MOT'ing a car early?

[schmalex]

I know you can put a car through it's MOT up to a month before its expiry date, but is it possible to do it sooner than that?

The reason being, my Landy's MOT is due at the end of Jan, but I'd rather put it in during October / November, as I don't want to be without it if the weather turns bad.

I know I'll lose a couple of months of "value" fromthe current MOT, but I'd rather that & retain a test date in the autumn when I don't really need the truck than in mid winter when I do!

[Matt UK]

Yes you can

[elanfan]

Of course you can - dealers often MOT cars to sell them with the benefit of 12 months MOT

[nottyash]

You can MOT a car anytime and get 12 months from that date.
If you MOT it within 30 days before the expiry of the current MOT (and produce the certificate) this time is added on to the 12 months.

[ARH]

You don't need to produce the old ticket any more as it is on the computer

[simonej]

If it fails the MOT and still has a couple of months to run on the old certificate can you still run it or is it deemed unroadworthy?

[Alex]

simonej said:

If it fails the MOT and still has a couple of months to run on the old certificate can you still run it or is it deemed unroadworthy?

No, it is now an MOT failure.

[GKP]

simonej said:

If it fails the MOT and still has a couple of months to run on the old certificate can you still run it or is it deemed unroadworthy?

It will still have a valid MOT cert, but you may be up for a separate prosecution of using an unroadworthy vehicle. However, an MOT fail doesn't necessarily mean something is dangerous on the car - it will fail if the numberplate has a large chunk missing from it, for instance.

[simonej]

Alex said:

simonej said:

If it fails the MOT and still has a couple of months to run on the old certificate can you still run it or is it deemed unroadworthy?

No, it is now an MOT failure.

As I suspected it would be….

So does that mean they have you over a barrel for any work that needs to be done or can you drive it away and get it fixed elsewhere? What are the implications of driving it to another place with a failed MOT?

[Alex]

As I understand it (Google it for the details), you can drive to and from a pre-booked MOT, and also to a garage for service relating to MOT.

[Fish981]

simonej said:

Alex said:

simonej said:

If it fails the MOT and still has a couple of months to run on the old certificate can you still run it or is it deemed unroadworthy?

No, it is now an MOT failure.

As I suspected it would be….

You suspected wrong, the previous MOT is still valid. If, for instance, it failed on washer fluid, you could top it up and drive around quite happily until the previous MOT expired.