If MOT isn’t due till May and it’s taken in early and it fails can car still be driven till the official end date ? Or does the failure supersede this date ?

Many thanks

The MOT will still be valid but it may be unroadworthy so would be illegal to drive in that case. Depends what it fails on. Almost zero chance of getting caught but could get complicated if you have a prang

Drain hole in footwell has rusted through a little so hole is bigger than it should be

http://www.motangel.co.uk/article/driving-without-mot-mot-faqs/

Your MOT would be invalid.

Or does the failure supersede this date ?

I’m pretty sure this is the case.

Depends on whether the MOT failure actually makes it dangerous. I doubt that all MOT problems would automatically guarantee a conviction in court.

Op,

Have someone officially invalidated your MOT?

If not then your MOT is still valid. 🙄

I am pretty sure the new (possibly failed) MOT invalidates the previous one.

The fail doesn’t invalidate the MOT, like has been said its a bit of a grey area if you are pulled over or have a bump.

On your MOT, it will have a date that you can’t take it in before so book it in after that and see what happens. It then gives you a month or so to get the welding done or whatever else it may need.

I have yet to find an MOT station who will 100% confirm or deny it. Asked quite a few. That original is, as far as almost all testers I speak to, cast in stone. Yes a failure may make the car un roadworthy but that’s a different issue altogether. I have been know to take a car 3 months early to get the test due when I want it ie mid summer holidays. I ask the OPs question and get mixed answers.
Bet you would have to go to DoT/VOSA or whoever controls MOts for the correct answer.

It doesnt invalidate the previous

How ever if it fails then your car doesnt even meat the very basic road safety minimum standards – think about that for a minute.

Also – you can take a car in for mot any time. The date on your reciept is the date you can present so you retain the same expiry – ie a max of a 13month valid mot.

Any pics of the hole , rust is not not always a big deal unless it’s within 12″ of somthing structural ? Do check its late and I’ve been on the cider.

I’ve had a fair few mot passes with the holes in landrover footwells

put your reg no in here
mot checker
be interesting to see what it comes back with

The official view:

https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/after-the-test

Some discussion of the history of the official view:

http://www.motoringresearch.com/car-news/can-you-drive-your-car-after-an-mot-fail-if-the-old-test-hasnt-expired

As I understand it, driving a vehicle with no MOT and driving a vehicle in a dangerous condition are separate offences. It could pass the MOT today and have a coil spring snap tomorrow. Failing an MOT doesn’t make a vehicle more dangerous; if it has a dangerous fault, it was already illegal to drive it. It just means you drive it knowingly – and IANAL so I don’t know if that makes a difference in this case.

I’m booked in for MOT tomorrow, I’ll ask the garage guy and see what he says.

As I understand it, driving a vehicle with no MOT and driving a vehicle in a dangerous condition are separate offences. It could pass the MOT today and have a coil spring snap tomorrow. Failing an MOT doesn’t make a vehicle more dangerous; if it has a dangerous fault, it was already illegal to drive it. It just means you drive it knowingly – and IANAL so I don’t know if that makes a difference in this case.

This +1

Driving without and MOT isn’t an offence, you can do it to drive to an IVA or MOT test.

Not sure what would happen if you failed the MOT though, you could fail on emissions, but still be within an older limit, clearly the car is still safe, and arguably roadworthy, it’s just failed it’s MOT.

Rust is usually fine, upto the tester whether they deem it structural or not (within 12″ of a suspension component, sils etc), floorpan I’d have thought would be fine.

Rust holes within I think 4″ of structural areas would be a fail.
Also, if your car fails its MOT (even if the old hasnt expired yet) then technically its not roadworthy.
You’d be a brave man to argue against that.
Technically your car is only officially roadworthy at the time of the MOT.

Would insurance company pay out on a car with a failed MOT?

Would insurance company pay out on a car with a failed MOT?

Depends what it failed on, and what you were claiming for.

3rd party IIRC is never invalidated, you could cut the brake lines, down a bottle of JD and drive it into a bus full of Nuns and it would pay out.

Emissions out of spec and have a prang? I think they have to prove the fault was contributory to the accident (MOT says brakes worn, and brakes failed kinda thing). I guess they could knock the payout for your car down to scrap value if the car didn’t have an MOT?

Also, if your car fails its MOT (even if the old hasnt expired yet) then technically its not roadworthy

Nope the original MOT is valid so it’s still has an MOT as others have said if its not roadworthy then that’s different. If it failed for emissions then that’s not the same as roadworthy.

If it failed for emissions then that’s not the same as roadworthy.

and who are you to decide what the cut off is ?

i mean its only emissions – itll be fine …. its only a couple of bald tires itll be fine …..etc etc.

So the old MOT is still valid, you’ve failed a test, but had it fixed, or fixed it yourself. Do all the naysayers still reckon it’s illegal to drive it?

and who are you to decide what the cut off is ?

I don’t but the DVLA do.

Surely the only solution here is to put the car down as a deposit on a new rental car. Avoids this complex issue in future and you get a new car every three years !

I looked into it because I do most of my own repairs, so wanted to know whether I’m able to drive it once repaired (until I could get it in for re-test). And I’m pretty sure you are. The fail does not invalidate the MOT certificate. All the info is available on the government website.

It does however tell you that your car is not roadworthy in the condition it was tested. So if it failed and you carried on driving it as is, you’d be liable to prosecution.

I remember doing some work on one of my cars which had run out of MOT.

I went to insure it to take it for the MOT and the insurance were really funny about it. They said that it is fine to drive it to the MOT station for the pre booked appointment and the insurance would be fine but if it failed the MOT, they would not insure it to be driven home as it was unroadworthy.

Obviously this vehicle had no MOT at all to fall back onto and in the end I didn’t bother and scrapped it as I found more things wrong.