Buying a vehicle at auction without an MOT

[petjam]

Evening all,

Hopefully someone can help. I may potentially be buying a car at auction in a few weeks which does not currently have an MOT.

What are the laws about me getting it home? Am I allowed to drive it home (about 80 miles) and then get it MOTd here? Or do I have to trailer it back?

[texaxile]

It'll have to be trailered, you can only take it to or from a pre arranged MOT station as far as I know.

Plus, buying a car with no MOT from an auction is a bit of a recipe for trouble.

[iDrive]

petjam said:

Evening all,

Hopefully someone can help. I may potentially be buying a car at auction in a few weeks which does not currently have an MOT.

What are the laws about me getting it home? Am I allowed to drive it home (about 80 miles) and then get it MOTd here? Or do I have to trailer it back?

What you *can* do is book an MOT for it in advance - eg 4pm on the Auction day, and drive it from the Auction to the MOT Test.

If the car goes through too late in the day and you are stopped without enough time to get to the MOT Test, you are
liable to be prosecuted.

There is no limit as to how far you can drive it to a pre-booked MOT Test, but you do need to pre-book it (saying "I am taking it for an MOT" isn't enough, it must have already been booked)

I've done this before, 100+ miles between auction and MOT Test Centre, also booked a car in and then not won the Auction (so cancelled the booking).

[Allan L]

A sceptic he say that if the car is being sold as a runner it should have an MoT, so if it hasn't one, perhaps it's because it wouldn't pass.

[Vanordinaire]

iDrive said:

What you *can* do is book an MOT for it in advance - eg 4pm on the Auction day, and drive it from the Auction to the MOT Test.

If the car goes through too late in the day and you are stopped without enough time to get to the MOT Test, you are
liable to be prosecuted.

There is no limit as to how far you can drive it to a pre-booked MOT Test, but you do need to pre-book it (saying "I am taking it for an MOT" isn't enough, it must have already been booked)

I've done this before, 100+ miles between auction and MOT Test Centre, also booked a car in and then not won the Auction (so cancelled the booking).

Nothing to say the MOT needs to be done the same day as you buy it and drive it. Just book one for the day after the auction, drive it there straight from the auction and drop it off for the next day test.

[vpr]

Allan L said:

A sceptic he say that if the car is being sold as a runner it should have an MoT, so if it hasn't one, perhaps it's because it wouldn't pass.

Use the app to check its MOT history. Will also show if it has failed

[Dogwatch]

If you've got the registration number you could look up the mot history. The last mot may have been a pass (good news, maybe only needs a bit of work), or a fail with a list of horrors and advisories (money pit ).

[petjam]

Allan L said:

A sceptic he say that if the car is being sold as a runner it should have an MoT, so if it hasn't one, perhaps it's because it wouldn't pass.

Yes, that is my concern also, surely a no brainer from the perspective of a seller!

Edited by petjam on Sunday 30th June 22:10

[petjam]

Dogwatch said:

If you've got the registration number you could look up the mot history. The last mot may have been a pass (good news, maybe only needs a bit of work), or a fail with a list of horrors and advisories (money pit ).

It has a couple of previous fails but nothing catastrophic (wiper and oil leak issues mainly). That being said it is almost 40 years old and anything could go at any point. It's been SORN'd for the past year.

[classicaholic]

How would you feel if the brake pipe was rotten and the brakes failed and you killed a kid running across the road on the way to the MoT?

[anonymous-user]

classicaholic said:

How would you feel if the brake pipe was rotten and the brakes failed and you killed a kid running across the road on the way to the MoT?

Of course this is true but the same could be said if you bought a 40 year old car that don't need an MOT and would be perfectly legal to drive home.

[Matt_E_Mulsion]

Surely common sense says that to buy a 40 year old car that is out of MOT, that has been on SORN for a year, and then drive it straight from an auction 80 miles home isn't going to be the most sensible idea.

[petjam]

Matt_E_Mulsion said:

Surely common sense says that to buy a 40 year old car that is out of MOT, that has been on SORN for a year, and then drive it straight from an auction 80 miles home isn't going to be the most sensible idea.

To be fair I don't know what I was thinking, too many beers in the sun yesterday! If I buy it I will have it brought back on a flatbed.

[austin]

Cars that are more than 40 years old don't need an MOT, (legally).

https://www.gov.uk/historic-vehicles

[petjam]

Won it and I got it put on a flatbed home (£150).

Sailed through the MOT with the only advisories being on the tyres and an issue with the shock absorbers. All now fixed.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

[classicaholic]

Good news, now we can't bid against you what did you buy?

[300bhp/ton]

Raygun said:

classicaholic said:

How would you feel if the brake pipe was rotten and the brakes failed and you killed a kid running across the road on the way to the MoT?

Of course this is true but the same could be said if you bought a 40 year old car that don't need an MOT and would be perfectly legal to drive home.

Or if you bought a 20 year old car that DID have an MoT.

[petjam]

classicaholic said:

Good news, now we can't bid against you what did you buy?

A 1982 Mercedes 280 TE estate. Been after one for ages but never seen one in decent condition.

According to howmanyleft there is only 85 of them insured? Surely that can't be right?

[Taylor James]

iDrive said:

petjam said:

Evening all,

Hopefully someone can help. I may potentially be buying a car at auction in a few weeks which does not currently have an MOT.

What are the laws about me getting it home? Am I allowed to drive it home (about 80 miles) and then get it MOTd here? Or do I have to trailer it back?

What you *can* do is book an MOT for it in advance - eg 4pm on the Auction day, and drive it from the Auction to the MOT Test.

If the car goes through too late in the day and you are stopped without enough time to get to the MOT Test, you are
liable to be prosecuted.

There is no limit as to how far you can drive it to a pre-booked MOT Test, but you do need to pre-book it (saying "I am taking it for an MOT" isn't enough, it must have already been booked)

I've done this before, 100+ miles between auction and MOT Test Centre, also booked a car in and then not won the Auction (so cancelled the booking).

Check your insurance cover. Plenty of policies will state the car cannot be driven without a current MOT.

Driving to a pre-arranged MOT and having insurance won't be much help if you are found driving it with dangerous faults.

I'd get Shipley to quote for delivery. I've had cars transported 100 miles for under £100.