Vehicle Repairs With no MOT or Tax
Discussion
Hello folks,
Looking for some MOT related advice.
My car's been off the road for 6 months as the MOT expired and i've been too busy / ill to get things put in place to get it in for an MOT.
I thought i'd spend some time cleaning up the underside whilst checking for problems.
All good mechanically, but i noticed some rust on the inner sills and when i've put a brass wheel on the angle grinder to clean them up, it's blown a couple of holes through, so they'll need to be welded. (One of the rubber bungs)
The car is still taxed until the end of the year currently.
I use a particular guy for any welding I've had with my cars as it's much cheaper than most local places and does just as good as a job.
The problem is, he has a garage but doesn't do MOTs and he's 30ish miles from me.
I know i can drive to a pre-booked MOT centre with no tax or MOT, but i can't remember if i can drive to a garage for repairs prior to the MOT without MOT or tax and i'm not certain i can get it there before the tax runs out.
Could anyone clarify, and if not would appreciate any suggestions.
Looking for some MOT related advice.
My car's been off the road for 6 months as the MOT expired and i've been too busy / ill to get things put in place to get it in for an MOT.
I thought i'd spend some time cleaning up the underside whilst checking for problems.
All good mechanically, but i noticed some rust on the inner sills and when i've put a brass wheel on the angle grinder to clean them up, it's blown a couple of holes through, so they'll need to be welded. (One of the rubber bungs)
The car is still taxed until the end of the year currently.
I use a particular guy for any welding I've had with my cars as it's much cheaper than most local places and does just as good as a job.
The problem is, he has a garage but doesn't do MOTs and he's 30ish miles from me.
I know i can drive to a pre-booked MOT centre with no tax or MOT, but i can't remember if i can drive to a garage for repairs prior to the MOT without MOT or tax and i'm not certain i can get it there before the tax runs out.
Could anyone clarify, and if not would appreciate any suggestions.
Edited by Retroman on Sunday 8th December 19:52
Retroman said:
I know i can drive to a pre-booked MOT centre with no tax or MOT, but i can't remember if i can drive to a garage for repairs prior to the MOT without MOT or tax.
Not legally, no.That said, if it's taxed and insured, I'd happily drive it to the repair shop. I'd be less keen without tax.
Pre-book an MOT and get it tested. If it fails (as you suspect it will), you can then drive it without tax & MOT to a place of repair in order to get the failure items rectified.
Either that, or 1) book an MOT very close to the welder and rearrange the test at the last minute (bit shi**y for the test station), 2) get it trailered to the welder or 3) risk it,
Note the exemption from tax and MOT whist driving to / from a pre-arranged test or to a place for repairs after a failed test does not provide protection from prosecution for any serious vehicle defects which might exist during those journeys.
Either that, or 1) book an MOT very close to the welder and rearrange the test at the last minute (bit shi**y for the test station), 2) get it trailered to the welder or 3) risk it,
Note the exemption from tax and MOT whist driving to / from a pre-arranged test or to a place for repairs after a failed test does not provide protection from prosecution for any serious vehicle defects which might exist during those journeys.
Edited by SS2. on Sunday 8th December 20:20
steveo3002 said:
book mot nearby , drive towards the mot station and divert to repair garage , if caught along the way you was driving to pre booked mot
cancel mot
Please don’t do this- by all means book an mot you don’t intend to use but at least pay the garage the £55 or whatever it costs. The garage have probably turned away another mot customer for that slot so the least you can do is pay them.cancel mot
I thought there'd be plenty of people on here asserting it was completely legal to drive a car with no MOT to a place where it's going to be repaired?
But it still has to be roadworthy.
A lot of garages have either a tow truck or a trailer, or there are plenty of people offering such services on either ebay or Shiply.
If you are flexible about when it gets moved, it can be a sensible price.
Most 'blokes who weld cars' must have had this problem before, they'll probably have a favoured solution.
But it still has to be roadworthy.
A lot of garages have either a tow truck or a trailer, or there are plenty of people offering such services on either ebay or Shiply.
If you are flexible about when it gets moved, it can be a sensible price.
Most 'blokes who weld cars' must have had this problem before, they'll probably have a favoured solution.
OutInTheShed said:
But it still has to be roadworthy.
A lot of garages have either a tow truck or a trailer, or there are plenty of people offering such services on either ebay or Shiply.
If you are flexible about when it gets moved, it can be a sensible price.
Most 'blokes who weld cars' must have had this problem before, they'll probably have a favoured solution.
Exactly this.A lot of garages have either a tow truck or a trailer, or there are plenty of people offering such services on either ebay or Shiply.
If you are flexible about when it gets moved, it can be a sensible price.
Most 'blokes who weld cars' must have had this problem before, they'll probably have a favoured solution.
There are only 2 ways of doing it legally, and that's either the welder comes to the car or the car goes to the welder on a trailer .
Once it's been welded it can then be driven to a pre booked MOT (assuming it is insured and there is nothing else making it unroadworthy).
