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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that we can drive the car this weekend when the MOT is due at the end of the month?

60 replies

Queenbean · 07/07/2016 14:10

DP suggested a day out on Saturday. I said yes, let's drive half an hour to countryside then go for a walk.

Dp now says we shouldn't do "long distances" because the car is 10 years old and due MOT at end of July (although with no issues so far, very reliable!)

I think he is ridiculous because, a, 30 mins each way isn't a long distance and b, we have almost a month to go

(C is that he should bloody put the car in for MOT if he feels that strongly about it but that's a whole other issue!)

Who is being unreasonable please and would you still drive it?

OP posts:
BertieBotts · 07/07/2016 14:47

I would have thought that the reason an MOT is every year is in order to catch problems BEFORE they go wrong. Otherwise most cars would fail them all the time.

GreenShadow · 07/07/2016 14:47

A 10 year old car is nothing these days!
Many of us regularly drive the length and breadth of the country in a car older than this. But then YOU don't need to be told this. Hope you can convince him.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 07/07/2016 14:48

Annie, that's rude. So he's an arse because he's got anxiety? OP asked if he is being ridiculous, everybody thinks so - but to call him an arse isn't right, it's just not.

... and it's not a dick-swinging contest about how many miles people drive a week either (because I'd probably beat all of you).

Original poster
Queenbean · 07/07/2016 14:49

He just sort of worries about things without actually letting them stop his day to day life. So I wouldn't say he's really anxious, just a natural worrier if that makes sense

We live in London so he commutes to work by tube every day.

I have just messaged him saying "why are you concerned about using the car a few weeks before MOT? I think we should just use it - just as likely to fail after MOT and no problems so far?"

His response: "yeah ok!"

So it seems he is happy to use it after all??! We do have good breakdown cover :)

OP posts:
Original poster
Queenbean · 07/07/2016 14:51

Oh he's lovely, not an arse at all! Just silly about things like this...

OP posts:
HuskyLover1 · 07/07/2016 14:51

What?

So, based on your DH's thinking, everyone who drives to work, must call in sick for the 4 weeks prior to their MOT? Keep the kids off school, if they normally get there by car?

Could there be another reason he doesn't want to go out??

Ticklethosetoes · 07/07/2016 14:53

You can get an MOT done a month before its due and still keep the same 'date'
e.g If your MOT runs out on 15 May, the earliest you can get an MOT to keep the same renewal date for next year is 16 April..

Amy214 · 07/07/2016 14:54

Boogers i forgot when it was due and fixed the problem as soon as i realised. Nothing was wrong with the car at all (its only 5years old), i always check my car over myself (before i go long journeys) as other people have said a car can break down after an mot has said it was fine. Infact we have just recently changed our breaks nearly 2 months after the mot was done. And everything is fine the garage said it was fine and not to worry.

lovelyupnorth · 07/07/2016 14:55

better cancel my holiday in our 9 year old car, was going to the netherlands and belgium in it not sure i can do that in under 1/2 an hour even with my lead foot

DH is BU

foobio · 07/07/2016 14:57

Sorry if it has already been said, I have only scan-read, but if he is really concerned, you can get it MOT'd a month early without losing out:

"An MOT can be carried out up to one calendar month prior to the expiry date of your existing MOT certificate, whilst still preserving the anniversary of the expiry date.
If you have your test carried out a month before the due date, your MOT is effectively valid for 13 months."

Of course the downside of this is that if it fails, even on something trivial, you will not be able to go on the trip until it is repaired!

GnomeDePlume · 07/07/2016 14:57

Boogers, that is not necessarily true. It may invalidate the comprehensive element of insurance but the third party (and therefore the legal requirement for insurance) would still stand.

foobio · 07/07/2016 14:58

X posted with ticklethosetoes sorry!

Original poster
Queenbean · 07/07/2016 15:01

We wouldn't be able to get the MOT done before Saturday hence me saying lets just use it.

I didn't realise quite how ridiculous it was until someone pointed out that would everyone else have to cancel driving their car day to day a month before MOT due!

OP posts:
falange · 07/07/2016 15:15

I don't think he wanted to go and was saying all that stuff about the car as an excuse

MilicentKing · 07/07/2016 15:17

You're meant to get your car serviced as well as MOT'ed you know.

I have a 13 year old car. I am driving to Southampton and back on Sunday. Over 6 hrs driving. It's in good working order and I can't think of a single good reason why I wouldn't take it. Good to take the car out for a long drive now and again. A 30 min drive is not long distance in anyone's eyes surely....

Original poster
Queenbean · 07/07/2016 15:21

Falange that's not true at all, it was his idea. When he said not to take the car he suggested the train instead with the upside that we could drink.

Please don't take a situation and extrapolate to something completely different!

OP posts:
WhoTheFuckIsSimon · 07/07/2016 15:26

An mot is just a safety check.

It is not a guarantee.

Original poster
Queenbean · 07/07/2016 15:28

I mean an MOT and service - whatever you'd usually do!

OP posts:
NeckguardUnbespoke · 07/07/2016 15:29

if you drive without a valid MOT you're also driving without valid insurance and your car could be seized.

That simply isn't true. Insurance companies are not permitted under the Road Traffic Act to use the roadworthiness of the vehicle to disclaim liability for third party claims (Road Traffic Act 1988, S.143(3)(a), if we're keeping score or, more precisely, a policy which purported to do this would not meet the requirements of the section. An insurance company can refuse to pay on the comprehensive section of your policy, although it would have to show that the issue of material (ie, holding an MoT would probably act as a defence, but not holding an MoT is not proof the vehicle is unroadworthy) but it is nonsense to claim that failure to hold an MoT automatically means a vehicle is uninsured, because it isn't. Aside from anything else, there several cases when it's perfectly legal to drive an un-MoT'd car on the roads on your own insurance.

ConkersDontScareSpiders · 07/07/2016 15:33

He's being absurd.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 07/07/2016 16:13

God there's some bollocks being spouted on this thread as fact... Shock

isittimeforcoffee · 07/07/2016 16:17

Worrying for nothing. Our car is 16 years old, and we regularly jump in the car and drive 150 miles to the seaside - our MOT was due the day after the easter bank holiday this year and we came back from Wales (4 hour drive) the day before. My partner used to be a mechanic and said that it is good for the cars to have a good blast and long drive.

Shelby1981 · 07/07/2016 16:19

I'm thinking that he just fancied taking the train and having a drink, and instead of just saying that he'd really rather do that, he's used this as a reason instead and now it's all got a bit silly!

MonkeysWAGMug · 07/07/2016 16:22

Good grief. I worry about things, horrible anxiety about alsorts but even I wouldn't worry about this. I think there's more going on here than he's letting on.

falange · 07/07/2016 16:39

OP you asked who was bring unreasonable and I answered with what I thought when I read your question. Don't have a hissy because you don't like what I've said. It wasn't anything nasty. I don't know your husband but the reason for not using the car sounded so absurd I thought he didn't really want to go. I didn't know about the train bit. That's all.