MOT exemption question

Riddler

Active Member
As we know, from May cars over 40 years old that have not been substantially altered do not have to undergo an MOT test.
However, owners can voluntarily put their cars through an MOT should they so wish - which seems like a good idea to me.
But the question I can’t seem to get answered is this: If you do put your car in voluntarily and it fails, what position does that put you in?
Are you still allowed to drive the car on the road (and renew your free tax) should you choose not to get the work done immediately?
At present, if your car fails, you can only drive it to and from a garage for a repair/re-MOT.
Does the same apply if you have voluntarily taken it in? In other words, is that fail reported to you only or is the DVLA informed?
 
To be exempt, you have to register your car as a vehicle of historic interest. If you don't do this then your position is the same as it is now, free tax and compulsory MoT. If you do register it, have a voluntary MoT and it fails then you could still drive it, but you have a legal obligation to ensure your vehicle is roadworthy and could lay yourself open to prosecution for using an unroadworthy vehicle. Because the MoT will be logged on the online system, the authorities will know and it could come up on a police ANPR as having no MoT. Best advice is if you want to have your vehicle checked, get a professional to check it to MoT standards but don't have a formal MoT.
 
Surely if you have voluntarily opted to MOT your car then you have opted to abide by the MOT rules regarding failures, ie either leave it at the garage to be fixed or take it away and fix it and return for a re test within the laid down time period.
I don't think it is that hard to get your head around.
If you don't want the hassle of a possible failure then don't MOT it. Personally I will carry on as before, and disregard all this new nonsense.
 
I’m guessing that, going forward, buyers would be more confident buying a car that has an MOT in one format or another than one that maybe hasn’t been touched in a couple of years. Granted, it’s only a snapshot in time but it at least proves the owner has at least got some scruples!

Mick
 
Any vehicle that has faults which would mean it would fail an MOT is illegal to drive even if it has a valid MOT in place. This won't change whether you decide to have an MOT, or run without one by declaring it as a VHI.

I'll still have an MOT on anything I own, whether it's entitled to run without one or not. One of the reasons for doing so was brought home to me a while back. I took a 1995 toyota belonging to a mate of mine in for a MOT. All was OK until it went on the brake rollers, when although it made the rear brake readings OK, the dials on the tester seemed to drop away so something was obviously amiss somewhere. So we had a look underneath the car again, and the front to rear brake pipes run between a metal cover plate and the floor, and with someone on the brake pedal one of the pipes had corroded away between the two where it couldn't be seen, but after a while fluid could be seen. It had been fine in normal driving taking it for the test, but the extra heavy braking on the rollers made it leak. When the cover plate was removed, the other pipe started leaking as well. All the road crap gets between the two sits there and corrodes the pipes away. Without the MOT the first my mate would have known about it would have been his first (lack of) emergency stop.
His car is 20-ish years newer than all the cars that are going to be exempt from testing....
 
any vehicle is constructed of many parts and many mechanical working components. these will wear. possibly corrode . get damaged and do fail from time to time. unless an expert in testing areas with equipment to actually check correctly ..( such as brake testing rollers and vehicle inspection hoist etc) the average person can easily miss something that can heavily impact on safety. apart from an accident that has defame to vehicles and possible street furniture, imagine living with self if we hurt or killed somebody as a direct result our mistake or failure to check something vital.
 
Well I agree with all the rest and will continue to have my car MOT'd - for safety reasons and because it shows any future buyer that you have been sensible with the car.
 
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