If Car Fails Early MOT is it off the road

Always_Harassed

If I put my car in early for its MOT and it fails do I have to put it off the road until I get the repairs done. Been told mine needs some work done and I thought the easiest way to find out the full list would be to put it through an MOT early.

scheming_gypsy

There's two answers to it...
1 - no because it's still covered by an MOT
2 - yes because it's been deemed 'unroadworthy'.

Although if you have a pre-MOT test it won't be registered as failing an MOT.

jbainbridge

It might already be unroadworthy ... Getting it MOTed will prove it.

Apples2

Here's a letter posted on Pistonheads

Dear K50 DEL,

Thank you for your email enquiry dated 1st November, 2010 concerning the
attached.

Unfortunately, what the tester has told you is completely incorrect.

An MOT is valid until midnight on the date of expiry even if the vehicle
fails a new test before the expiry date of the existing one.
This is one of the reasons that you are allowed to take the car for test
up to one month before the expiry- so that if any repairs are needed the
car can still be driven provided the car is roadworthy ( i.e you could
not drive with bald tyres etc as this would be illegal).

I hope this information has assisted you with your enquiry, but if you have
any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Kind Regards
Ian Byrne
VOSA Contact Centre
Operations Directorate
Tel: 0300 123 9000

anotherbaldrick

It very much depends on the nature of the fault . Say a tyre is below the legal tread limit , you would be commiting an offence driving with it, MOT still valid or not. Other things like suspension wear the inspector will be asessing if their is OK for another 12 months before it needs attention. In which case you are permitted to see out your valid MOT. But anything deemed make the vehicle unroadworthy must be attended to at once.

paddedjohn

as stated above, as long as the failed items dont make the car unroadworthy (tyres, lights etc) then your existing mot cert is still valid, something like a hole in the exhaust or a split gaiter would probably be ok.

masterlumps

wouldnt it be better just to get it into a garage to be checked, then get the work done before presenting it for MOT

Quentin

paddedjohn wrote: »

as stated above, as long as the failed items dont make the car unroadworthy (tyres, lights etc) then your existing mot cert is still valid,......

No.

No matter how "serious" the early failure is, the original MOT remains valid until its expiry date.

paddedjohn

Quentin wrote: »

No.

No matter how "serious" the early failure is, the original MOT remains valid until its expiry date.

I probably worded my reply wrong, i totally agree that the cert remains valid until its expirey date but it would still be unroadworthy if a serious fault was found and shouldnt be driven on the road until rectified;)

attila_

if u get pulled over by a police officer for a faulty brake light for example and whilst being pulled over they notice your tyres are below the legal limit, then regardless if u have an mot or not u will get fined and get points.

mot certificates are only useful for taxing your car.

System

The main point here is that an MOT certificate does not say that the car is roadworthy at any point after the test was done, it just shows that it past the test criteria when it was tested.

So, if a fault was found during an MOT (or pre-MOT) that makes the car unroadworthy, it should not be driven. (Except to / from the MOT test station and/or a pre-booked garage to get the fault(s) fixed)