MOT, Computerisation and the Law

Spivved1987

I've just returned from a perplexing conversation at my local Lookers. I always get my car MOT done in advance of the expiry date, so that I can draw breath to get finance ready if necessary, get to important appointments etc. My understanding was always that as long as the car was booked in for any necessary repair work (other than if the garage had decided that the car was actually dangerous) you were ok to drive in the days between the MOT test and the expiry date of the old one.

My car failed its MOT - not dangerously - but the lady told me that 'with everything being computerised' it was now logged at Swansea as an MOT failure and that technically I would be breaking the law if I used it to drive anywhere other than to and from a garage I had booked it into for repair. Knowing my luck with traffic police I would have been the one caught out, so I didn't feel like putting this to the test.

But this raises a couple of issues. Firstly there is now no such thing as a grace period, so I might as well leave the MOT till the last day in the future. Secondly, and more significantly, Lookers and main dealers will generally be able to turn a repair round more quickly than an independent small garage if parts need to be ordered. Even though they are often much cheaper than main dealers, how could I risk putting my car in for an MOT a few days in advance of expiry into a small garage, have a failure logged at Swansea and then find I end up having to go to a main dealer anyway because the little garage can't get the parts till Monday?

Could small garages do a 'pre-MOT' without needing to log a failure, but give an estimate of what the car is likely to fail on in advance of the MOT proper?

bazster

Utter nonsense. So long as they didn't declare your vehicle unroadworthy you can still drive it until the current MOT expires.

thistledome

This is a good place to ask MOT questions:

http://forums.motester.co.uk/

Joe_Horner

She was lying. Or, at least, was giving advice about stuff she didn't understand.

Failing an MOT at any point does NOT invalidate an existing MOT. Also, the Police don't have access to the failed test information - only to whether or not there's a valid test in place - which there is for 12 months since the last pass.

What it does mean is that, if you were stopped and the police / VOSA decided to inspect the car you'd be very hard pressed to claim you weren't aware of the faults. What they CAN'T do is prosecute you for driving without a valid MOT, because your old one is still valid.

Say, for example, you take it in the full month early and it fails on one tyre. The test station doesn't do tyres, so you take it to the Phast-Phit shop down the road. You now have a car with no "MOT fail" defects (because you've just cured the only one) and an MOT that's still valid for a month, so you're perfectly legal to drive without taking it back for a retest.

Cynically, I'd suggest that she was putting pressure on you to have the work done by them rather than shopping round, which is probably a breach of VOSA's rules for testing stations.

If you want the official position on it, rather than "some guy on 'internet's" word, give VOSA a call on 0300 123 9000. They're surprisingly helpful!

mikey72

Your existing mot is still valid until the expiry date. The database records another test has been taken, and failed, but doesn't invalidate the previous one. Even if you have an accident, it would have to be proven that the cause of the failure was responsible for the accident. So having a blown light, or even defective brakes wouldn't be an issue if someone ran into you while you were stationary. Similarly, back wheel bearings, or a split driveshaft gaiter wouldn't affect you if you ran into someone else. You are fine to keep driving until they're fixed, unless you are advised they are dangerous, or unroadworthy. (Such as the brakes issue)

Joe_Horner

bazster wrote: »

Utter nonsense. So long as they didn't declare your vehicle unroadworthy you can still drive it until the current MOT expires.

You can still drive until the end of the existing ticket even if they tick the "dangerous" box - MOT testers have no power at all to prohibit use of a vehicle, but you should obviously get the faults fixed first.

Another example*, you take your car in and it gets a "dangerous" tick because some numpty forgot to do up the steering wheel nut and the wheel was all loose like.

So, before leaving the station, you tighten it up. Fault fixed, car no longer dangerous, no need to have the tester confirm it until the old ticket runs out.




* Note that this example is absolutely no way whatsoever at all by any stretch of the imagination based on something that happened to me :embarasse

bazster

Joe_Horner wrote: »

You can still drive until the end of the existing ticket even if they tick the "dangerous" box

It's not the MOT tester who is preventing you, it's the law. It's an offence to drive an unroadworthy vehicle, and even more so if you knew it was unroadworthy (e.g. because an MOT tester just told you so).

bris

It has always been the case of not being able to drive an unroadworthy car, whether its a day after it's MOT or a day before its due an MOT. I wouldn't worry about it and as long as it's still MOTed then you will be ok. But remember if it does go wrong and the car causes an accident you will be in trouble, but that will always be the case if you drive a car with a fault.

Joe_Horner

bazster wrote: »

It's not the MOT tester who is preventing you, it's the law. It's an offence to drive an unroadworthy vehicle, and even more so if you knew it was unroadworthy (e.g. because an MOT tester just told you so).

Legally, an MOT fail for anything (even emissions or a sticker on your windscreen) makes a car unroadworthy but doesn't necessarily make it dangerous.

The law explicity allows you to drive away from a failed test so, implicitly, allows you to drive an "unroadworthy" vehicle in those circumstances. The question of "dangerous" or not isn't a different category of unroadworthiness, it's simply a way for the tester to give a professional opinion that some aspect of the car is dangerous.

Having driven home and fixed the faults, your old MOT s still valid until it's expiry no matter what the outcome of the new test was.

In fact, the test even allows in theory for a car to pass (ie: be roadworthy) yet still have the "dangerous" box ticked for an advisory item that's not part of the test.

bazster

Joe_Horner wrote: »

In fact, the test even allows in theory for a car to pass (ie: be roadworthy) yet still have the "dangerous" box ticked for an advisory item that's not part of the test.

In which case it's almost certainly an offence to drive it.

You are just being pedantic.

Spivved1987

Thanks for all responses. It's too late for this year, as I've agreed to have the work done by Lookers. I think I will write to Swansea about this. But even then I doubt if I'll get a definitive answer. I think it's one of those 'needs to be tested in court' jobs. I'd be amazed if there will be something as clear as 'failed but not dangerous = grace period' and 'dangerous = don't drive and no grace period'