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 😊

Not if major fail more recently.

Op the garage told me I couldn't do as you considered (recipt for the repairs), mine failed for brakes...had to go to another branch to get them fixed as they didnt have time... the 2nd branch didnt have time to re-mot it, and original wouldn't just pass it having seen the receipt from their other chain store....so had to sit around for 4h for a "retest" slot

Oh eck, sounds stressful. Thankfully mine isn’t the brakes, it’s something more minor but still considered ‘dangerous’. I think a different ‘new’ local garage we took it to a few weeks ago for a repair did some damage to it which has led to the mot fail 🫣I can’t prove anything but it seems likely, thankfully a relatively cheap fix according to the better garage.

Thankfully the MOT garage we go to is usually pretty good at fitting you in for a partial testing and they work very closely with the garage it will be fixed at who are also excellent 😊

I can assure you in a law abiding citizen and my car is safe and always MOT’d on time, insured and taxed. It’s just all gone wrong this week with the fail and my app that I’ve waited ages for and I spent all of last week in hospital with a very sick relative who is very lucky to be alive so it’s been stress and stress! I should have booked it for earlier than I did so it would be sorted for the appointment but I was only given the appointment at the hospital 2 weeks ago 🫣

Not true if it has been shown to have a dangerous fault

If your vehicle has a dangerous defect at the MOT, the vehicle cannot be legally driven on the road until the necessary repairs have been carried out and the vehicle passes a retest.

Show me the relevant law which says it has to be retested.

Someone posted it earlier, but here it is again:-
https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot

That’s not the question I’m asking. I’m fully aware what that page says. Nowhere does it say that a car with a dangerous fail and a still valid MOT can’t be driven on the road once repaired. As far as I can tell there would be no law broken.

It hasn't got a valid m o t. Once it's been tested and failed that's it. As per MOT manager son.

I see what you're saying, however, it says a vehicle with dangerous faults cannot be driven on the road, and also refers to a failed test needing to be retested. It also says you can only drive a vehicle to and from a prebooked test if it is roadworthy, so in the case of the OP, the vehicle would have had to have been repaired by the test centre as it shouldn't have been driven anywhere else.

The DVLA computer will have been updated with a fail, and with a dangerous fault this will supersede the existing MOT.

As I said, I see your point, but I would not fancy arguing it in court.

It hasn't got a valid m o t. Once it's been tested and failed that's it. As per MOT manager son

That’s 100% incorrect though. There’s no mechanism to invalidate it. It remains valid until original expiry, he really should know that.

I see what you're saying, however, it says a vehicle with dangerous faults cannot be driven on the road, and also refers to a failed test needing to be retested. It also says you can only drive a vehicle to and from a prebooked test if it is roadworthy, so in the case of the OP, the vehicle would have had to have been repaired by the test centre as it shouldn't have been driven anywhere else.

No, it’s worded very carefully to say that a dangerous fail has to be repaired before it can be driven. It does not say that it has to be repaired and retested before it can be driven.

The DVLA computer will have been updated with a fail, and with a dangerous fault this will supersede the existing MOT.

As said above, the fail will be recorded but the previous test remains valid.

The relevant offence which is referenced by the gov.uk page is “using a vehicle in a dangerous condition” which is entirely separate and has nothing to do with the MOT status, the car’s either dangerous or it’s not. If the car has been repaired you can’t be prosecuted for this offence and as the MOT remains valid you can’t be done for no MOT either. I maintain that once repaired you can drive until original MOT expiry.

Yep as above it supersedes it

It's like.. say you had to retake your driving test every year, if you failed, you wouldn't still have a valid driving license because the failed test overrules it

Before the MOT you might not have known about the dangerous fault but it's been tested and declared dangerous so it would be then daft if the previous MOT still applied
If the car was just under 3yo so hadn't had an MOT, was tested and had a dangerous fault, it wouldn't have a valid MOT because it hasn't passed which is probably the easiest way to think of it

Yep as above it supersedes it

It's like.. say you had to retake your driving test every year, if you failed, you wouldn't still have a valid driving license because the failed test overrules it

But that’s exactly how it works. There’s no mechanism to supersede it. An MOT is valid until its expiry date, I’m not asking about that, it’s a fact.

