Discussion
Honest John in today’s Telegraph started that you can’t legally drive a car which has failed its MOT, even though the previous MOT hadn’t run out. I thought that was only true if the fail was something listed as dangerous? I’m waiting for a part to arrive, the failure being listed a ‘major’ and the garage said the car was perfectly safe to drive in the mean time. As it happens I only needed to drive it a few hundred yards and it can sit on the drive for a few days. Is HJ or my garage correct?
HJ is correct. As soon as you have your car tested and it fails the remaining time on the old certificate is invalid. You can drive it home legallay though as long as the fault isn’t dangerous. You are allowed to drive the car to and from a pre booked test
Edited by craigjm on Saturday 16th February 17:12
craigjm said:
HJ is correct. As soon as you have your car tested and it fails the remaining time on the old certificate is invalid.
That's not correct. If there is time remaining on the current MOT it remains valid.Edited by craigjm on Saturday 16th February 17:12
However you may still be breaking the law for driving a vehicle with a defect regardless if the MOT is still valid.
Retroman said:
craigjm said:
HJ is correct. As soon as you have your car tested and it fails the remaining time on the old certificate is invalid.
That's not correct. If there is time remaining on the current MOT it remains valid.Edited by craigjm on Saturday 16th February 17:12
However you may still be breaking the law for driving a vehicle with a defect regardless if the MOT is still valid.
It has been weeks since this question was last asked. PH is losing its touch!
Retroman said:
That's not correct. If there is time remaining on the current MOT it remains valid.
However you may still be breaking the law for driving a vehicle with a defect regardless if the MOT is still valid.
Almost correct.However you may still be breaking the law for driving a vehicle with a defect regardless if the MOT is still valid.
There are listed faults classed as dangerous. If your car fails due to a dangerous fault you cannot drive it away from the MOT station.
Minor faults mean you can as long as the old MOT is still valid.
Brads67 said:
Almost correct.
There are listed faults classed as dangerous. If your car fails due to a dangerous fault you cannot drive it away from the MOT station.
Minor faults mean you can as long as the old MOT is still valid.
Who at the MOT station is authorised to stop a car from being driven away?There are listed faults classed as dangerous. If your car fails due to a dangerous fault you cannot drive it away from the MOT station.
Minor faults mean you can as long as the old MOT is still valid.
Brads67 said:
Almost correct.
There are listed faults classed as dangerous. If your car fails due to a dangerous fault you cannot drive it away from the MOT station.
Minor faults mean you can as long as the old MOT is still valid.
Incorrect on the first part. If it's a dangerous fail they can mark it as that, but they have no power to prevent you from driving the vehicle if you choose to.There are listed faults classed as dangerous. If your car fails due to a dangerous fault you cannot drive it away from the MOT station.
Minor faults mean you can as long as the old MOT is still valid.
Nothing you have said seems to make what i said initially incorrect.
Retroman said:
Incorrect on the first part. If it's a dangerous fail they can mark it as that, but they have no power to prevent you from driving the vehicle if you choose to.
Nothing you have said seems to make what i said initially incorrect.
They cannot stop you but you will be breaking the law by driving it. So no, not incorrect on any part. .Nothing you have said seems to make what i said initially incorrect.
Brads67 said:
They cannot stop you but you will be breaking the law by driving it. So no, not incorrect on any part. .
But then, the car was most likely unroadworthy in the weeks/months leading up to the MOT test too unless the fault(s) mysteriously appeared as soon as the car was put on the ramp. The MOT test won't change that status, it will just highlight any potential issues to the driver.
Brads67 said:
They cannot stop you but you will be breaking the law by driving it.
You wouldn't be breaking the law by driving it though - or at least you wouldn't necessarily be breaking it.Despite what the gov.uk website says, there has been no change in the underlying legisation. The offence is using "a motor vehicle... as respects which no test certificate has been issued within the appropriate period before that time". In other words, using a motor vehicle which has not passed an MOT test in the last year. If it's passed a test in the last year then there is no MOT offence and there is still no mechanism for the old certificate to be revoked, regardless of what defects the tester finds, or whether he records them as dangerous.
The other relevant offence is using a vehicle in a dangerous condition. And obviously if your car had a dangerous defect, you would be committing that offence. However that depends on whether your car does actually have a dangerous defect - not on whether a particular mechanic on a particular day said it did. MOT testers are not infallible, and I've even heard that there are some dodgy ones who fail cars on dubious points just to drum up business for their garages. So if the tester fails your car and tells you that it has four bald tyres, petrol leaking from the tank and brake pads worn down to the rivets then if you think he's talking b
ks you can drive it away perfectly legally - but only if you're right.If the dangerous failure is recorded on a central database then I suppose your chances of being stopped while driving it would be greater than they were. But to prosecute you the police would still have to prove that it actually was in a dangerous condition - they couldn't just rely on the record of the MOT failure. Maybe the tester just got it wrong. Or maybe you'd fixed the defect since the test but you hadn't got around to getting a retest yet. Either way you could plausibly be driving legally.
(I'm not recommending that you actually do drive a car which has been failed as dangerous of course - just pointing out that it is not automatically illegal. And the government website isn't going to recommend it either - hence the sightly misleading implication that driving it is illegal in itself.)
Bobtherallyfan said:
Honest John in today’s Telegraph started that you can’t legally drive a car which has failed its MOT, even though the previous MOT hadn’t run out. I thought that was only true if the fail was something listed as dangerous? I’m waiting for a part to arrive, the failure being listed a ‘major’ and the garage said the car was perfectly safe to drive in the mean time. As it happens I only needed to drive it a few hundred yards and it can sit on the drive for a few days. Is HJ or my garage correct?
Honest John writes some total tosh at times. There's a long thread on MSE detailing his, erm, idiosyncratic views on car insurance.Regardless of whether the car is legal to drive after the failure THE OLD MOT IS STILL VALID.
For example
- You take your car for an MOT a month before the old one expires
- Your car fails its MOT on a blown headlamp bulb
- You replace the bulb outside the MOT garage, but do not get it retested
- You are 100% legal to drive the car until the old MOT expires
Whether the car has failed an MOT makes no difference to the legality of driving it with a fault, it may make it easier to prove that the driver was aware of it though.
For example
- You take your car for an MOT a month before the old one expires
- Your car fails its MOT on a blown headlamp bulb
- You replace the bulb outside the MOT garage, but do not get it retested
- You are 100% legal to drive the car until the old MOT expires
Whether the car has failed an MOT makes no difference to the legality of driving it with a fault, it may make it easier to prove that the driver was aware of it though.
Edited by Gareth79 on Saturday 16th February 19:45
Brads67 said:
Retroman said:
Incorrect on the first part. If it's a dangerous fail they can mark it as that, but they have no power to prevent you from driving the vehicle if you choose to.
Nothing you have said seems to make what i said initially incorrect.
They cannot stop you but you will be breaking the law by driving it. So no, not incorrect on any part. .Nothing you have said seems to make what i said initially incorrect.
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