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Original poster

Taking the car for another MOT

51 replies

Nemoeinstein · 12/03/2021 17:13

Car went in for an MOT today, got a call to say it had failed and had numerous big things wrong with it and a large list of advisories. Advised to not bother with the repair work (£1000+). Not issued with an MOT failure certificate and not charged for the work despite offering as apparently it took less than an hour to check. I asked them to write down the main things that were wrong with it but it looks fairly generic to me (corrosion, handbrake not performing well, steering leak fault etc). I’m a bit confused, should I not have got a failure certificate? Not used this garage before so now I’m concerned they just didn’t want to bother with the repair work or haven’t even undertaken the MOT properly. Is it stupid to go get another MOT done by another garage? Clueless about cars!

OP posts:
Hankunamatata · 12/03/2021 19:46

Often garages will do mot check then if it's going to fail they will.contact owner and say needs x repairs. Then they do repairs and do actual mot so you dont have to pay for mot twice.

EvilPea · 12/03/2021 20:04

That’s why you can still drive it as it hasn’t been MOT’d otherwise the new one trumps the old one.

murbblurb · 12/03/2021 20:09

'can' and 'should' are not synonyms.

ETPhoneHome19 · 12/03/2021 20:10

@Hankunamatata

Often garages will do mot check then if it's going to fail they will.contact owner and say needs x repairs. Then they do repairs and do actual mot so you dont have to pay for mot twice.
Within 14 days you get a free retest
Chicchicchicchiclana · 12/03/2021 20:49

There's no harm in taking it to another garage OP. Think of it as a second opinion. MOTs are incredibly cheap if you think about the time/labour involved. I guess they are kept deliberately low by the Government because it is in everyone's interests if individual car owners comply and get their cars tested every year.

sunflowersandbuttercups · 12/03/2021 20:51

@Hankunamatata

Often garages will do mot check then if it's going to fail they will.contact owner and say needs x repairs. Then they do repairs and do actual mot so you dont have to pay for mot twice.
But you get a free re-test within a certain amount of time, so this makes no sense.
Elai1978 · 12/03/2021 20:51

That’s why you can still drive it as it hasn’t been MOT’d otherwise the new one trumps the old one.

Not true at all. The existing MOT remains in place until expiry. The same laws around roadworthiness apply though so you can’t drive a car in a dangerous condition.

nothingcanhurtmewithmyeyesshut · 12/03/2021 20:55

They're doing you a favour. If they fail it, you can't drive it away and would either have to arrange it to be towed or pay them to do the work to make it pass and be road safe. By not recording the fail, your can take it away and do what you will.

nothingcanhurtmewithmyeyesshut · 12/03/2021 20:56

If they fail it for a dangerous fault I should have said

EmilyEmmabob · 12/03/2021 21:11

@Elai1978 that's not correct. The new MoT trumps the old one, even if the old one hasn't expired. The law changed a few years ago.

Shopaholic100 · 12/03/2021 21:17

My car failed it’s mot this year, for the first time, the mechanic said there had been an increase in cars failing due to corrosion issues because of lockdown. Try another mechanic, mine cost about £350 to repair.

sunflowersandbuttercups · 12/03/2021 21:19

[quote EmilyEmmabob]@Elai1978 that's not correct. The new MoT trumps the old one, even if the old one hasn't expired. The law changed a few years ago. [/quote]
Not according to the government website.

"Driving a vehicle that’s failed
You can take your vehicle away if:

  • your current MOT certificate is still valid
  • no ‘dangerous’ problems were listed in the MOT"

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

Elai1978 · 12/03/2021 21:20

@EmilyEmmabob it’s you who is incorrect. Provided no dangerous fails or any dangerous fails are repaired you can continue to drive until the existing MOT expires.

PivotPivotPivottt · 12/03/2021 21:21

I failed my MOT a couple of weeks ago I was given a failure certificate and it took a few hours for it to be added to the website. I was also under the impression it was still ok for me to drive as I had a couple if weeks before my old MOT expired but I was told to do a fuel clean before the retest and the guy at the garage advised me to do it at night so there was less chance of me being stopped by the police.

EmilyEmmabob · 12/03/2021 22:12

You can drive it away from the test place, this was brought in to prevent garages from forcing customers to have work done. You can't drive it 'legally' because it isn't roadworthy - if it was in an accident you'd be in trouble for driving a car on the road which is not roadworthy.

Why on earth would anyone continue to drive a car on a public road which has been deemed not roadworthy anyway!?