Here
I mean you can drive it if you want, we would never stop people because we can't
But it's no longer got a valid MOT because a dangerous fault means it isn't roadworthy
You can have a valid driving license but if you suddenly lose your sight you can't carry on driving because your license is still valid technically

And here. It's literally on the GOV website that you cannot drive it

I do this FT and have done for the past 6 years

I mean you can drive it if you want, we would never stop people because we can't
But it's no longer got a valid MOT because a dangerous fault means it isn't roadworthy
You can have a valid driving license but if you suddenly lose your sight you can't carry on driving because your license is still valid technically

The MOT does remain valid, there is no mechanism to invalidate it.

And the offence you’ve highlighted there is “driving a vehicle in a dangerous condition.” If it’s repaired you CANNOT be prosecuted for that offence.

It will fail the MOT on a dangerous fault though which then means the MOT is no longer valid
Because it has to be repaired (for the dangerous fault) and retested (for the MOT fail)

It can't be driven with a dangerous fault (or the £2500 fine applies if caught) and it needs a retest because it's failed the MOT

If it fails on a not dangerous fault then yes it can be driven with the valid MOT up to the date it expires

I've been a service advisor for a prestige car brand for the past 6 years. We can't stop you driving it but we will tell you as above, and frankly if someone wants to drive about with a dangerous fault then they're an idiot anyway. Even forgetting the MOT, the police can say it is not roadworthy if you're stopped
Although I have known people drive for a good 18 mpnths with no MOT at all and never been stopped

It will fail the MOT on a dangerous fault though which then means the MOT is no longer valid
Because it has to be repaired (for the dangerous fault) and retested (for the MOT fail)

That’s not true though, as I stated previously there’s no way to invalidate the previous MOT, it still remains valid until expiry. The car may have failed a subsequent test and it may be in a dangerous condition. If you’re caught driving it you’ll be prosecuted due to the dangerous faults but that legislation has nothing to do with the MOT status.

Out of curiosity, what is your qualification for the certainty here? I don't mean to be provocative, however you and I read the interpretation very differently. Is it just that, or do you have some other knowledge?

Which part are we talking about? The part I’m certain of is that an MOT stays valid until its expiry, a newer MOT fail doesn’t override it. You can have 20 fails prior to the original expiry date but the car still meets the requirements of section 47 of the Road Traffic Act until that original expiry date.

The part that I’m questioning is around driving a repaired car after a failed MOT with dangerous defects.

Now, do we agree that driving a car which has failed on a dangerous fault would result in the offence of “Using a vehicle in a dangerous condition”? And if that’s the case do we also agree that this is a completely independent to the MOT status of the vehicle?

That being the case, if the MOT is still valid AND the car is no longer in a dangerous condition there’s no grounds for any prosecution. I can’t find any actual law which says the car has to be retested prior to being driven until the original expiry date.

The research that I’m doing suggests this has been covered quite comprehensively on another forum and that agrees with my view, including a response from DVSA which backs that up. I’ve submitted my own query to DVSA so will report back in due course.

Is there any way you could get a bus to the hospital as that would probably be the best if you can, it would be a pity to cancel your appointment

Just to put this one to bed, I’ve had an email back from DVSA basically confirming that I’m correct.

But to summarise:

The MOT remains valid until expiry regardless of any subsequent fails in the meantime. And will satisfy the requirement under section 47 of the RTA. Obviously the roadworthiness is a separate matter and you’re likely to be prosecuted if the car is in a dangerous condition.

With regard to repairs having been carried out, you can continue to drive until the original expiry date without need for a retest but (as at all times) it’s the responsibility of the driver to make sure that they’ve been carried out and the vehicle is roadworthy otherwise the same law around driving a car in a dangerous condition applies.

Excellent, thank you for taking the trouble. Very interesting 👍

Your MOT manager son is incorrect.

There are two potential offences involved here:

1 - Using a vehicle on a public road without a valid MOT.

2 - Using a vehicle on a public road in an unroadworthy condition.

If the faults have been fixed, and the old MOT still has time remaining, then neither of these offences are being committed.

The failure does not invalidate any time remaining on the existing MOT.