So what ARE the rules - MOT fail with time remaining?
Discussion
The car failed its MOT this morning on the following:
"Suspension component mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded (2.4.A.3)"
According to the tester there's a small hole which needs welding, a £60 job. I'll be getting it done asap but I know the rules around 'unexpired time' on the existing MOT have changed although it seems somewhat vague:
As my MOT hasn't already run out (ie. it would still have been fine to drive until the 2nd), am I still able to drive the car or not?
It seems to be very unclear to me and I don't want to do something which breaks the law or winds up with me getting fined and/or points. Can I continue to drive the car this week or not? It should be fixed and retested by the middle of the week.
"Suspension component mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded (2.4.A.3)"
According to the tester there's a small hole which needs welding, a £60 job. I'll be getting it done asap but I know the rules around 'unexpired time' on the existing MOT have changed although it seems somewhat vague:
gov.co.uk said:
If your vehicle fails the MOT:
Driving a vehicle that’s failed:
You can take your vehicle away if your MOT certificate is still valid.
If your MOT has run out you can take your vehicle to:
Given mine's failed, that section applies to me. "You can take your vehicle away if your MOT certificate is still valid." Last year's certificate shows as expiring 2nd May.- you’ll get a ‘refusal of an MOT test certificate’ from the test centre
- it will be recorded in the MOT database
Driving a vehicle that’s failed:
You can take your vehicle away if your MOT certificate is still valid.
If your MOT has run out you can take your vehicle to:
- have the failed defects fixed
- a pre-arranged MOT test appointment
As my MOT hasn't already run out (ie. it would still have been fine to drive until the 2nd), am I still able to drive the car or not?
It seems to be very unclear to me and I don't want to do something which breaks the law or winds up with me getting fined and/or points. Can I continue to drive the car this week or not? It should be fixed and retested by the middle of the week.
Edited by Funk on Saturday 23 April 14:41
Roo said:
You still have a valid MOT.
As to whether your car is roadworthy or not is a separate issue.
^This. That government website is misleading. I think it's the website that's changed a few times recently, not any actual rules or laws.As to whether your car is roadworthy or not is a separate issue.
If in doubt check the MOT status
here. If it was true that failing had invalidated the old one, then that'd show up as no MOT.
Funk said:
Interesting. However, doesn't the fact it failed mean it's something that would cause the car to be unroadworthy though? Nothing has broken or is loose/unattached at present, it's just corroding.
No necessarily, but obviously I can't say either way on yours.A faulty rear seat belt is perfectly roadworthy if there's nobody sitting in the back. Another example is MOT fails for split rubber boots on ball joints or CV joints. It's a sensible fail because grease will come out, dirt go in, and the joint might well become dangerous over time because of that. But the boot itself doesn't make the car unroadworthy until the joint wears even though it's a fail.
I think you are ok unless the tester has defined the fail item as a 'dangerous defect'. If he has then the vehicle is unroadworthy. However, I'm not a tester, I expect one will be along soon.
This is a good read, the full manual:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...
This is a good read, the full manual:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...
So all I'm really sure of at the moment is that I still don't know. It all hinges on whether the point mine failed on would make it 'unroadworthy' and I don't know whether it would or not.
The system is about as clear as mud - what was wrong with the old system? If you failed you could drive until the old one expired. If the thing was a deathtrap, you weren't allowed to drive it away...
The system is about as clear as mud - what was wrong with the old system? If you failed you could drive until the old one expired. If the thing was a deathtrap, you weren't allowed to drive it away...
It would be helpful if this were the case but I don't like feeling I would be taking a gamble by using the car. Now stuff updates immediately, it's showing as failed on the DVLA site. If the Police were to check it, that's what they would see.
I need it to get about for the next couple of days until the workshop can repair it but the penalties for being wrong about whether or not it's OK to do so are high.
I need it to get about for the next couple of days until the workshop can repair it but the penalties for being wrong about whether or not it's OK to do so are high.
Hmm.
https://www.vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk shows:
Taxed
Tax due: 01 March 2017
MOT
Expires: 02 May 2016
https://www.vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk shows:
Taxed
Tax due: 01 March 2017
MOT
Expires: 02 May 2016
Edited by Funk on Saturday 23 April 16:18
Roo said:
You still have a valid MOT.
As to whether your car is roadworthy or not is a separate issue.
Agreed. Roadworthy and having a valid MOT are two different things. As to whether your car is roadworthy or not is a separate issue.
An MOT is just a yearly inspection that must be done annually. As long as you are less than a year from the next one, then you have a valid MOT. It doesn't have any bearing on how roadworth your car is at any point after the test is over.
