Police vehicles and need for MOTs

[Tony B2]

Is it correct that police vehicles are not required to have MOTs when they are 3+ years old?

I recently checked an unmarked police car and it showed up with a big red flag on the DVLA website, as it was due an MOT in October 2023.

My reason for checking was that I had only glimpsed it from the rear, and I wanted to check the model as it did not look familiar.

Don't see many Mondeo estates....

[trashbat]

Yes.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1981/1694/regu...

"a vehicle provided for police purposes and maintained in workshops approved by the Secretary of State as suitable for such maintenance"

[av185]

Some forces actually MOT their covert unmarked cars when they do not need to for this very reason.

[The Gauge]

I'd say an MOT wouldn't be a strick enough examination for vehicle such a police car. Taxis have a different kind of examination to a standard car MOT due to their use and purpose..

I know some types of vehicles have a completely different type of inspection, a mate of mine travels the UK inspecting all kinds of vehicle from fire tenders to minibuses etc, depending on their use, purpose and company using them.

[E-bmw]

I did once buy an ex-rozzer plane 3.0 MV6 Omega & that had a full set of MOT's back to it's 3rd birthday.

At the time I did not know some didn't.

Edited by E-bmw on Wednesday 23 April 08:04

[Far Cough]

They don't officially get MOT'd like jo public at an MOT station but it's done in house at the workshops and the log booked stamped up as such so that the DVLA website can be updated. If the vehicle shows as no MOT it will be an oversight. If the car fails the MOT or it misses the date because it's parked up not being used then it's grounded.

[Triumph Man]

The Gauge said:

I'd say an MOT wouldn't be a strick enough examination for vehicle such a police car. Taxis have a different kind of examination to a standard car MOT due to their use and purpose..

I know some types of vehicles have a completely different type of inspection, a mate of mine travels the UK inspecting all kinds of vehicle from fire tenders to minibuses etc, depending on their use, purpose and company using them.

I still don't understand how most taxis pass the so called strict MoT - pretty much every taxi I've ever been in has at least one warning light on that would lead to a "fail", some horrific clonk from underneath, or a DMF chattering more than the driver because it's been laboured everywhere in top at 700 rpm (although I realise that is not an MoT fail - either the DMF incessantly chattering or the driver)

[omniflow]

Triumph Man said:

I still don't understand how most taxis pass the so called strict MoT - pretty much every taxi I've ever been in has at least one warning light on that would lead to a "fail", some horrific clonk from underneath, or a DMF chattering more than the driver because it's been laboured everywhere in top at 700 rpm (although I realise that is not an MoT fail - either the DMF incessantly chattering or the driver)

Pretty much every single Taxi licensing area has different rules. Some need a recent MOT (within the last 6 months) and a separate inspection which checks for things like door signs, no smoking signs and a first aid kit. The MOT can come from anywhere, the inspection has to be done at an approved place. Some councils outsource this to local garages, some (not many) do it in house. The taxi inspection won't cover things that the MOT covers. Some councils, e.g. Wolverhampton, allow cars up to 13 years old, others have a 5 or 6 year age limit. You'll see Wolverhampton plated taxis working in all sorts of places nowhere near Wolverhampton.