MOT queries

why should you think the garage wont give you an honest answer ?

we get our customers to leave the vehicle, saves them & us time.

a.. Where a vehicle fails its MOT Test and stays at the Test Station in order to undergo repairs, only a partial re-examination will be required, provided the re-examination is carried out before the end of the tenth working day after the day of the initial test. This re-examination will be free. b.. If the vehicle is brought back to the same Testing Station by the end of the next working day for one or more of the following items only, a partial re-examination is again required and this re-examination is also free: Bonnet, boot lid, brake pedal anti-slip, direction indicators, doors, dropsides, fuel filler cap, hazard warning, horn, lamps, loading door, mirrors, rear reflectors, registration plates, seatbelts (but not anchorages), seats, sharp edges or projections, steering wheel, tailboard, tailgate, vehicle identification number (VIN), windscreen and glass, windscreen wipers/washers, wheels* and tyres*.

(* Not applicable to motor bicycles and side cars.)

Why should you feel "cheated"? If you had carried out a proper visual inspection of the vehicle before taking it to a test centre you would probably have noticed the cut and changed it for the spare wheel - wouldn't you?

To be honest, it is probably quicker (and in the long run) cheaper and more convenient to let the garage change the tyre and sort the paperwork out there and then if that was all the car failed on - and remember, if the car failed it's MOT, then it is unlawful to drive it on the road anyway (even if the old one hadn't expired).

In a nutshell, don't blame the garage for your negligence!

Are you sure?

It depends entirely on the garage. Some do free re-tests within say 5 days while others charge the full amount. They usually have their scale of charges on display in the waiting room or office.

Most won't charge then for a re-test.

There's the rub. Most will charge more than a tyre specialist. They may not even have the necessary equipment for balancing the new tyre.

I'm not quite sure what you mean. You should really ask what you're going to be charged before work starts - including the MOT fee, since this isn't fixed either.

Dragon ( snipped-for-privacy@me-to-try-.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

No, it isn't.

The old MOT is still valid until the expiry date. If the car's unroadworthy, then it's illegal to drive - with or without having failed the MOT.

Sigh all you want old son - by the very nature of the car failing the MOT then technically it is unroadworthy - even if the old one has yet to expire - and unlawful to drive on the public highway.

Secondly - if the car has failed on a cut tyre - then again legally that car is unroadworthy - and yet again, unlawful to drive on the public highway.

Also it is worth remembering that in the days before the computerised MOT, it was possible to get away with just about anything and run the vehicle for a few days whilst things were sorted out.

Now, it is technically possible to fail the MOT (yet still have one on the car) drive out of the garage, pass a camera on a overbridge and then a few days later - get done for driving a defective vehicle.

Dragon ( snipped-for-privacy@me-to-try-.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

No, it isn't.

But not because the old MOT is no longer valid.

Which it still would be without having taken it for that failed MOT.

As long as the vehicle's roadworthy - it still is perfectly legal to do exactly that.

No, it isn't.

So what's the box for that says in the tresters opinion the car is unsafe?

Under which legislation? If that's the case, why is it lawful to drive an untaxed car which FAILS its MOT to a repair centre?

'Roadworthy' and 'having a current MOT' are two separate things.

Having an MOT certificate doesn't show a car is roadworthy. And a car can be roadworthy without a current MOT.

You can fail an MOT on, for example, a cut tyre. If the tester doesn't tick the 'dangerous to drive' box, you can *legally* drive away, covered by the old certificate. Take it to the tyre fitter down the road and get a new tyre put on.

Now you're fully roadworthy again, and have a valid MOT. Without a retest.

You can *always* be done for driving a defective vehicle. And an overbridge camera wouldn't pick you up in this case, cut tyre or not.

If you've come here to argue, try and get your facts straight first, there's a good Puffy.

It's only lawful in respect of not needing a current certificate for that journey. All other legislation affecting the safety of that vehicle still applies. You could still be prosecuted whilst taking a faulty car for repair.

This has been discussed before; the concensus then was that having a valid MOT *and* a fail notice does not make the vehicle illegal as such. However, the thing or things that caused the fail notice to be issued *may* make it illegal to continue to use the vehicle.

Chris

Road Traffic Act. Construction and Use regs.

Who says it's lawful? I can guarantee you that if your car fails an MOT on bald tyres and you're stopped on the way to the tyre fitters that you will be hammered.

Conor ( snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

And I can promise *you* that the MOT is irrelevant in that scenario.

If you get that tug on the way TO the MOT centre, before your car's failed the MOT, you'll *STILL* get hammered.

But if you fail the MOT, swap the tyres, then get a tug before you've taken it back for the MOT (but while the original is still unexpired) you'll be fine.

THe may being the point, if it was illegal to drive it away, it was illegal to drive it there.

You would on the way to the MOT too.

Rubbish. Think about it. How would they show that the defect had not been repaired before passing the camera?

Mrcheerful

An MOT is only good at the exact time of the test, not one second later. This does not mean that the car is roadworthy, because it can become totally unroadworthy as soon as you drive it away.

I had a car with perfectly good brakes, and it passed the MOT 1st time.

Upon driving it home the brakes had seized on during the test, and I had to replace pad, disc and cylinder etc.

I have also had another car where the exhaust fell off from the manifold when driving it home from the test centre.