does seem fairly explicit. Has that wording actually changed recently does anyone know?

It changed on Sept 11th.

It used to say:

"Driving a vehicle that’s failed

You can still drive your vehicle if it fails the MOT and its existing MOT certificate is still valid (ie you got it tested before the MOT ran out)."


Now it says:

"You must not drive the vehicle on the road if it fails the test, even if the MOT hasn’t run out, except to:

have the failed defects fixed
a pre-arranged MOT test appointment"

[Sheepshanks]

I notice they've changed the page again (last update 7th December) - now says you can drive the car away if the old MOT is still valid and the vehicle is roadworthy.

Same link: https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/after-the-test