Car MOT rules

[User473738162837374332]

Hi all, a random one.

my car failed MOT on Friday for two relatively quick but one ‘dangerous’ fix and is going into another garage tomorrow to be fixed. Haven’t used it all weekend.

my actual mot does not officially expire until later in the week, but I got it done early.

anyway, for whatever reason annoyingly the MOT garage is shut tomorrow so after the car is fixed I’m not going to get it to the MOT garage tomorrow so they can check and pass it.

I have a hospital appointment 9am Tuesday morning. Do I cancel because my MOT won’t be officially passed or just go as the work would have been done?

or would I be able to take the MOT fail paperwork and invoice/receipt of the work done to correct these issues with me? So in the unlikely event I’d need to I can prove the work has been done and I will be going back to the MOT garage in the afternoon to get it passed.

sorry if it sounds like a silly question.

Tia 😊

If your current MOT is still valid your car is legal to drive.

My partner said this but I was unsure!

Also, thank you!

https://www.webuyanycar.com/guides/car-ownership/drive-car-failed-mot/

You can't drive it if it had dangerous faults.

If the car failed on a dangerous fault then it shouldn't have been driven from the test centre.

You can drive on the previous MOT if it hasn't expired but only if there are no dangerous faults listed.

It's illegal to drive a car on the road with a dangerous fault, even to and from an MOT test or to be repaired.

You can't drive it at all. It needs to be picked up for repair from the test centre if they don't do repairs then taken back for a retest before you can legally drive it on the road.

The guidance above says you can drive it if no dangerous faults were found.....but you said one was dangerous.

https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/after-the-test

I stand corrected. Sorry!

OP also said it would be fixed...

@User473738162837374332

This isn't true. Now that you car has failed an MOT it supersedes the existing one (assuming it was entered into the DVLA system as a failure). It is now only legal to drive your car to and from a pre-booked MOT appointment. To the letter of the law, you can't even drive it to a garage for repair.

'Dangerous defects
A dangerous defect means the car is unroadworthy. Dangerous defects must be repaired before the car can be driven, as it's illegal to drive an unroadworthy vehicle on the road – even to or from an MOT test'

Not if the car has a dangerous fault. It can't be driven even to a booked test @HappiestSleeping

www.theaa.com/mot/advice/what-do-i-do-if-my-mot-fails#:~:text=A%20dangerous%20defect%20means%20the,or%20from%20an%20MOT%20test.&text=Major%20defects%20will%20also%20cause,it%20must%20be%20repaired%20immediately.

Mot tester dp sats it's a £1k fine if you are caught driving the vehicle after a dangerous fault is found . Doesn't matter if its within its mot expiry or not.

Yeah, I missed the 'dangerous' part. Good catch.

OP said the fault of going to be fixed before she goes to the appointment in question

She shouldn't have been allowed to drive it home from the MOT test centre. She's not allowed to drive it to the garage for repair and can't drive it to its next MOT.

The gov.uk guidance explains this. I was wrong with my original response.

That’s not what she said. She said the garage is closed tomorrow so she can’t get it fixed but if you read the other posts she can’t even drive it to the garage as the car has a dangerous fault. She has to get it collected.

@Namenotavailableagain

She shouldn't have been allowed to drive it home from the MOT test centre. She's not allowed to drive it to the garage for repair and can't drive it to its next MOT.

I assumed she hadn't driven it tbh because driving a car with a dangerous defect would be bloody stupid. I thought OP only intended driving after it had been fixed.

Why would she be asking if she could drive it if it was fixed?

How's she going to get it fixed if she can't drive it on the road? @daveded

Even if she gets it picked up to be fixed, or some one comes to her to do the repairs, the car has a dangerous fault on the system and can't be driven until it has been retested.

@SunsetApple

That’s not what she said.

It is exactly what she said. She was asking if she should cancel the appointment bc the car cannot be MOT in time after the fix.

She said the garage is closed tomorrow so she can’t get it fixed but if you read the other posts she can’t even drive it to the garage as the car has a dangerous fault. She has to get it collected.

She said the MOT garage is closed. Not the garage doing the fix.

Nope. It still can't be used on the road until it has passed its test. There is a prohibition on the vehicle and it must pass a retest first. The number plate will get picked up on anpr . You could go to court and argue that the repair had been done, but until an mot tester has passed thie work you cannot legally take the vehicle on the road. Technically it should even be put on a recovery vehicle to be taken to the test centre.

@RooneysHairTransplant

How's she going to get it fixed if she can't drive it on the road? @daveded

I don't know, I assumed she was having it transported between garages.

The expectation would be to get the work done by the garage conducting the MOT. Either that or get it recovered to a different garage.

Take it to another garage thats open tomorrow, or the council test centre for a retest and take the £35 or whatever hit?

It isn't permissable to drive it though. That's the conundrum here.