To put it another way a car can be roadworthy but have no MOT, or a car could have an MOT and not be roadworthy
I have to explain this to people far too often.
Your MOT is a snapshot in time as to the roadworthiness of your vehicle to a very basic standard.
Nothing overrides your MOT expiry date (apart from a high Court judge).
If I MOT your car today and it fails but your old MOT expires next week, you still have a valid MOT until the expiry date.
You are driving an unroadworthy vehicle though, which is a seperate offence.
The easiest way to describe it is as follows, you hop in your car and begin your journey to the MOT Station having made an appointment a week before your MOT expires, on route you are stopped by a DVSA inspector and he finds that you have 3 bald tyres and a rusty hole in the floor next to a seat belt mounting. He issues a prohibition notice and you cannot drive the vehicle away despite having a valid MOT certificate or the fact you are on the way to an MOT appointment.
Your MOT is a snapshot in time as to the roadworthiness of your vehicle to a very basic standard.
Nothing overrides your MOT expiry date (apart from a high Court judge).
If I MOT your car today and it fails but your old MOT expires next week, you still have a valid MOT until the expiry date.
You are driving an unroadworthy vehicle though, which is a seperate offence.
The easiest way to describe it is as follows, you hop in your car and begin your journey to the MOT Station having made an appointment a week before your MOT expires, on route you are stopped by a DVSA inspector and he finds that you have 3 bald tyres and a rusty hole in the floor next to a seat belt mounting. He issues a prohibition notice and you cannot drive the vehicle away despite having a valid MOT certificate or the fact you are on the way to an MOT appointment.
98elise said:
To put it another way a car can be roadworthy but have no MOT, or a car could have an MOT and not be roadworthy
Absolutely Jimmyarm said:
You are driving an unroadworthy vehicle though, which is a seperate offence.
The easiest way to describe it is as follows, you hop in your car and begin your journey to the MOT Station having made an appointment a week before your MOT expires, on route you are stopped by a DVSA inspector and he finds that you have 3 bald tyres and a rusty hole in the floor next to a seat belt mounting. He issues a prohibition notice and you cannot drive the vehicle away despite having a valid MOT certificate or the fact you are on the way to an MOT appointment.
That's a fairly extreme example and anyone driving such a heap deserves to have the book thrown at them. However, as per the examples earlier in the thread, an MOT failure does not mean the car is unroadworthy, or even that unsafe. There are quite a few things one can fail on that have zero effect on anyone's safety. The easiest way to describe it is as follows, you hop in your car and begin your journey to the MOT Station having made an appointment a week before your MOT expires, on route you are stopped by a DVSA inspector and he finds that you have 3 bald tyres and a rusty hole in the floor next to a seat belt mounting. He issues a prohibition notice and you cannot drive the vehicle away despite having a valid MOT certificate or the fact you are on the way to an MOT appointment.
Jimmyarm said:
I have to explain this to people far too often.
Your MOT is a snapshot in time as to the roadworthiness of your vehicle to a very basic standard.
Nothing overrides your MOT expiry date (apart from a high Court judge).
Can even he? I know when I've asked the question on MOT refresher courses (RIP) that DVSA can't rescind an MOT pass.Your MOT is a snapshot in time as to the roadworthiness of your vehicle to a very basic standard.
Nothing overrides your MOT expiry date (apart from a high Court judge).
Slidingpillar said:
98elise said:
To put it another way a car can be roadworthy but have no MOT, or a car could have an MOT and not be roadworthy
Absolutely Jimmyarm said:
You are driving an unroadworthy vehicle though, which is a seperate offence.
The easiest way to describe it is as follows, you hop in your car and begin your journey to the MOT Station having made an appointment a week before your MOT expires, on route you are stopped by a DVSA inspector and he finds that you have 3 bald tyres and a rusty hole in the floor next to a seat belt mounting. He issues a prohibition notice and you cannot drive the vehicle away despite having a valid MOT certificate or the fact you are on the way to an MOT appointment.
That's a fairly extreme example and anyone driving such a heap deserves to have the book thrown at them. However, as per the examples earlier in the thread, an MOT failure does not mean the car is unroadworthy, or even that unsafe. There are quite a few things one can fail on that have zero effect on anyone's safety. The easiest way to describe it is as follows, you hop in your car and begin your journey to the MOT Station having made an appointment a week before your MOT expires, on route you are stopped by a DVSA inspector and he finds that you have 3 bald tyres and a rusty hole in the floor next to a seat belt mounting. He issues a prohibition notice and you cannot drive the vehicle away despite having a valid MOT certificate or the fact you are on the way to an MOT appointment.
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