My MOT ran out!

[Million]

Hi all,
I bought my first car last summer, so as you might have guessed from the title i'm not entirely knowledgeable about all things car ownery. I stupidly thought that my MOT couldn't run out before my road tax (don't ask me why) which expires at the end of this month. I dug through the paperwork from when I got the car because I'm looking at renewing the tax, and found out that my MOT expired in May! I assume I haven't been caught and warned/fined because I live in the provinces.
So, I need to get an MOT done. Going to call around and try to find one locally with space on Monday, but I'm worried that the garage will give me hassle when I'm getting it - I don't know if there's anything that would come up on their system that could lead to a charge?
Anyone know?
Thanks

[wombar]

I don't think you'll have any issues. Garages don't care if your MOT has expired, but you shouldn't drive it anywhere unless you're going to the test centre.

[chrestomanci]

The law says that it is illegal to drive a car without an MOT Unless you are driving it to a test center for a pre booked test appointment. (Or driving it home again afterwards so you can fix any faults yourself before a re-test). The test center needs to be fairly local, but I don't think you are forced to go to the absolute closest if their is another one in the same town you prefer.

So if I where you, I would just book an MOT at a garage in your town, at a time that suits you and not use the car before then. There is no law that makes you have an MOT for a car on your driveway, and while there is probably a law against parking a car without an MOT on the street, I doubt anyone would check, and even if they did it would probably be OK if you had a test booked for later in the week.

[Million]

Thanks for the info. It's parked in a private car park, so I think it should be safe there until I can get an appointment. Unfortunately our local KwikFit is booked up for the next 3 weeks!

[finlay666]

Or driving it home again afterwards so you can fix any faults yourself before a re-test

Not sure about this, it's only to get it tested, not for anything past this point

[peterb]

Why you need an MOT certificate

It is generally an offence to use on a public road, a vehicle of testable age that doesn’t have a current test certificate, except when:

taking it to a test station for an MOT test booked in advance
bringing it away from a test station after it has failed the MOT test, to a place of repair
taking it to a place, by previous arrangement, where problems that caused the vehicle to fail its MOT test, can be repaired
bringing it away from a place where the problems with the vehicle have been repaired

Even in the above circumstances you may still be prosecuted for driving an unroadworthy vehicle if it doesn’t comply with various regulations affecting its construction and use. Your car insurance may also be invalid.

taken from http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring...Mot/DG_4022108

[jon bda]

Not sure about this, it's only to get it tested, not for anything past this point

So if it fails, what do you do...leave it at the testing station and walk home???

[finlay666]

So if it fails, what do you do...leave it at the testing station and walk home???

It's what a flatbed is for, and planning to get it done in plenty of time (as well as doing some of the checks yourself where possible) before it runs out (as I'm quite sure given the date the OP has driven it after which is against the law)

If it's repairs it makes sense to be ok as the gov run MOT places don't offer repairs but if it's to your house it seems questionable if you are stopped, even more that the vehicle has to be taken directly there

Other thing is it's a measure of safety and how roadworthy it is. An insurance company could quite happily refuse to pay out if there is an accident driving it at any stage if they think it was down to the state of the vehicle

[kurosagi01]

If they state any faults in parts during MOT they will have to change the parts for you straight away so its road legal again,but if they don't have the parts there you may have to wait then. If all goes smoothly then you can just take the car back straight after MOT.

[peterb]

So if it fails, what do you do...leave it at the testing station and walk home???

It's what a flatbed is for, and planning to get it done in plenty of time (as well as doing some of the checks yourself where possible) before it runs out (as I'm quite sure given the date the OP has driven it after which is against the law)

If it's repairs it makes sense to be ok as the gov run MOT places don't offer repairs but if it's to your house it seems questionable if you are stopped, even more that the vehicle has to be taken directly there

Other thing is it's a measure of safety and how roadworthy it is. An insurance company could quite happily refuse to pay out if there is an accident driving it at any stage if they think it was down to the state of the vehicle

http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-automo...ml#post2092666

(or just scroll up to my post above yours )

If they state any faults in parts during MOT they will have to change the parts for you straight away so its road legal again,but if they don't have the parts there you may have to wait then. If all goes smoothly then you can just take the car back straight after MOT.

You, as in the quote, you can drive the car away to a place of repair (which may be your home - provided it is not unsafe to drive. (My italics)

[finlay666]

You, as in the quote, you can drive the car away to a place of repair (which may be your home - provided it is not unsafe to drive. (My italics)

If it fails it's pretty safe to assume it is unsafe to drive though, unless its something like an issue with lights and it's driven in the day

[Tonka777]

If it fails it's pretty safe to assume it is unsafe to drive though, unless its something like an issue with lights and it's driven in the day

Not really. If its really unsafe the MOT station will tell you and maybe issue a GV9 form (i think that's the number) which stops you from using it at all.

They can fail you for the most pedantic of things these days, and its only going to get worse in the coming months.

[kalniel]

Thanks for the info. It's parked in a private car park, so I think it should be safe there until I can get an appointment. Unfortunately our local KwikFit is booked up for the next 3 weeks!

Go to a council MOT test centre. They can't make repairs, so won't find 'faults' for the sake of repairs. Probably won't be as booked up either.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-mot#find

[SHare]

Yeah, I'd avoid kwik fit myself as well, I've seen countless threads on various forums that had cars fail at kwik fit for tyres or suspension condition then pass elsewhere without even advisories.

[justdatruth]

Yeah, I'd avoid kwik fit myself as well, I've seen countless threads on various forums that had cars fail at kwik fit for tyres or suspension condition then pass elsewhere without even advisories.

Count me in on that sentiment. Kwikfit did my service and mot, left my interior door panels loose, disconnected my stereo, shorted my battery (which they replaced) and damaged my foglights.

[DanceswithUnix]

I went into Kwikfit asking for a quote on an exhaust back box and 4 tyres. They quoted me £2500, about a grand more than the car is worth. They cut the exhaust off my wife's previous car and *then* realised the only replacement they had was wonky.

Phone around, someone will be able to fit you in and the service can only be better.