Driving untaxed car to MOT station

[LordBretSinclair]

Apologies if this has been asked before.
My car is currently on a SORN. I need to get it MOT'd before I tax it.
I understand I can drive it to/and back an MOT station to have a pre-arranged test whilst the car is un-taxed.
My question is do I have to take it to the nearest MOT station available. The car is a bit special and I have always taken it to a station where they "understand" the car and are sympathetic with it, Having recently moved house this station is now 20 miles from my new home - am I covered to take it there for a pre-arranged test??
Thanks.

[Pericoloso]

Yes it is legal to do this but you might have to deal with ANPR "hits" afterwards.

[Monkeylegend]

I am sure 20 miles will be ok as long as you are insured, and to be honest the chances of getting stopped or pinged are pretty low I would think.

[GC8]

You can take it to and from a pre-booked MOT and to (and from) a place of repair after it has failed. No provision for taking it for work/prep that you know that it will need.

[iDrive]

LordBretSinclair said:

Apologies if this has been asked before.
My car is currently on a SORN. I need to get it MOT'd before I tax it.
I understand I can drive it to/and back an MOT station to have a pre-arranged test whilst the car is un-taxed.
My question is do I have to take it to the nearest MOT station available. The car is a bit special and I have always taken it to a station where they "understand" the car and are sympathetic with it, Having recently moved house this station is now 20 miles from my new home - am I covered to take it there for a pre-arranged test??
Thanks.

There is no requirement to take it to the nearest, though this site is often useful;

https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q360.htm

[GC8]

You can cross the country.

[anonymous-user]

I once drove a car from Ireland via Holyhead and on to London to a pre booked MOT. Whether I would have flung it about on the A5 quite as much if I had known just how rusty some of the underbits were is another matter.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Breadvan72 said:

I once drove a car from Ireland via Holyhead and on to London to a pre booked MOT.

Pah...that's just nipping down the road. Malaga to Surrey, anyone beat that?.

[4rephill]

GC8 said:

You can take it to and from a pre-booked MOT and to (and from) a place of repair after it has failed. No provision for taking it for work/prep that you know that it will need.

The Law now states that if the failure is classified as "Dangerous", the car can longer be driven anywhere on the public highway, even if the previous MOT is still valid - So it's not quite as simple as you're making it out to be.

[the tribester]

You can't drive a vehicle on a road with a 'dangerous defect' anyway, whether it's old enough to require an MOT or not.

[M_A_S]

the tribester said:

You can't drive a vehicle on a road with a 'dangerous defect' anyway, whether it's old enough to require an MOT or not.

Zakly. No law has been changed regarding the MOT.

[peterperkins]

You can take it whatever garage you like as long as mot is pre-booked..
Lands end to john o'groats if you wish.

It's a useful tool.

Collect car that is sorn or has no mot (but is not in a dangerous condition) then drive to my local/specialist/trusted garage.
Get mot done as arranged and fix what's needed. Easy .....

[GC8]

4rephill said:

GC8 said:

You can take it to and from a pre-booked MOT and to (and from) a place of repair after it has failed. No provision for taking it for work/prep that you know that it will need.

The Law now states that if the failure is classified as "Dangerous", the car can longer be driven anywhere on the public highway, even if the previous MOT is still valid - So it's not quite as simple as you're making it out to be.

Nothing has changed. You couldn’t ever drive a dangerous car on the road.

Your being taken in by press releases and poor journalism suggests that you do not know as much as you think that you do.

[LordBretSinclair]

Thanks everyone - I'd be absolutely flabbergasted if the car fails, let alone has any dangerous fault, so I'll be taking it to a pre-arranged test next week.