Having An Mot Before The Expiry Date

[pdq1]

In the past having a MOT certificate almost guaranteed you could drive up to the date on the certificate even if it failed. However now if you have your MOT at the earliest date (about a month before it is due) it could fail and immediately be registered on the governments computer. Is there any point of taking your MOT early?

[gingejbee]

This subject has been done to death on here recently - as you will soon find out, no doubt.

[excelsior-1]

if it fails, the car will still be ok under the existing MOT

and you have time to fix the problems and re- do the MOT

[Graham-W]

The previous MOT remains valid until its expiry date. Having the MOT done early gives you chance to get repairs done before the MOT runs out.

[The Builder]

Interesting insurance position though. Part of the insurance "contract" is to have the car in a roadworthy condition. With a failed MOT, you have just proved otherwise.

[pdq1]

///if it fails, the car will still be ok under the existing MOT///

I find that hard to believe! So if the police patrol keys in your registration they know nothing about your failed MOT? Yes The insurance would throw up a problem!

[joko]

pretty sure the most recent mot cancels out all previous ones...

you would be driving around in a car that you know to be unroadworthy and illegal etc... a lot can happen to a car in a year.

[sunny-dave]

Just to inject a moment of sanity - all the stuff about insurance, the plod, etc etc is just irrelevant :

" Would you actually want to be driving round in a car that you knew was not roadworthy ? "

[Hopkirk]

The point in taking it early is that you take it at a time convenient for you, without any penalty.

The new certificate will be dated to expire a year after the old one expired, not the date of the test.

[pdq1]

So are you saying its possible to re-tax the vehicle after the failed MOT but before the MOT renewal date. In the past you could go to the Post Office show your Certificate of Insurance + MOT certificate and no problem. However I do it online and they have up to date information including the failed MOT.

[chrissa1]

You can't tax your car before the MOT expires. It is valid until it expires regardless of whether it's failed just before its due date

[Buenchico]

There are two entirely separate pieces of legislation. One says that it's illegal to drive without a valid MoT certificate; the other says that it's illegal to drive an unroadworthy vehicle.

Your car could fail a test taken a month early with a shattered windscreen, four bald tyres and not a single light working and you could still drive it without contravening the first piece of legislation (because the 'old' MoT certificate remains valid). It's only the second piece of legislation which would be contravened.

So it's not enough for the police to know that a vehicle has failed its MoT. They would need to show that the vehicle was also 'unroadworthy'. Some things which would result in an MoT failure (such as a cracked windscreen) don't necessarily render a vehicle 'unroadworthy', so it's completely legal to drive such a vehicle while the old certificate remains valid.

Chris

[pdq1]

Thanks Chris. I was a bit concerned because my MOT and renewal of tax fall within a month of each other. In the past I have renewed my tax first because if it failed the MOT I would at least have a tax disc to display until I could get the MOT redone. Hope this makes sense!

[pdq1]

Noodles OK you have a similar situation to myself. With the latest technology the garage doing your MOT sends the result to the DVLA instantaneously so if you applied for renewal of tax after the failed MOT I wonder what your position would be as they can check your cars status from the records it holds?