MOT – When is the best time?

Nobbie1967

cymruchris said:

RobM99 said:

If it fails on the pre-date, is it still MOT'd?

No - once it fails an MOT - any previous valid MOT is no longer applicable. So you'll have to get it fixed and MOT'd again.

An MOT fails due to a safety related item - so if something is shown as needing doing, they couldn't very well say 'Oh go on then keep on driving for the next month until your old MOT expires'. 

The previous MOT is still valid, but this does not protect you from prosecution if you are driving a car with I.e. dangerous tyres. However you would have been committing the same offence driving to the MOT station before it failed.

There are plenty of items which you could fail an MOT on which do not make the car dangerous. If it does fail, best ask the garage whether it’s safe to drive.

Ebe_Scrooge

cymruchris said:

RobM99 said:

If it fails on the pre-date, is it still MOT'd?

No - once it fails an MOT - any previous valid MOT is no longer applicable. So you'll have to get it fixed and MOT'd again.

An MOT fails due to a safety related item - so if something is shown as needing doing, they couldn't very well say 'Oh go on then keep on driving for the next month until your old MOT expires'. 

This is not correct.  The "old" MOT is still valid until its expiry date.  So if you drove it away from the garage, you wouldn't be pulled for having no MOT.

However, an important distinction, as others have highlighted, is that you could be fined for driving an "unroadworthy" car.  So if it failed on, say, a bald tyre, you've be fined for the bald tyre (or any other "failure" that was classed as "dangerous").

This is the one drawback of MOTs - they merely certify that the car is roadworthy at that particular time.  Think of a perfectly reasonable situation: your car passes the MOT, 3 months later a tyre has worn below the legal minimum.  You've still got a valid MOT, but the car is unroadworthy, and you'd be fined if you were stopped by the police for any reason.

I guess the MOT is kind of "better than nothing" for those drivers who never check their car from one year to the next, but it's far from a perfect system.

RobM99

A dead side-light bulb isn't dangerous, neither is a slightly hole-y exhaust though.

Car_54

It's not just a question of a fine. Construction & Use offences (e.g. bald tyre) also incur three points.

A charge of using a vehicle in a dangerous condition is also subject to points, or even a possible ban.

cymruchris

tedted said:

the previous mot is still valid 

Technically true yes - the old MOT is 'valid' - but your fail will have been recorded in the system, and will flag ANPR cameras. If you get pulled over and you are just merrily driving around without having completed any repairs - it's very likely you'd not get a very positive outcome. I should have made it clearer in my post - aside from going to and from a garage to get repairs, you wouldn't want to be driving it around as normal. 

Ebe_Scrooge

cymruchris said:

tedted said:

the previous mot is still valid 

your fail will have been recorded in the system, and will flag ANPR cameras.

This is not an argument from me, actually a genuine question.  I know the failure is recorded on the "MOT History" database, but would it actually flag up on ANPR?  I know ANPR will recognise "No MOT" and "No tax", but would a failure item actually flag up, assuming the old MOT is still valid (so it wouldn't flag up for "No MOT") ?

SpudGunPaul

cymruchris said:

tedted said:

the previous mot is still valid 

Technically true yes - the old MOT is 'valid' - but your fail will have been recorded in the system, and will flag ANPR cameras. If you get pulled over and you are just merrily driving around without having completed any repairs - it's very likely you'd not get a very positive outcome. I should have made it clearer in my post - aside from going to and from a garage to get repairs, you wouldn't want to be driving it around as normal. 

Not it won't. The MOT Database will still show a valid MOT until it expires. 

cymruchris

SpudGunPaul said:

cymruchris said:

tedted said:

the previous mot is still valid 

Technically true yes - the old MOT is 'valid' - but your fail will have been recorded in the system, and will flag ANPR cameras. If you get pulled over and you are just merrily driving around without having completed any repairs - it's very likely you'd not get a very positive outcome. I should have made it clearer in my post - aside from going to and from a garage to get repairs, you wouldn't want to be driving it around as normal. 

Not it won't. The MOT Database will still show a valid MOT until it expires. 

I don't agree - once a fail is recorded on the database - it'll flag on ANPR even with a valid existing MOT:

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/consumer-news/99427/mot-loophole-could-see-drivers-handed-2500-fine-and-penalty-points

SpudGunPaul

It won't but it can be accessed manually. 

eamon

For me the primary advantage of getting an MOT done within a month of expiry is that it buys notice time incase there are items that need addressing.