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Original poster

Can anyone tell me how to get a car back on the road?

21 replies

evansmummy · 14/09/2010 11:04

I have a car that has been declared off-road for a while. Dh is learning to drive (at last!) and so we want to get this car back on the road for him to learn and eventually drive for himself. I just wondered what order to do the insurance, MOT and tax? Thing is if it's gonna be massively expensive to get it through the MOT I don't want to spend hundreds on insuring it. Anyone got any advice? Thanks in advance.

OP posts:

LucindaCarlisle · 14/09/2010 11:58

Ask a local garage to come and give an estimate for getting it up and running again.
It will probably need a new battery for "starters" What year and what registration letter is on it?

Original poster

evansmummy · 14/09/2010 12:49

It's an M reg. Only been off road for about a year. Would it not be enough just to charge the battery? I was hoping to take it to the local (cheap) garage for it's MOT, don't think they would come here. Would I need to insure it though, to do that? That's my question really.

OP posts:

booyhoo · 14/09/2010 12:51

insurance then MOT then tax. as far as i know you cant tax a car without MOT and insurance ccertificates. he reason i said insure first is because you will probably have to drive it to the MOT centre and will need insurance.

Original poster

evansmummy · 14/09/2010 13:02

booyhoo, that's what I thought. Thanks both of you for your advice.

OP posts:

LucindaCarlisle · 14/09/2010 13:05

No, I disagree. Ask a garage to collect it using Trade Plates from your house. Then you dont need to get the Insurance before you find out how much it may cost to get it mechanically road worthy again.

ShrinkingViolet · 14/09/2010 13:05

you cna drive to a pre-booked MOT appointment without insurance - have some proof of the booking though.

Original poster

evansmummy · 14/09/2010 13:09

Lucinda, I didn't even know you could do that! I seriously don't think it's worth doing that. It' an old Peugeot, and it's half a mile up the road and it's a tiny garage, so I would be very surprised if they would do it. I'm gonna pop in tomorrow morning and ask them.

Shrinking, that would be my ideal! Will ask the garage.

OP posts:

booyhoo · 14/09/2010 13:14

you would be surprised evansmummy. i think most garages have trade plates for this very purpose.

i didn't realise you coudl go to your MOT without insurance. you learn something new everyday!!

LucindaCarlisle · 14/09/2010 13:33

I would be surprised if the Law allowed you to take a car on the road without insurance.

If your MOT has expired then you can drive directly to the MOT station as long as you are booked in. But I do not think that you could drive there without Tax, Insurance and MOT. Please check that before you try it.

booyhoo · 14/09/2010 13:35

lucinda you cant tax a car without an MOT certificate.

Original poster

evansmummy · 14/09/2010 13:41

I know that tax comes last. That's about all I do know though! I will definitely check before I take it anywhere. Thanks all.

OP posts:

booyhoo · 14/09/2010 13:46

there are websites that you can insure your car for just a day. tha would enable yu to get it to the garage or teh MOT without a huge initial outlay.

LucindaCarlisle · 14/09/2010 13:48

booyhoo. You can if the car is less than three years old.

booyhoo · 14/09/2010 13:55

ah, i wasn't aware of that. thank you.

melikalikimaka · 14/09/2010 13:58

Insurance, then I would look on the web for the 'Good Garage Scheme' and that will tell you all the reviews of garages in your area. A Unipart car care centre is usually a good independant garage and the parts have a guarantee. If you can get it there for an MOT, that should tell you if it is roadworthy or whether it is worth spending money on. If it is, it may be worth having it's yearly service and that may pick up any other faults. If all goes well, then you can tax it! Simples!!! Good luck with the driving test.

Original poster

evansmummy · 15/09/2010 09:41

Well according to the garage, you do need to insure the car to take it to an MOT. They do keep changing the law, hence the confusion.

OP posts:

soremummy · 15/09/2010 09:48

Yes once you have insurance but no mot you can leagally drive the car to the garage IF it has been prebooked. I would ring around though you might find another garage willing to come and collect the car and mot it for you so you dont have to get it insured if it will cost to much to make it road worthy.

LIZS · 15/09/2010 09:53

It should really be insured anyway.

Original poster

evansmummy · 15/09/2010 10:46

LIZS, of course. I just didn't want the massive outlay of insuring it if it was gonna cost too much to get it roadworthy again. I'm not trying to avoid insurance!

OP posts:

melikalikimaka · 16/09/2010 16:19

You can always cancel insurance if the car is no good, also if it is collected by the garage, they have business insurance which should cover it, although I'm not 100% on that.
Yes, the garage should also have your registration booked in their system if it has no MOT. The cheapest way to tell if it's a pile of junk is....get it MOT'd.

Original poster

evansmummy · 16/09/2010 18:36

It's booked in for an MOT tomorrow. I have 14 days to cancel insurance with a full refund of premium minus a small admin fee. We'll see...

Thanks for all your advice.

OP posts:

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