Bangernomics & Pre MOT checks?

[Barnsey737200]

Hi all,

A kind friend of a friend is offering me a Renault Laguna in a pretty rubbish state (for nout) but with a July MOT due. I'd like to run it through a Pre-MOT check to gauge whether it's worth taking on or to scrap it.

I'd take it to a local council-run MOT centre as to not get ripped off and bullied into thinking I need repairs done there and then, but what are the conditions for putting the car through a "practice" MOT even though it's orginal certificate still has a month or 2 left on it?

And on the bangerniomics side of things, if this Laguna really is a turd, what bargain bangers would you recommend for around £500? The lower the running costs the better!

Thanks for any advice you can provide :j

[bryanb]

You can have an MOT any time, no need to wait till old one expires. Then you would know exactly the situation.

[mikey72]

Run it to July.

[bartman]

How much is the average cost of a "pre-MOT inspection"?

The are loads of places offering MOT tests for £40 - I can't imagine that any kind of inspection is going to be much less than that. The Mr Clutch chain is offering £25 MOTs at "selected" centres.

I have never seen the economic sense of paying for a pre-MOT inspection.

[NickWarren]

IMO it would be worth shoving it through the MOT to check, afterall you wouldn't want to be driving round in something that is deemed to be unsafe in its current condition, MOT'd or not. I know an MOT doesn't check everything but It's nice to know where you stand.

[uktyler]

MOT it in June, take the old MOT and they will give you a 13 month MOT if it passes, effectively a year after the old MOT ran out.

If it fails badly you still have time to find a replacement.

[hewhoisnotintheknow]

for 40 quid i would just get it done, that way it gives you a while to decide if you like the car or not

[Treadway1]

Id just bung it through the MOT and see what happens, it seems pointless to put it through a pre MOT to find it would pass, and then have to pay again to have the actual MOT done. Remember though, if you put it through its MOT now and it fails, you wont be able to drive it any longer, despite the old MOT runnung out in a couple of months. Any new MOT result automatically supercedes an old one....

[Volcano]

With some garages charging £150 per hour labour, an MOT is brilliant value for money for checking a car thouroughly. Also, you get someone trained and qualified using proper equipment and a complaints procedure if you're not happy.

[Volcano]

Remember though, if you put it through its MOT now and it fails, you wont be able to drive it any longer, despite the old MOT runnung out in a couple of months. Any new MOT result automatically supercedes an old one....

Is this a new requirement? Have you got a link to that?

[KeithP]

<snip>
Any new MOT result automatically supercedes an old one....
Utter rubbish!!
You still have a valid MOT.
Please be kind enough to provide a citation.

[harveybobbles]

Hi all,

A kind friend of a friend is offering me a Renault Laguna in a pretty rubbish state (for nout)

Hope it's not this Laguna...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1635067

[vaio]

Utter rubbish!!
You still have a valid MOT.
Please be kind enough to provide a citation.

If it fails then you do indeed still have a valid MOT which remains valid until its expiry.

You also have an unroadworthy car which is obviously illegal to drive on the highway

Does the police database record failures? I don’t know

[anewman]

Yep the piece of paper you get is simply a "refusal to provide an MOT test certificate" listing reasons why.

[nomoneytoday]

With some garages charging £150 per hour labour, an MOT is brilliant value for money for checking a car thouroughly. Also, you get someone trained and qualified using proper equipment and a complaints procedure if you're not happy.

All an MOT does is ensure a car is safe to a very minimum standard on a given day. It's not a replacement for a FSH, or good brakes, or new tyres :)

For example a tyre with 1.7mm of tread will pass, as will brake pads with 10% life left, but I wouldn't drive it...

[Treadway1]

Utter rubbish!!
You still have a valid MOT.
Please be kind enough to provide a citation.

Wow, I dont think there was any need for such hostility. Hey ho. :rolleyes:

Anyway, whilst I may not have worded my reply sufficiently for you to understand, the principle of what I was saying is still correct. If youre vehicle fails its MOT, then this failure will be recorded on the VOSA's computerised system for all legitimately interested parties (i.e. Police) to view. See

http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosacorp/repository/An%20FOI%20request%20for%20information%20relating% 20to%20issue%20of%20VT20s%20and%20VT30s%20by%20MoT %20VTSs%20%20and%20computerisation.pdf#xml=http://www.vosa.gov.uk/SCRIPTS/texis.exe/webinator/search/xml.txt?query=failed+mot&pr=CORP&order=r&cq=&id=49ec06c651

Second page, second paragraph.

Therefore if you get pulled over by the police, youre vehicle may well have a PG9 prohibition notice put on it, depending on the seriousness of the defect, and you will be slapped with a fine.

So again, any new MOT result automatically supercedes an old one. I hope I have made this abundantly clear for you. No need to apologies.

:rolleyes:

[Chippy Minton]

Does the police database record failures?


No but VOSAs does, so therefore the police may have access to it on a multi-agency check and will know all the points it failed on.

[vaio]

……….Therefore if you get pulled over by the police, your vehicle may well have a PG9 prohibition notice put on it, depending on the seriousness of the defect, and you will be slapped with a fine.

So again, any new MOT result automatically supersedes an old one. I hope I have made this abundantly clear for you. No need to apologies.

:rolleyes:

Nah, “supersedes” mean replaces and that’s just not the case. An MOT certificate has an expiry date and is valid until that date whatever.

Driving having failed a test but with a still current certificate isn’t against the law.

Driving an un-roadworthy car is against the law irrespective of MOT status, a failed test (if they are recorded) on a car with a current ticket might give the police a “heads up” of a possibly un-roadworthy car but if the car had been repaired but not re-tested it would be completely legal.


.

[Ebe Scrooge]

For your situation, it may be worth doing an MOT yourself. No, I don't mean the full test, but you can find out what is tested during the MOT on many online sites - here's one at random :

http://www.ukmot.com/mot_check.asp

There will be things you can't check, like the emissions, but you should be able to run through most of the major points yourself. This will give you an idea of whether major repairs are going to be likely, and you'll then be in a better position to make a decision. The majority of checks are fairly simple for anyone to do.

[Volcano]

I think the credulity of your post was called into question because of this bit:

Remember though, if you put it through its MOT now and it fails, you wont be able to drive it any longer, despite the old MOT runnung out in a couple of months. Any new MOT result automatically supercedes an old one....

So despite your assertion that :

So again, any new MOT result automatically supercedes an old one. I hope I have made this abundantly clear for you.

That would be clearly incorrect.

--------------------

I've just put my old banger through it's MOT despite having 6 months left. A brake was binding, so I fixed it. If I choose not to resubmit my vehicle for MOT it's still roadworthy, still safe and still legal with 6 months valid MOT left on it. If I choose not to have my brake repair electronically recorded, then this doesn't render the vehicle dangerous.

(Even though obviously it would be sensible to get a new MOT, which I did).