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 12/03/2021 22:18

Is this a garage that is familiar with you and your car? Do you always use the same garage for its MOT?

jimmyhill · 12/03/2021 22:39

If you haven't been given a certificate and there's no fail on the database, then your car has not been MOT'd. If your current MOT still has days left to run then it remains valid. I'd take it somewhere else tbh and get it properly MOT'd. Ideally a small local garage not a big dealer.

EvilPea · 12/03/2021 22:42

@PivotPivotPivottt

I failed my MOT a couple of weeks ago I was given a failure certificate and it took a few hours for it to be added to the website. I was also under the impression it was still ok for me to drive as I had a couple if weeks before my old MOT expired but I was told to do a fuel clean before the retest and the guy at the garage advised me to do it at night so there was less chance of me being stopped by the police.
It depends if it’s minor or major faults as to being driven sounds like your was emissions?

If it’s a dangerous fault it’s immediately off the road, minor the old test can still stand.

Elai1978 · 13/03/2021 08:15

You can drive it away from the test place, this was brought in to prevent garages from forcing customers to have work done. You can't drive it 'legally' because it isn't roadworthy - if it was in an accident you'd be in trouble for driving a car on the road which is not roadworthy.

You can drive it until the current MOT expires as long as it’s roadworthy. Let’s say my MOT expires in 3 weeks but fails today on a bulb. I can replace the bulb and continue to drive it until expiry, getting a retest done at some time between now and then.

sunflowersandbuttercups · 13/03/2021 08:25

@EmilyEmmabob

You can drive it away from the test place, this was brought in to prevent garages from forcing customers to have work done. You can't drive it 'legally' because it isn't roadworthy - if it was in an accident you'd be in trouble for driving a car on the road which is not roadworthy.

Why on earth would anyone continue to drive a car on a public road which has been deemed not roadworthy anyway!?

This is incorrect.

You can continue to drive it on your old MOT certificate as long as it didn't fail on anything dangerous.

EmilyEmmabob · 13/03/2021 09:19

Technically - I think that's the issue. The example with the bulb is a good example and of course makes perfect sense.

However, if your car fails it's MoT on a non dangerous fault and you continue to drive it (with the previous certificate still in date) you pose a risk to others on the road. If you are in an accident then you will most likely be found to blame because your car isn't roadworthy and this is where the grey area lies.

A failed MoT means that the car is not roadworthy so although you can technically drive it, you should not drive it - you should have it fixed. Take the bulb example - the bulb would be replaced but then the new test isn't done because the old one is in date then that wouldn't pose an issue as a potential reason for an accident.

In a situation where the failure hadn't been fixed, unless you are driving to or from a test place your insurance wouldn't cover you and any issues that arise are more likely to be seen as your fault. You'd also have to explain to the police, if you were in an accident, that you knew your car had failed an MoT. It's the same scenario as if you were pulled over with a light out - you didn't know, but it is still your responsibility because you should have done a 360 check before setting off.

Isn't this just common sense? Why on earth would you drive a vehicle which has failed an MoT just to get a few extra days out of a test certificate? The rule exists clearly to avoid sensible people going to and from test places from being prosecuted, not to be used as a loophole.

Elai1978 · 13/03/2021 10:43

The rule exists clearly to avoid sensible people going to and from test places from being prosecuted, not to be used as a loophole.

Nope, there’s a completely separate rule just for that.

sunflowersandbuttercups · 13/03/2021 11:42

Isn't this just common sense? Why on earth would you drive a vehicle which has failed an MoT just to get a few extra days out of a test certificate?

Because it's perfectly legal to do so. A car can fail an MOT on something incredibly minor - it doesn't make the car dangerous to drive. As long as there were no dangerous faults, there's nothing stopping you from taking the car home, driving it as normal and taking it to the garage another day for repairs.

The rule exists clearly to avoid sensible people going to and from test places from being prosecuted, not to be used as a loophole.

But there's already a law in place that says you can drive cars with expired MOT's to and from test centres and garages. It's separate to the fact that a car with a valid MOT certificate can continue to be driven as normal until that certificate expires or the car is considered too dangerous to drive.

Jumpers268 · 13/03/2021 11:50

They didn't give you an MOT certificate and it's also not showing online (www.gov.uk/check-mot-history)? For every MOT I've had I check online rather than waiting for the garage to call. I hate MOT days. I would definitely get another MOT done somewhere else.

EmilyEmmabob · 13/03/2021 11:50

@sunflowersandbuttercups read my post - just because you can doesn't mean that you are protected/blameless if something happens. I have already said that in the case of something minor then this wouldn't really be an issue (if you had a light out but didn't replace the bulb then this would be minor but you'd still be at risk of being in trouble for it! You'd be driving knowing there was a fault!).