Taking car with no MOT out of Northern Ireland

chrisgeller

Hi, hoping someone has some insight/knowledge into NI MOT requirements.

I've been out of the UK for several months and have a car parked up with family in Northern Ireland. I'll be returning next month and need to get this car to England, and then onwards to Europe.

The MOT of the vehicle has lapsed.

I've realised that in Northern Ireland MOT's can't be done at any accredited garage, only at official centres, and that there are no appointment until September. That doesn't work for me.

The Northern Irish DVA says on its own website here:

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/services/book-mot-vehicle-test-online

" If you can't get an appointment before your existing MOT expires, you must book the earliest available appointment. "

i.e. it is not proscribed to use the vehicle as long as an MOT appointment is booked.

What I'd like to do is book a Northern Irish MOT appointment for September which I have no realistic intention of using, pick up the vehicle, use it for a few days in NI including getting it serviced. Then take it across on the ferry to the mainland Britain and get it MOT-ed there with a second MOT appointment that I actually will use.

Anything to stop that working?

An additional question, if I was to take it through the Republic of Ireland e.g. Dublin to Holyhead - could that cause any additional problems?

unforeseen

The fact that your MOT expired BEFORE you booked an appointment means that you can't do as planned. 
You must have made a booking before it ran out

DVA is experiencing high demand. If you can't get an appointment before your existing MOT expires, you must book the earliest available appointment. 

forgotmyname

Booked an MOT closer to my intended destination than my home making repairs easier.  I don't think I would risk a ferry crossing with
a vehicle that had no MOT.  Would not fancy my chances of convincing them a ferry crossing was required to get to my closest or
within a reasonable distance to my preferred MOT station.

Probably best to trailer it or get someone with a truck to take it to an MOT centre.

user1977

How close to a ferry port is the British MOT going to be? 

tightauldgit

chrisgeller said:

Hi, hoping someone has some insight/knowledge into NI MOT requirements.

I've been out of the UK for several months and have a car parked up with family in Northern Ireland. I'll be returning next month and need to get this car to England, and then onwards to Europe.

The MOT of the vehicle has lapsed.

I've realised that in Northern Ireland MOT's can't be done at any accredited garage, only at official centres, and that there are no appointment until September. That doesn't work for me.

The Northern Irish DVA says on its own website here:

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/services/book-mot-vehicle-test-online

" If you can't get an appointment before your existing MOT expires, you must book the earliest available appointment. "

i.e. it is not proscribed to use the vehicle as long as an MOT appointment is booked.

What I'd like to do is book a Northern Irish MOT appointment for September which I have no realistic intention of using, pick up the vehicle, use it for a few days in NI including getting it serviced. Then take it across on the ferry to the mainland Britain and get it MOT-ed there with a second MOT appointment that I actually will use.

Anything to stop that working?

An additional question, if I was to take it through the Republic of Ireland e.g. Dublin to Holyhead - could that cause any additional problems?

Is your vehicle taxed? If not you wont be able to renew the tax without a valid MOT and can still get done for driving an untaxed vehicle. 

Aretnap

tightauldgit said:

chrisgeller said:

Hi, hoping someone has some insight/knowledge into NI MOT requirements.

I've been out of the UK for several months and have a car parked up with family in Northern Ireland. I'll be returning next month and need to get this car to England, and then onwards to Europe.

The MOT of the vehicle has lapsed.

I've realised that in Northern Ireland MOT's can't be done at any accredited garage, only at official centres, and that there are no appointment until September. That doesn't work for me.

The Northern Irish DVA says on its own website here:

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/services/book-mot-vehicle-test-online

" If you can't get an appointment before your existing MOT expires, you must book the earliest available appointment. "

i.e. it is not proscribed to use the vehicle as long as an MOT appointment is booked.

What I'd like to do is book a Northern Irish MOT appointment for September which I have no realistic intention of using, pick up the vehicle, use it for a few days in NI including getting it serviced. Then take it across on the ferry to the mainland Britain and get it MOT-ed there with a second MOT appointment that I actually will use.

Anything to stop that working?

An additional question, if I was to take it through the Republic of Ireland e.g. Dublin to Holyhead - could that cause any additional problems?

Is your vehicle taxed? If not you wont be able to renew the tax without a valid MOT and can still get done for driving an untaxed vehicle. 

You are allowed to drive an untaxed vehicle to a pre-booked MOT, precisely for that reason.

(At least in GB; NI is a whole other country as far as road traffic law is concerned). 

DB1904

forgotmyname said:

Booked an MOT closer to my intended destination than my home making repairs easier.  I don't think I would risk a ferry crossing with
a vehicle that had no MOT.  Would not fancy my chances of convincing them a ferry crossing was required to get to my closest or
within a reasonable distance to my preferred MOT station.

Probably best to trailer it or get someone with a truck to take it to an MOT centre.

But what does the law actually say about that?

forgotmyname

The only things I could find out were it had to be a fairly direct route.  Nowhere did it state you had to go directly from
A to B and back to A.  A to B  to C,  if C is where the vehicle is going to get repaired if it fails.

Never done anything like the OP is planning though, I would be trailering the car in that situation.

DB1904

forgotmyname said:

The only things I could find out were it had to be a fairly direct route.  Nowhere did it state you had to go directly from
A to B and back to A.  A to B  to C,  if C is where the vehicle is going to get repaired if it fails.

Never done anything like the OP is planning though, I would be trailering the car in that situation.

Is that what the law says, a fairly direct route? I doubt it does you've just looked at some unqualified statement on the web. 

pramsay13

Not sure of the legalities, but you would be very unlucky to be caught doing what you propose.
I think as long as you have the mot appointment booked for the day you are travelling and you are not travelling hundreds of miles at the other side you can quite clearly argue the case.

Money_Grabber13579

chrisgeller said:

Hi, hoping someone has some insight/knowledge into NI MOT requirements.

I've been out of the UK for several months and have a car parked up with family in Northern Ireland. I'll be returning next month and need to get this car to England, and then onwards to Europe.

The MOT of the vehicle has lapsed.

I've realised that in Northern Ireland MOT's can't be done at any accredited garage, only at official centres, and that there are no appointment until September. That doesn't work for me.

The Northern Irish DVA says on its own website here:

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/services/book-mot-vehicle-test-online

" If you can't get an appointment before your existing MOT expires, you must book the earliest available appointment. "

i.e. it is not proscribed to use the vehicle as long as an MOT appointment is booked.

What I'd like to do is book a Northern Irish MOT appointment for September which I have no realistic intention of using, pick up the vehicle, use it for a few days in NI including getting it serviced. Then take it across on the ferry to the mainland Britain and get it MOT-ed there with a second MOT appointment that I actually will use.

Anything to stop that working?

An additional question, if I was to take it through the Republic of Ireland e.g. Dublin to Holyhead - could that cause any additional problems?

You can book an MOT at the New Buildings test centre for tomorrow (I’ve just checked). If that doesn’t work, additional dates are made available on a regular basis so I’d keep checking and book it (and actually take it) as early as possible. I definitely wouldn’t be driving about in it for a few days, then taking it across on the boat, all whilst it was out of MOT.