Quick MOT question
Author
Discussion

eatcustard

Original Poster:

1,003 posts

157 months

Monday 7th September 2015
quotequote all
Just a quickie.

If say for example your car has 6 months MOT on it and you put back in for a new MOT (say to sell it) and it fails, would that make the existing 6 months MOT not valid?

Only asking as a chap I work with is planning on changing his car and I think it will fail on a few things.

sherbertdip

1,288 posts

149 months

Monday 7th September 2015
quotequote all
MOT only in effect valid at time of testing, owner is then responsible then for keeping it roadworthy, so yes if you put it in for another MOT and it fails - it fails.

Bigends

6,193 posts

158 months

Monday 7th September 2015
quotequote all
The current certificate remains valid until its expiry date

Dr Mike Oxgreen

4,466 posts

195 months

Monday 7th September 2015
quotequote all
sherbertdip said:
MOT only in effect valid at time of testing, owner is then responsible then for keeping it roadworthy, so yes if you put it in for another MOT and it fails - it fails.
The failure is merely a refusal to renew the MOT - it does not invalidate the existing MOT.

Whether it's legal to drive the car depends on the nature of the fault that caused it to fail, and whether that renders it unroadworthy. But that was true before you entered the car for the test anyway: if your car has a fault that renders it unroadworthy then it's illegal to drive it, regardless of its MOT status.

eatcustard

Original Poster:

1,003 posts

157 months

Monday 7th September 2015
quotequote all
He has a cracked rear lenses and a damaged rear number plate and the front break discs are scored to hell

mcford

819 posts

204 months

Monday 7th September 2015
quotequote all
eatcustard said:
He has a cracked rear lenses and a damaged rear number plate and the front break discs are scored to hell
They are not failures within themselves. Do the cracked lenses have sharp edges that could cause injury?, do they allow white light to be shown to the rear?, can the registration plate be read at 20 metres? are all the characters complete and the reflectivity intact? are the brake discs seriously weakened?, do they cause the brakes to pull, judder or grab?, do they affect the efficiency?

eatcustard

Original Poster:

1,003 posts

157 months

Tuesday 8th September 2015
quotequote all
mcford said:
eatcustard said:
He has a cracked rear lenses and a damaged rear number plate and the front break discs are scored to hell
They are not failures within themselves. Do the cracked lenses have sharp edges that could cause injury?, do they allow white light to be shown to the rear?, can the registration plate be read at 20 metres? are all the characters complete and the reflectivity intact? are the brake discs seriously weakened?, do they cause the brakes to pull, judder or grab?, do they affect the efficiency?
Lense, you can see white light, so a fail (indicator)
The plate, you cant read it at 20m with guessing, so a fail
The brakes are a joke and they are massively scored and pitted, so high chance of a fail.


over_the_hill

3,336 posts

276 months

Tuesday 8th September 2015
quotequote all
eatcustard said:
Lense, you can see white light, so a fail (indicator)
The plate, you cant read it at 20m with guessing, so a fail
The brakes are a joke and they are massively scored and pitted, so high chance of a fail.
None of those should be too expensive to fix if he can use a spanner. They will probably be repaid at sale time if he has 12 months MOT instead of 6. Otherwise he should be prepared to be knocked down by a buyer on all of the faults.

HustleRussell

26,594 posts

190 months

Tuesday 8th September 2015
quotequote all
eatcustard said:
Lense, you can see white light, so a fail (indicator)


this plus a new numberplate...

Although the car sounds unroadworthy because of the brakes

Rangeroverover

1,523 posts

141 months

Tuesday 8th September 2015
quotequote all
eatcustard said:
He has a cracked rear lenses and a damaged rear number plate and the front break discs are scored to hell
Am I being overly pedantic but FFS THEY ARE BRAKES no "breaks"

Don't know why but really bugs me

I now await many one word answers

Rangeroverover

1,523 posts

141 months

Tuesday 8th September 2015
quotequote all
oops should read "not" rather than no

CaptainSlow

13,179 posts

242 months

Tuesday 8th September 2015
quotequote all
Jesus, this question comes up literally every week!

sherbertdip

1,288 posts

149 months

Tuesday 8th September 2015
quotequote all
Purity14 said:
Bigends said:
The current certificate remains valid until its expiry date
This is the true answer.
You both sure?

Maybe in the days before the national database. If you go along 6 months later after a pass is issued and it fails there will be a Failure Cert issued which then overrules the previous pass, irrespective of whether it is "in date".

ANPR check by plod or VOSA will show NO VALID MOT.


HustleRussell

26,594 posts

190 months

Tuesday 8th September 2015
quotequote all
Pretty sure you're wrong sherbertdip.

Bigends

6,193 posts

158 months

Tuesday 8th September 2015
quotequote all
The failure of the most recent test will only be recorded on the national MOT test database. It wont be recorded anywhere else. PNC will still show the expiry date of the current certificate in force and the failure wont be recorded on any ANPR database.

sherbertdip

1,288 posts

149 months

Tuesday 8th September 2015
quotequote all
Good job I don't get paid for my "expert" advice getmecoat

I still think it's illogical though.

eatcustard

Original Poster:

1,003 posts

157 months

Tuesday 8th September 2015
quotequote all
He has decided to get the problems fixed.

Thanks for everyones help

mcford

819 posts

204 months

Tuesday 8th September 2015
quotequote all
eatcustard said:
Lense, you can see white light, so a fail (indicator)
The plate, you cant read it at 20m with guessing, so a fail
The brakes are a joke and they are massively scored and pitted, so high chance of a fail.
For the indicator stick a new orange bulb in, a new registration plate and the discs seem like a pass and advise to me, they have to very bad to fail.

sherbertdip said:
You both sure?

Maybe in the days before the national database. If you go along 6 months later after a pass is issued and it fails there will be a Failure Cert issued which then overrules the previous pass, irrespective of whether it is "in date".

ANPR check by plod or VOSA will show NO VALID MOT.
We don't issue certificates for test failure and we do not have the power to revoke existing valid MOT pass certificates. When we fail a car, we issue a refusal to give a certificate, some of the wording on it is as:

Contingency Refusal of an MOT Test Certificate
Signature of Issuer
Odometer Reading
Country of Registration
Approx First Use
1 This document tells you that your vehicle has not been shown to meet the minimum legal requirements for the reason(s) details. If you
intend to use your vehicle on the road you should have it repaired without delay and have it retested before the existing validity expires.

That last bit says that despite a refusal, the current MOT certificate is still valid until it expires.


Edited by mcford on Tuesday 8th September 18:08

Red Devil

13,527 posts

238 months

Wednesday 9th September 2015
quotequote all
;yes: Even the often flaky gov.uk web site has got this one right - https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/after-the-test

This is the document the previous poster mentioned.
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...