I seem to remember reading on this forum that someone did one day drive without an MOT and unknown to them passed some kind of camera (ANPR?) as a result of which, some days later, they were asked to produce either an Pass or a Failure certificate to prove they were driving to or from a test.
If this does happen then it rather skewers the idea of booking an MOT then cancelling at the last minute.
I would think that as has already been mentioned, it should be OK to book a test near the welder's premises and take the car there as arranged. If it fails then legitimately drive to a place to be repaired then following that legitimately drive back for a retest.
From: https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/ask-the-police...
"If your vehicle doesn't have a current MOT certificate, you can only drive it to or from a pre-arranged MOT appointment or to or from a pre-arranged repair appointment to have defects remedied that were discovered on a previous test. You can also drive your vehicle on a road without road tax in these circumstances too but your vehicle must be insured."
If this does happen then it rather skewers the idea of booking an MOT then cancelling at the last minute.
I would think that as has already been mentioned, it should be OK to book a test near the welder's premises and take the car there as arranged. If it fails then legitimately drive to a place to be repaired then following that legitimately drive back for a retest.
From: https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/ask-the-police...
"If your vehicle doesn't have a current MOT certificate, you can only drive it to or from a pre-arranged MOT appointment or to or from a pre-arranged repair appointment to have defects remedied that were discovered on a previous test. You can also drive your vehicle on a road without road tax in these circumstances too but your vehicle must be insured."
PV7998 said:
I seem to remember reading on this forum that someone did one day drive without an MOT and unknown to them passed some kind of camera (ANPR?) as a result of which, some days later, they were asked to produce either an Pass or a Failure certificate to prove they were driving to or from a test.
If this does happen then it rather skewers the idea of booking an MOT then cancelling at the last minute.
I would think that as has already been mentioned, it should be OK to book a test near the welder's premises and take the car there as arranged. If it fails then legitimately drive to a place to be repaired then following that legitimately drive back for a retest.
From: https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/ask-the-police...
"If your vehicle doesn't have a current MOT certificate, you can only drive it to or from a pre-arranged MOT appointment or to or from a pre-arranged repair appointment to have defects remedied that were discovered on a previous test. You can also drive your vehicle on a road without road tax in these circumstances too but your vehicle must be insured."
Implies it's only OK to drive it for repairs, after it's been tested and failed?If this does happen then it rather skewers the idea of booking an MOT then cancelling at the last minute.
I would think that as has already been mentioned, it should be OK to book a test near the welder's premises and take the car there as arranged. If it fails then legitimately drive to a place to be repaired then following that legitimately drive back for a retest.
From: https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/ask-the-police...
"If your vehicle doesn't have a current MOT certificate, you can only drive it to or from a pre-arranged MOT appointment or to or from a pre-arranged repair appointment to have defects remedied that were discovered on a previous test. You can also drive your vehicle on a road without road tax in these circumstances too but your vehicle must be insured."
OutInTheShed said:
Implies it's only OK to drive it for repairs, after it's been tested and failed?
Thats how I read it as well, although it makes sense because there's always a record (see above regarding being required to prove you were on your way to a test with either a pass or a fail certificate)Otherwise you could just drive around without an MOT and when stopped claim that you were taking it for epairs.
I think.
PV7998 said:
I seem to remember reading on this forum that someone did one day drive without an MOT and unknown to them passed some kind of camera (ANPR?) as a result of which, some days later, they were asked to produce either an Pass or a Failure certificate to prove they were driving to or from a test.
I very much doubt you read that here or indeed anywhere else. I have unwittingly driven cars around for many months (and by driven I mean commuting hundreds of miles each week) without MOT's and never been stopped, had letters or anything else. (I know make sure that the tax and MOT align so that I don't forget when it needs doing)As far as the OP's issue is concerned, if the car is roadworthy, taxed and insured, I wouldn't think twice about making a journey to get the welding done. From a legal standpoint if you were unlucky enough to get stopped and then unlucky enough for the police to decide they were going to report you for it, you would be looking at a small fine.
The absolute worst case scenario would be that if you had an accident and the car was a total loss, the insurance company would value the vehicle lower than the normal market value due to the lack of a valid MOT.
Just to update this.
Managed to get the car road worthy and found a storage yard directly beside the welder's yard so drove it 35 miles yesterday and popped it in there until the guy can weld it in a few weeks then put it in for an MOT.
Overtook one police car on the motorway on route there but no drama at all despite MOT running out in March sometime.
Got home and declared it SORN and just hoping it will pass the MOT there now after welding is done.
The joys of 20 year old Fabias
Managed to get the car road worthy and found a storage yard directly beside the welder's yard so drove it 35 miles yesterday and popped it in there until the guy can weld it in a few weeks then put it in for an MOT.
Overtook one police car on the motorway on route there but no drama at all despite MOT running out in March sometime.
Got home and declared it SORN and just hoping it will pass the MOT there now after welding is done.
The joys of 20 year old Fabias
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