Quick MOT question.
Author
Discussion

Mikeyplum

Original Poster:

1,646 posts

199 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
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My MOT is due Tuesday, if I get it done today and it fails, can I still drive it until Tuesday?

Cheers
Mike

inman999

34,954 posts

203 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
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Yes, unless the tester seems it too dangerous to be on the road

littleredrooster

6,404 posts

226 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
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This is like bloody groundhog day. We do this one at least once a week and it always runs to four pages with incorrect replies!!


Yes - OP - you can, an MOT is an MOT until it expires.

Mikeyplum

Original Poster:

1,646 posts

199 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
quotequote all
littleredrooster said:
This is like bloody groundhog day. We do this one at least once a week and it always runs to four pages with incorrect replies!!


Yes - OP - you can, an MOT is an MOT until it expires.
Sorry, needed a quick answer.

Thanks though! thumbup

rigga

8,806 posts

231 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
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littleredrooster said:
This is like bloody groundhog day. We do this one at least once a week and it always runs to four pages with incorrect replies!!


Yes - OP - you can, an MOT is an MOT until it expires.
Are you sure? wink

maffski

1,905 posts

189 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
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Try this http://www.confused.com/news-views/blogs/can-you-d....

Your old certificate is still valid - but the MOT is to test if the vehicle is road worthy, so if it fails you can only drive it on the road in order to get it repaired and the MOT retest. Just because you have a bit of paper with a date on it doesn't make it safe or legal.

So, say it fails because of worn tyres - you can't drive it to the shops because it's not road worthy. You can drive it to the tyre place and fix the tyre - you can then drive to the shops before the MOT retest because the car is now road worthy and you've still got your old MOT.

littleredrooster

6,404 posts

226 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
quotequote all
maffski said:
Try this http://www.confused.com/news-views/blogs/can-you-d....

Your old certificate is still valid - but the MOT is to test if the vehicle is road worthy, so if it fails you can only drive it on the road in order to get it repaired and the MOT retest. Just because you have a bit of paper with a date on it doesn't make it safe or legal.

So, say it fails because of worn tyres - you can't drive it to the shops because it's not road worthy. You can drive it to the tyre place and fix the tyre - you can then drive to the shops before the MOT retest because the car is now road worthy and you've still got your old MOT.
See what I mean??? We've got another three pages of this rubbish to go yet...

maffski

1,905 posts

189 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
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littleredrooster said:
See what I mean??? We've got another three pages of this rubbish to go yet...
Fancy explaining why an 11 month old piece of paper gives you the right to drive a car irrespective of it's current mechanical condition? An MOT is just a way of forcing everyone to have their car checked every so often, the car still has to be road worthy during the journey you are making.

In the end if would depend on

1) why the car failed it's MOT
2) if you are stopped / involved in an accident before the issue is fixed
3) if the police or your insurer decide the MOT failure was relevant

In otherwords, it's likely to be down to circumstances, luck, and perhaps a court. Me, I'd fix the issue.

Feel free to tell me why I'm wrong, it'd be nice to know.

Riley Blue

23,205 posts

256 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
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Someone lock this thread please...

GC8

19,910 posts

220 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
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maffski said:
Try this http://www.confused.com/news-views/blogs/can-you-d....

Your old certificate is still valid - but the MOT is to test if the vehicle is road worthy, so if it fails you can only drive it on the road in order to get it repaired and the MOT retest. Just because you have a bit of paper with a date on it doesn't make it safe or legal.

So, say it fails because of worn tyres - you can't drive it to the shops because it's not road worthy. You can drive it to the tyre place and fix the tyre - you can then drive to the shops before the MOT retest because the car is now road worthy and you've still got your old MOT.
Why are you relying on the opinion of someone who works for an insurance company? Thats all it is BTW, an opinion, and not a completely unbiased one either.

Ozzie Osmond

21,189 posts

276 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
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littleredrooster said:
Yes - OP - you can, an MOT is an MOT until it expires.
Correct.

But,

  • It is an offence to drive an unroadworthy car (with or without an MOT)
  • The "fail" goes into the MOT database.
  • The "fail" may be clear evidence of unroadworthiness (depending why it failed)
  • You are likely to be uninsured if you know you are driving an unroadworthy vehicle

mcford

819 posts

204 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
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Even if a vehicle complies with all the MOT requirements, it can still be unroadworthy.

littleredrooster

6,404 posts

226 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
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maffski said:
Fancy explaining why an 11 month old piece of paper gives you the right to drive a car irrespective of it's current mechanical condition? An MOT is just a way of forcing everyone to have their car checked every so often, the car still has to be road worthy during the journey you are making.

In the end if would depend on

1) why the car failed it's MOT
2) if you are stopped / involved in an accident before the issue is fixed
3) if the police or your insurer decide the MOT failure was relevant

In otherwords, it's likely to be down to circumstances, luck, and perhaps a court. Me, I'd fix the issue.

Feel free to tell me why I'm wrong, it'd be nice to know.
The inferred question from within the OPs query was 'Does the current MOT still apply?' The answer is 'Yes, it still (technically) has an MOT Certificate.'

The fact that it is not legal to drive around with bald tyres is utterly irrelevant to that question. Driving with bald tyres at any time renders the car unroadworthy and illegal but does not nullify the MOT.

TallPaul

1,524 posts

288 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
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littleredrooster said:
maffski said:
Fancy explaining why an 11 month old piece of paper gives you the right to drive a car irrespective of it's current mechanical condition? An MOT is just a way of forcing everyone to have their car checked every so often, the car still has to be road worthy during the journey you are making.

In the end if would depend on

1) why the car failed it's MOT
2) if you are stopped / involved in an accident before the issue is fixed
3) if the police or your insurer decide the MOT failure was relevant

In otherwords, it's likely to be down to circumstances, luck, and perhaps a court. Me, I'd fix the issue.

Feel free to tell me why I'm wrong, it'd be nice to know.
The inferred question from within the OPs query was 'Does the current MOT still apply?' The answer is 'Yes, it still (technically) has an MOT Certificate.'

The fact that it is not legal to drive around with bald tyres is utterly irrelevant to that question. Driving with bald tyres at any time renders the car unroadworthy and illegal but does not nullify the MOT.
Surely you're both correct? The MOT is valid until its expiry date regardless of how many times you have taken it for another test and had it fail. You are still liable to prosecution for driving an unroadworthy car, it doesnt matter if you are driving the car from a failed test or havent had it tested at all.

tercelgold

969 posts

187 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
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To get this up to 4 pages, one thing I didn't know is you can turn up to most council MOT test centers and get it done while you wait. Useful if you've left it to the very last minute but it does cost £54.85 for a car, more than most garages who undercharge to get the customer in.

Edited by tercelgold on Saturday 12th January 16:26

maffski

1,905 posts

189 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
quotequote all
littleredrooster said:
The inferred question from within the OPs query was 'Does the current MOT still apply?' The answer is 'Yes, it still (technically) has an MOT Certificate.'

The fact that it is not legal to drive around with bald tyres is utterly irrelevant to that question. Driving with bald tyres at any time renders the car unroadworthy and illegal but does not nullify the MOT.
I thought the inferred question was 'Can I still drive it until pay day when I can fix it?'

I was just trying to provide a little extra context, just like your second sentence here does.

So we were both right. Happy days. No thread locking, no slanging match, no suggestion of a Fox body Mustang from 300/bhp hippy

s p a c e m a n

12,116 posts

178 months

Saturday 12th January 2013
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