We're selling my wife's car that has 3 months left on it's MOT. I'd like to get a new MOT for it to increase the value of the car.
If it should fail when presented for an MOT test, will that override the existing 3 months of the current MOT or will it still have 3 months left? I'm not expecting it to fail but just want to know what would happen if it did.
thanks.
My thoughts are that if it fails on the day, then the car will not have a valid MOT.
Once you take an MOT test, the results are entered in the MOT database. The certificate these days is not valid proof, the database is. If your most recent test shows a fail, then I would suspect that if you drove that car on the road (other than to a test site) you would be driving without a valid MOT.
Cheers
Peter
You can renew the MOT inside 30 days of the due date. The expiry date continues, effectively giving you a 13 month MOT. There is no point in doing what you propose for another 2 months.
You can always ask them to carry out a pre MOT check, this will achieve the sales benefit you are after
It's always a contencious point if the exisiting mot is over ridden by the failure or not, i've been trying to get clarification at work for ages as it comes up a few times a week.
my view is that the mot certificate is only confiming the car was roadworthy at the time of the test, and this can alter fairly quickly. If a car fails an mot then it would be deemed to be not roadworthy at the time, which regardless of if there is a valid mot or not should superceed it. Also with the new datebase as soon as it's registered as a fail the dvla know,so there could be problems with police or in the case of an accident.
But try getting something in writing from an offical source to confirm what is the correct outcome.
My take on this would be that you are well legal in that you have a valid MoT, but if the assumed fail was for anything that could be construed as rendering the vehicle unroadworthy you would be well up Shit Street if you were stopped or, worse, involved in an accident or insured event.
I have just raised the very same issue with my local MOT station and they stated an MOT fail will over-ride an existing MOT at once as that fail goes onto the database.Originally Posted by a900ss
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
If the car fails the MOT the you might not be insured - depending on what the car fails on. Any MOT failure will negate any previous MOT pass if the vehicle is unroadworthy.
http://www.mottest.net/mot/mot-failure-question/
dunk
"Well they would say that ... wouldn't they!"
But if you sold the car with a valid previous mot certificate there would be no way the buyer would know the car failed a recent mot, I've never heard advice to check this out when buying a car either, so would the new owner really not be insured? Also do the police link into thisdatabase for ANPR or do you take your mot certain when you get a producer?
Cheers..
Jase
As the link says a valid MOT is a valid MOT and is still valid even if it fails another MOT test. Whether or not the car is roadworrhty is another matter.
The MoT inspection only certifies that the car was roadworthy at the time it was tested. If you are stopped driving an unroadworthy vehicle, even with a valid MoT certificate, you could be prosecuted.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
My point is that having had a fail notice, it is provable that you knew the car was defective, an influencing point when it comes to penalties, not to mention the insurance position. Those buggers will try to wriggle out of anything.
get a garage to do an inspection, pay for their time like you would an MOT and ask for a report
If you MOT your vehicle 30 days before the current MOT expires and it fails you can still legally drive the car until the current MOT expires, so the new MOT would only supercede the old one if it passes the test it seems. But it sounds like a bit of a legal minefield to be honest!
But surely if eg a car fails on tyres below legal limit, or inoperative handbrake, or inoperative lights or indicators then vehicle might be deemed unroadworthy irrespective of whether the current MOT still had 30 days to expiry.
dunk
"Well they would say that ... wouldn't they!"
Aside from the legal position, if you put it through an MOT and it fails, that means you are driving, and selling, an un-roadworthy car. Not sure it is worth it.
Get it checked by all means, but if it a sales tactic, then just as easy to say you would put it through on agreement of a sale.
It might. But then if you had illegal tyres you'd be guilty even if you hadn't had it tested! A car can fail an MOT for many reasons and still be fine to drive on the road e.g. bad headlamp adjustment, frayed rear seat belts, indicator wrong colour, emissions etc etc Inoperative lights is not a problem wither unless you're driving at night.But surely if eg a car fails on tyres below legal limit, or inoperative handbrake, or inoperative lights or indicators then vehicle might be deemed unroadworthy irrespective of whether the current MOT still had 30 days to expiry.
dunk
I was just thinking the same wouldn,t it be better if you put through an mot and sort any problems out before selling it on anyway.But surely if eg a car fails on tyres below legal limit, or inoperative handbrake, or inoperative lights or indicators then vehicle might be deemed unroadworthy irrespective of whether the current MOT still had 30 days to expiry.
dunk
In the event of an accident you're still be covered for a 3rd party if you have no mot.
Depends on what it fails for. If it fails as its unroadworthy (red fail notice) then you cannot drive it. If it fails for a minor issue, a dodgy back seatbelt or light etc. then you can drive it for the remainder of the existing MOT certificate.
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