Would you take a punt on a car without mot?

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moneysaverz83
moneysaverz83 Posts: 223 Forumite
in Motoring
Old vw, few hundred quid? Mot expired December 2017. Passed previous mot.

Weird issue is, just seen the last mot test December 2016 shows vehicle having 30k more miles than what the DEALER has put down on eBay/Auto trader..
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  • forgotmyname
    forgotmyname Posts: 32,569 Forumite
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    edited 8 May 2018 at 11:17PM
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    Why would a dealer sell a car with no MOT???

    Sub £40 for the MOT and sell it for £££ more...?
    Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...

  • moneysaverz83
    moneysaverz83 Posts: 223 Forumite
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    That's what I've messaged them to ask...

    Then I found out about the mileage discrepancy (mistake?) When digging further.

    Though the car is listed for 500, I'm not sure they'd get much or anymore with mot. Without mot should be scrap value really
  • System
    System Posts: 178,101 Community Admin
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    forgotmyname wrote: »
    Why would a dealer sell a car with no MOT???

    Sub £40 for the MOT and sell it for £££ more...?

    Sub £40 for the MOT but the time and hassle to go through it all which costs them money in labour and then have to fix anything found in order to be able to sell it. Better to sell without MOT for spares.

    I've bought P/X with no MOT before and as long as you know what you're looking for its not a problem. Last one I bought only needed a rear exhaust section to pass. Remember that once the vehicle has left the MOT station on the day of the test the MOT is a worthless bit of paper for ascertaining whether the vehicle is a good one or not, you should never let the fact a vehicle has a MOT decide for you the car is mechanically sound or safe.
  • arcon5
    arcon5 Posts: 14,099 Forumite
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    Depends on the dealer. If they sell decent near new cars they'll have no interest in a banger on their books. If they sell sub £1k cars then highly likely they've inspected it and found too many issues.

    500 quid on an old golf with no mot sounds a lot. but then we don't know what car it is.
  • motorguy
    motorguy Posts: 22,479 Forumite
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    A dealer cant legally sell a car to a retail customer that is not roadworthy, so hes going to be taking a chance with writing stuff like "for spares and repairs only" etc over the invoice.

    Makes me think he knows more than you do if hes not getting a cheap MOT on it to make £££s more.
  • Carrot007
    Carrot007 Posts: 4,534 Forumite
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    motorguy wrote: »
    A dealer cant legally sell a car to a retail customer that is not roadworthy

    Of course they can! Just need to make sure you either don't drive away in it or are insured and going to a mot. Yes it means more checks for them but of course they can do it.
  • Herzlos
    Herzlos Posts: 14,701 Forumite
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    Tarambor wrote: »
    Sub £40 for the MOT but the time and hassle to go through it all which costs them money in labour and then have to fix anything found in order to be able to sell it. Better to sell without MOT for spares.

    It shouldn't be that much hassle sending it for an MOT, to at least see what's wrong with it. Presumably would cost most dealers less to sort than most punters too. So it's more likely something serious wrong and they are selling it for parts.

    Plus it's MOT expired in December, so it's been sat around for 5+ months at this point.

    It'd need to be special for me to consider it. If you're still tempted then you should see if they'll let you take it somewhere for a dummy MOT (I suspect they won't want a real MOT or the failures will be recorded).
  • bertiewhite
    bertiewhite Posts: 1,904 Forumite
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    Yes I've bought a couple of cars without MOT (but they were classics which I intended to rebuild anyway).
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
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    Carrot007 wrote: »
    motorguy wrote: »
    A dealer cant legally sell a car to a retail customer that is not roadworthy
    Of course they can! Just need to make sure you either don't drive away in it
    Yes...

    or are insured and going to a mot.
    No...


    https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/75
    If it's being driven away, it MUST be roadworthy, else the seller is committing an offence.

    If it's unroadworthy, then it cannot legally be driven, even to an MOT, else the driver is committing an offence.

    That applies to private sellers, too, except that traders can't even advertise unroadworthy cars without being very clear about the fact.


    No MOT does not mean unroadworthy, any more than valid MOT = definitely roadworthy. It even says that latter bit on the test certificate.
  • mollycat
    mollycat Posts: 1,475 Forumite
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    edited 9 May 2018 at 9:16AM
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    Buy a car with no MOT?

    Yes, many times, but.....

    1. Very careful and thorough inspection needed, remember to think about stuff that isn't covered by an MOT as well.

    2. Never in a million years for anything like £500...too much of a "punt". (for me).

    3. And always from a private sale, never from a dealer.

    I'm in the "sounds odd, why wouldn't they just MOT it" camp; but hey, what do I know!

    Good luck :)
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