Taxing a car without an MOT

[gavin18787]

Essentially the question is there is an opportunity for a cheap run about locally that has an expired mot.
Checked it over and found it has failed on a knackered ball joint so an easy fix.
However I know you can drive a car to an mot station if it is pre-booked with no MOT.
However how do you get around the no tax bit as you can't do that without a valid MOT?
Sounds like a bit of a chicken vs egg situation.

Obviously simple solution is get it delivered to the mot station but that plus paying a garage to do the work doesn't make it as much of a cheap runabout.

[FlabbyMidgets]

gavin18787 said:

Essentially the question is there is an opportunity for a cheap run about locally that has an expired mot.
Checked it over and found it has failed on a knackered ball joint so an easy fix.
However I know you can drive a car to an mot station if it is pre-booked with no MOT.
However how do you get around the no tax bit as you can't do that without a valid MOT?
Sounds like a bit of a chicken vs egg situation.

Obviously simple solution is get it delivered to the mot station but that plus paying a garage to do the work doesn't make it as much of a cheap runabout.

Okay to drive to an Mot without tax

Vehicle and Excise Registration act 1994, schedule 2

"Vehicle testing etc.
22(1)A vehicle is an exempt vehicle when it is being used solely for the purpose of—
(a)submitting it (by previous arrangement for a specified time on a specified date) for a compulsory test, or
(b)bringing it away from a compulsory test.
(2)A vehicle is an exempt vehicle when it is being used by an authorised person in the course of a compulsory test solely for the purpose of—
(a)taking it to, or bringing it away from, a place where a part of the test is to be, or has been, carried out, or
(b)carrying out a part of the test.

[RazerSauber]

You're cleared to drive to and from a pre-booked MOT at a station without tax on the car, same as an MOT. Register the car as SORN though.

[Hol]

RazerSauber said:

You're cleared to drive to and from a pre-booked MOT at a station without tax on the car, same as an MOT. Register the car as SORN though.

It’s been argued on this very forum, that you can (mis)use that rule to relocate a vehicle across the country, as the wording doesn’t expressly prohibit it.

So, just visiting a local MOT station within a reasonable distance should be fine.

[QBee]

Hol said:

RazerSauber said:

You're cleared to drive to and from a pre-booked MOT at a station without tax on the car, same as an MOT. Register the car as SORN though.

It’s been argued on this very forum, that you can (mis)use that rule to relocate a vehicle across the country, as the wording doesn’t expressly prohibit it.

So, just visiting a local MOT station within a reasonable distance should be fine.

Does diverting to your own house to change the ball joint, while on the way to the pre-booked test, also qualify?
PS, don't forget to insure it first too.

[garypotter]

i know a chap who drove back from Italy to a pre arranged MOT test in his car that had been out of the ory for 5 years

[gavin18787]

Cheers all, didn't know the tax exempt bit so that's handy that its all covered.

Car is 3 miles from my house and most local MOT station is a mile from my house the opposite way. So have to drive past my house to get to the MOT station.........

Insurance is easy enough to sort and assume the above ruling all fits into that as long as it is only use for that journey only.

Thanks

Gavin

[Draxindustries1]

The chances of being pulled are next to zero, don't worry about it in the least..

[Bobton125]

Draxindustries1 said:

The chances of being pulled are next to zero, don't worry about it in the least..

You’d be surprised these days, it’s not a matter of being pulled it’s a matter of so much as driving past any police car which has an ANPR camera that flags it up to the officer… I was pulled over by police for no insurance on a car I bought a mile away from home which I insured 10 mins beforehand.

Saying all that though, I still wouldn’t worry as the consequences aren’t as bad as if it was no insurance, most police would probs let you on your way to the mot without question

[QBee]

About 4 years ago I had a car SORNed while I fixed a few problems. 29th November I decided to get it back on the road on the 1st, so I MOTd it on the 30th, insured it and taxed it from 1st December.
Driving round the Lincoln bypass on the 1st, I got pulled over by an unmarked police Volvo.

Policeman comes to my driver’s window and goes “Oh”. He expected me to be a younger generation scumbag, not a professional guy in his 60s. It would seem that my car was still showing as untaxed, uninsured and devoid of an MOT on the police national iPad in his left hand.
A quick couple of minutes scrolling on my smartphone and I proved the tax and insurance, and was on my way.