Hmmmm, isn't 10+ almost 15?
My Mondeo is about 13yo now, I've had it ten and it was coming up for it's first MOT when I got it. Previous MOT I got rust advisories, this time I got a rust failure, it's been fixed and should last a while longer, but I want to replace it because it's too expensive to feed (2.5l V6).
Justin.
I'm not sure it's down to build quality alone, but the actual design too. If just build quality, you'd assume different models from the same maker and factory would be close, rust wise. The Ka, for example was a dreadful rust trap - why was the Fiesta rather better?
My 15 year old Ka certainly had plenty of rust, and if I'd scrapped it at ten years old instead of replacing the engine it still wouldn't have gone "without a sign" of rust, though the rust was only cosmetic then.
It may not be just a few weeks before the old one expires in which case the new one takes precedence AIUI If it has failed then it is not in a fit state to go on the road and the record of the failed MOT would show you new about it.
In message , hugh writes
Or even "knew" about it - bloody spill chickens.
No, it doesn't.
A failed bulb, for instance, would make the car illegal to use on the road in the dark, as it would not be properly lit. AIUI, it would still be legal to use during the day provided the old MOT was still in force.
OTOH, a failure on tyre tread, and many others, would make it unroadworthy and illegal to use at any time until the fault was remedied - at which point it would be legal to use again under the old MOT.
Neil
To clarify further - it is not the MOT fail that makes it illegal to use the car on the road, it is the thing that caused it to fail that may do depending on what it is.
However, a failed MOT on file would certainly invalidate any "sorry officer, didn't know" excuse.
Neil
Just looked up my current MOT. Due June 18th. Earliest date for test to follow on is 19/05. If I present it before that then the start date is date of test and it is then the current MOT, pass or fail AIUI.
I disagree. A light must work at all times of the day.
Is that still true under the new on-line system?
True- although I can't think of anything that fails an MOT yet is still legal, and I don't agree with your previous light bulb example.
Agreed
It's jut a question of bureaucracy as opposed to common sense as to whether a current MOT is invalidated once a failed MOT has been recorded unless the correction to that failure is also recorded, which can only be done by retesting and the issue of a new MOT. And I don't know the answer. But I do know you must have a valid MOT
I have taken cars for a MOT and the examiner has noted on the fail certificate that the car is not safe to be driven on the road (or words to that effect).
You're right about a pass, but a fail is not "current". It is not a fail, indeed, it is a "certificate of refusal to issue an MOT certificate" or some such wording. It isn't a "certificate of withdrawal of MOT".
I'm sure there are other examples. ISTR another one being that a faulty seat belt doesn't make the car unroadworthy as long as that seat is not used until it is repaired. But IANAL and I haven't read the C&U regs, so don't take that as gospel. As no car I have owned has failed the MOT, it's not something I've tried out :)
It's certainly true that *most* MOT fails are on things that would make the car unroadworthy at any time. But the car was already unroadworthy and illegal to use on the road before the MOT failure itself occurred. That failure has no bearing on the fact that the car was already unroadworthy. Similarly, if the fault occurs one day after the MOT is issued, the car is again unroadworthy even though an MOT pass exists for it without a "corresponding" fail.
Essentially there are two separate things. One is that the car must be roadworthy to use on the road. The other is that the car must have an in-date MOT to use on the road. The two are not necessarily connected.
So far as I know, though I would emphasize that I have not taken legal advice on the matter and so please no-one quote me on it when discussing the matter with the police, the online system did not change the rules in that regard at all.
Neil
The fact that that is noted separately seems to back me up.
Another one might be emissions. The exhaust emissions being slightly above what they should be does not make a car dangerous, though I'm not sure how the C&U regulations apply to this sort of thing specifically.
Neil
I think you'll find that it is actually 28 days, not a calendar month, so the earliest test date to preserve the expiry date of the old MOT is
21st May (or possibly the 22nd, depending on whether the date of the old test is counted).I always get my MOT done as early as possible and nearly fell foul of this last year but, as I always use the same test centre, they had the record of the existing MOT and warned me that the appointment I was trying to book was too early.
Had I not deferred the test by a few days I would have forfeited the unexpired portion of the old certificate.
Yes, and there is also a note about an MOT cert only showing that the cert only states the condition AT THE TIME OF THE TEST and does not mean the vehicle is roadworthy at any subsequent time. The car has to be roadworthy if it is on the road. The MOT cert is just part of the paper chase that ties Insurance and Tax.
If they are actually fails at all.
But the car was already
Correct.
The law AFAIK makes a valid certificate itself (or failure to have one) an offense, but its quite separate from driving an unroadworthy car.
You can be done for that MOT or no MOT.
If you're looking for an example of an item that triggers an MOT fail but does not render the car unroadworthy, how about incorrect number plate letter spacing?
Or a cracked number plate which I had once n my off roading Land Rover.
In message , Terry Casey writes
I was quoting off the actual document
Fairy Nuff :-)
My van is going for it's MOT is today. The old MOT is valid until the 4th January. The tax is due at the end of the month. If my van fails the MOT I would still expect to be able to tax the car.
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