MOT question

[JimPD]

If a car has a few days until MOT expiry and it fails it's test today, is it still legal to drive until the original test expiry date or does the new 'fail' override the original MOT certificate?

[SpeedMattersNot]

The new failure trumps any previous MOT deadline.

[bearman68]

Legal to drive, unless it's marked up Dangerous.
However, someone just now will be along to say illegal. Been here before, but...this is the extract from the DVLA Gov.website thingy.

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).

[bearman68]

Beaten to it, but you see where this is going......

[SpeedMattersNot]

bearman68 said:

Legal to drive, unless it's marked up Dangerous.
However, someone just now will be along to say illegal. Been here before, but...this is the extract from the DVLA Gov.website thingy.

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).

Wow, that's news to me.

I was under the impression if it fails an MOT it isn't considered road worthy.

Edit: Here's the link to prove what bearman68 quoted

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

Edited by SpeedMattersNot on Wednesday 2nd September 21:03

[Bigends]

Unless anything dangerous was found in the new test and the tester advises not to drive then the current test certificate is still valid. The test only proves your car was safe at the time of the test -it could develop faults as soon as its driven out of the test centre

[BertBert]

wow, only the 598th iteration of this question so far this year and still someone with 93 months on PH gets it completely wrong

[SpeedMattersNot]

BertBert said:

wow, only the 598th iteration of this question so far this year and still someone with 93 months on PH gets it completely wrong

[JM]

Definitely still legal (unless unroadworthy) and easy to check online yourself.

[V8LM]

First MOT is still valid, but whether the car is roadworthy depends on why it failed the recent test.

[Aretnap]

SpeedMattersNot said:

I was under the impression if it fails an MOT it isn't considered road worthy.

If it's unroadworthy after the MOT it was also unroadworthy before the MOT. It's no more and no less illegal to drive than it was already.

In practice you can use a bit of common sense depending on what the faults are. If it fails because it has four bald tyres, a steering column which is about to snap and brake pads worn down to the rivets, don't drive it (and be glad you didn't get stopped on the way to the MOT station). But if it fails because one of the rear seatbelts is a bit worn, just don't use that seatbelt - in theory you might be committing an obscure comstruction and use offence by driving with a defective seatbelt, but the chances of actually getting into trouble for it must be miniscule.

The other reason an MOT failure doesn't automatically render a car unroadworthy is because it's just one person's opinion of the condition of the car. MOT testers aren't infallible, and I've even heard that there are dodgy ones who fail perfectly good cars to drum up business for their garages. If the tester tells you that your car has four bald tyres, a steering column which is about to snap and brake pads worn down to the rivets then if you think he's talking bks you can drive it perfectly legally - so long as you're right.

[Who me ?]

So the old MOT might be valid. i take y car to a place ,where it's book it in, leave it and hope the tester phones you back. So I keep tabs on mine via the MOT online .
http://motinfo.direct.gov.uk/internet/jsp/ECHID-In...
That tells me on line if it's passed or what it's failed on . only question is whether police etc have access to online upto date info.

[imagineifyeswill]

An MOT certificate only says that the vehicle reached the minimum safety standard on the day it was tested, the othedr 364 days it is up to the driver to ascertain it is safe to drive, but the certificate is valid for the whole year. The MOT test is based on construction and use regulations but can pass a test and still be pulled for contraventions of C&U not covered by the test 5 minutes after.

[Old Merc]

As long as a car has valid MOT you can drive it (it wont flag up on a Police NPR) until the expiry date. BUT? That car could have a serious safety fault,if you were stopped for any other reason,your in trouble.If you have an accident caused by this fault your in massive trouble.
Its legal to drive a car with a valid MOT,its illegal to drive a car that is unroadworthy.Two separate issues.