Mot q

castle96

Hi,
my cars MOT expires May. If I take it in now for one and it fails, can I still run it until May ?

thanks

Foxy-Stoat_3

Depends on what it fails on.

Ebe_Scrooge

Yes.

This is the reason it's always best to get it MOT'd a couple of weeks before it's due.

However, the new certificate can only be backdated up to a month, as it were. So if you current one expires on, say 20th May, and you get it tested on 1st May, the new certificate will run from 20th May. If you get it done now, and it passes, then your new certificate will run from today, so you'll have lost about 3 months, so to speak.

If you just want to know whether it's likely to pass, most of the checks are easy to do yourself - if you look on the government website, there's a link to the official list of things that are tested ( at the bottom of the page ) :

https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot

Foxy-Stoat_3

So it fails on 4 bald tyres, no rear brake lights, no main beams, rotten suspension mounts.....you'll be fine as you still have a MOT certificate confirming that 11 months ago your car was a-ok.

Again, depends on the fail.

Ebe_Scrooge

Fair point.

You wouldn't be done for having no MOT, but you would be done for driving an unroadworthy vehicle. That's one of the biggest failings of the MOT test in my view, it's largely meaningless - it just means the car was roadworthy at that particular moment in time. Still, not sure what the alternative would be, I suppose it's better than nothing. And yes, you can always be prosecuted for an unroadworthy vehicle, irresepctive of MOT status.

castle96

last years advisory was 'sills'. The year before it was 'corroded brake pipe' (though not on last years (! same garage)

Foxy-Stoat_3

We what hope that the OP regularly checks the condition of their car so if it fails it shouldn't be that bad.

What car is it?

I have seen VERY bad brake pipes on older cars.....EEK !

Quentin

Foxy-Stoat wrote: »

Depends on what it fails on.

No.

Irrespective of the fail, it still has an MOT valid till May!

If its fail is so serious its not roadworthy, then that is a separate issue to having a valid MOT!

Foxy-Stoat_3

Quentin wrote: »

No.

Irrespective of the fail, it still has an MOT valid till May!

If its fail is so serious its not roadworthy, then that is a separate issue to having a valid MOT!

OP asked "If I take it in now for one and it fails, can I still run it until May ?"

Not "is my MOT still valid".

Quentin

That was what he meant!

Foxy-Stoat_3

I thought he meant, if he was ok to drive his car if he took it for an MOT early and it fails.

If it fails on 4 bald tyres then he is not ok to carry on driving it until the current MOT expires, if it fails on a brake light then he will be ok.

Depends on the fail.