MOT failed but last test valid til end of month-Can I drive?

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Hi all

Put my car in for MOT yesterday. I thought that the garage were going to do the necessary work to pass the car but it turns out that they just tested it. It failed on a few bits.....

However, my last MOT certificate is valid until 31/08/2013.

So I'm confused now... Does yesterday's test invalidate and supersede last years? Am I still ok to drive the car until the 31/08 or can I not drive it until the work has been done and the car passed???

Any help or links to the relevant VOSA (or what ever) info would be great.

Many thanks

Max
 
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The test has determined that in certain respects (you haven't disclosed what) your car is unsafe as it currently stands.

Should you have an accident, or there is any other reason for your car to be inspected, you would be guilty, and found guilty, of driving an unsafe vehicle.

The MOT is only a means of determining your vehicle was safe at the time of the test not that it would necessarily remain so for a period of 1 year until the next test.

Consider a somewhat extreme scenario - you have just had MOT carried out but on the way home breaking system suffers unexpected failure. Can you legally continue to drive the car bearing in mind the brakes were tested during the course of MOT and found to be in perfect working order?

If you do continue to drive the car then at least you will not be caught out by a police ANPR camera for having no MOT.

Remember it is always the drivers responsibility that the vehicle they drive is safe. In a previous life I drove fire appliances in emergency situations but it was always our responsibility if the vehicle became unsafe through faulty lights of breaking systems not working or any other defect we became aware of.
 
Also, as the whole process is now computerised I wonder if police (or other agencies) have access to the database holding the MOT information? If so it would be easy for them to check at the roadside, much like they do for insurance etc. In which case it would be unwise to risk driving when a fail certificate has been issued.

I don't know if that is the case but can imagine it would not be difficult for this to happen.
 
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I had this recently

the old MoT is still valid until its expiry date.

If the tester has recorded that the car is dangerous e.g. because the brakes don't work, then it would not be safe to use it on the road until that is fixed.

You can also fail the test for numerous other reasons, e,g, wrong typecript on number plates, noisy exhaust, so an MoT fail is not the same as a dangerous vehicle (as many people incorrectly think or imply ) and if it failed on, say a blown lightbulb or a defective tyre, and you changed it, you would then have both a valid (old) MoT and a non-defective car.

If you take the car back to the same testing station for repair and/or retest with a number of days (I think it is 10 working days) then the restest will be free or reduced price. this should be explained on the certificate.
 
I had this recently

the old MoT is still valid until its expiry date.
Don't think anyone suggested otherwise only that when using a vehicle on the road following a MOT failure having a valid old MOT certificate does not give exemption, for want of a better word, to delay having the remedial work carried out until expiry of that MOT.

You can also fail the test for numerous other reasons, e,g, wrong typecript on number plates, noisy exhaust, so an MoT fail is not the same as a dangerous vehicle (as many people incorrectly think or imply ) and if it failed on, say a blown lightbulb or a defective tyre, and you changed it, you would then have both a valid (old) MoT and a non-defective car.
Has anybody here tried to say otherwise? Each of examples quoted are subject to their own relevant regulations and a driver could, and might well be, prosecuted for violation of any of them. It is totally irrelevant as to whether a current MOT was in existence or the vehicle had just failed on these examples.

MOT failures don't necessarily mean a vehicle is dangerous but it does mean that it shouldn't be used on the road since it doesn't meet various regulations, compliance of which has been deemed a requirement to use a vehicle on a public road.

I do seem to remember talk of bringing in regulations that would have deemed a vehicles current and valid MOT cancelled in the case of a future MOT failure but this never reached the Statute Book.
 
MOT failures don't necessarily mean a vehicle is dangerous but it does mean that it shouldn't be used on the road since it doesn't meet various regulations.
I believe there are plenty of examples where MOT test points cannot be directly linked to regulations (i.e. suspension parts) and vice-versa (e.g. speedometers).
 
Woops - bad choice of words on my part I must admit!!

Meant that as the reason for failure has not been posted it MIGHT be because the car was considered unsafe.

All conjecture however because we don't know the reason for the failure.
 
The OP asked two separate questions:

"Does yesterday's test invalidate and supersede last years? "

NO! If you want to be sure, go on here, stick your details in and see if the database still shows the MOT as being valid:

https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-status

"Am I still ok to drive the car until the 31/08 or can I not drive it until the work has been done and the car passed???"

As others have said, it depends what it has failed on. That's down to a combination of personal morality and legislation. My view is that the notion that if you failed your MOT, you could be prosecuted for having a defective vehicle is a red herring. Your vehicle could be defective whether you have an MOT or not. It could be defective 1 month after the MOT has been issued and you wouldn't even have taken it for another MOT test. The defect would be there regardless of its MOT status and you could still get prosecuted for a vehicle defect even if the vehicle DOES have an MOT.

Any serious safety defect can, I think, result in the vehicle being grounded (but I'm not sure about this). In the vast majority of cases, defects are a result of a gradual process of degeneration and another few weeks won't make much difference.
 
The standard ANPR check only shows the expiry date of the last MOT so you would not be stopped by the Police on that account as the MOT failure information is not specifically displayed to them.

Failing the MOT might cause the vehicle to be dangerous to drive but that depends on what the failure point actually is.

Driving a defective car with a safety issue is an offence in itself and will often invalidate the insurance as well.

It all depends on what the faults are! A non compliant number plate is an RTA offence but does not make it dangerous to drive so would not invalidate the insurance!

Tony
 
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