No MOT - Permitted travel distance to MOT station

Lindopski · 27 January 2012 at 11:20AM

Hello

Is there a maximum distance that is permitted to travel with a car to an MOT testing station. I have my eye on an old car that is in driveable order - everything works but its 25 miles away.
I would rather take the vehicle to my usual chap local to me, but it means driving the car about 25 miles from its current location to the test centre and if/when it fails back home.
It will probably fail on corroded sills I think but other than that I doubt much else is up.

Im just wondering if 25 miles is ok to travel its just one A-road really between the car and the MOT station.
I'll obviously get insurance etc first - but cant get tax without the MOT (its free tax anyway)

thelawnet · 27 January 2012 at 11:27AM

Just took my car (expired MOT) to be serviced/MOT. About 10 miles. 25 miles is fine, the point is you are taking it for its MOT. Some people could conceivably live more than 25 miles from nearest MOT station.

anotherbaldrick · 27 January 2012 at 11:30AM

I think you would be pushing your luck. If on the offchance there is a problem, say with the brakes you don't want to find it out on an A road and you might find your insurance company will walk away. When was the car last on the road ?

benjus · 27 January 2012 at 12:08PM

anotherbaldrick wrote: »

you might find your insurance company will walk away.

On what grounds would they do that?

vax2002 · 27 January 2012 at 12:10PM

Taking a car to an MOT station does not stop the police pulling it over and giving you defect notices and fixed penalty notices .
So do be careful !

TonyMMM · 27 January 2012 at 12:13PM

As long as the car is not obviously dangerous to drive and are going to a Pre-Booked MOT, carry proof of the booking just in case,,you should be fine.

pogofish · 27 January 2012 at 12:23PM

Yup, so long as you are going to and from a pre-booked test you should be fine. People in some remote places live a bit further than 25 miles from an MOT station.

Lum · 27 January 2012 at 12:26PM

25 miles is nothing. I used to know a guy who imported cars as a hobby, and he'd book them in for an MOT locally (South Wales valleys), and then go collect them from the docks in Bristol. He got pulled a few times, what with having no number plates, but always had the insurance cert, MOT booking card all the other appropriate paperwork with him, so never a problem.

The cars always failed the first MOT too, usually due to a missing rear foglight. Still works out cheaper than paying for a trailer.

Lindopski · 27 January 2012 at 1:23PM

I felt that it maybe a bit cheeky taking her 25 miles , but to be fair (only going from photos and a brief description atm) she sounds and looks reasonably sound apart from obvious old car problems such as inner sills needing work (to be honest Ill probably just replace the whole sill on each side to save messing) and some other small patches she sounds fairly alright.

I am not sure how long she has been stood for - looking at photos is deceiving and it doesnt say but she is clean and tidy, clean inside etc so I dont think she has been in a barn for 25 years like some.
It says she is driving well and the engine has been refurbed to a good standard so hopefully she would be ok on the road for a short/slow trip.

Id rather get her in a local tester that I know and trust than some outback dodgy place, where they suck their teeth and say this is going to cost you

I have no doubt it is going to cost me as I cant weld so will have to go to a garage and Ill bet sills are a fortune now, but non the less I like the car and think its worth it.

Lum · 27 January 2012 at 1:51PM

It may well be cheeky, but it's a perfectly legal thing to do, and provides the loophole I mentioned in my above post.

Providing the car starts and stops fine and nothing is going to fall off it on the journey, go ahead and save money by doing this. 25 miles really is nothing.

Just be sure to carry all your documentation with you, including the appointment card from your MOT place, in case you get stopped.

Joe_Horner · 27 January 2012 at 1:55PM

There's no distance restriction at all but, as others have said, if there are obvious defects you can still be pulled over and fined for them.

Make sure tyres, lights, wipers etc are ok before you set off and tape over any obvious sharp holes in the bodywork. Also (obviously) check the brakes (including handbrake) carefully before setting off (press HARD on the pedal and hold while stopped to make sure the pedal doesn't sink or a pipe burst) and again once you're moving slowly - gentle and "emergency" stops. Finally, check there's no really obvious play in the steering.

That covers just about everything a policeman's likely to check at the roadside - in fact, they're most likely to just kick the tyres but better safe than sorry

Pre-book the MOT - making sure the garage notes your name and the make, model AND registration of the car - and remember that you have to drive (reasonably) straight to the test. That means no detours to fill your boot with shopping at Tesco, but there's case law saying that stopping for fuel etc (or even a packet of fags at a shop on the way) IS acceptable.

Many years ago I was stopped on a trip from Andover to South Devon (148 miles) with an MOT booked at the other end with a "tester I trusted" and there were knowing looks from the officers (they knew perfectly well I was actually shifting the car) but it wasn't a problem once they were happy the car was basically safe.

No MOT - Permitted travel distance to MOT station

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