MOT information for motorists

When a vehicle reaches 3 years or more, it must have a yearly MOT. An MOT test check ensures a vehicle is safe, legal and roadworthy at the time of the test.

If the car fails its MOT, the driver can feel stressed because of their financial situation. This is very common as 40% of drivers fail their first MOT, according to the DVSA. 

Failing your MOT check is a possibility so you should explore your options on how to prevent this from happening. Our workshop can give you guidance and support to get grips of how you can get on the road as soon as possible.

If your car has failed its MOT you will be informed by your test centre and you will be given a VT30 (Refusal of MOT Test Certificate). This will show you you’re test details, car details and why it failed its MOT. You can also check MOT history via DVLA for a detailed look at past tests.

If you have failed your MOT when the certificate has expired, then you can often not drive as your insurance will be invalid until your MOT has been re-evaluated. However, there are two situations where you can drive, this is when you are going to get your car repaired from your MOT or when you’re going to have your second MOT test. It's against the law to drive the car in any other way

CarVeto has a comprehensive MOT checklist guide here: https://www.carveto.co.uk/mot-check/checklist/

If your certificate is still live but your car fails its MOT, then it is still legal to a certain extent. If there is a fault with the vehicle and you still have a valid certificate it is still classed as breaking the law. Even if it could be legal, it is advised that you limit driving of a failed MOT’d car until it has been repaired. If not there is a possibility that you could be prosecuted by the police.

If you want to drive your car with no legal issues, then the problems on the VT30 failure certificate need to be attended to before the car is retested. There are some paths you could take depending on the issue of the car however you can get charged more than you need to. The first one being fixing it on the spot. This is often the most popular and easiest route to take. Hire the test centre that did your MOT and the test centre will have 10 working days to fix the problems and do a retest of the issues on the VT30 certificate. The next step you could take is to take the car away to be fixed. 

Common failure items include tyre checks and brakes. You can take the car away to get it repaired and then bring it to your test centre for a partial retest on your car. This is free and is completed within one working day. After the MOT initial test, you will have to pay for a retest between 2 and 10 days after the initial test. The retest is roughly half of the main test. Finally, after the 10 working days you will be charged you full MOT.

If you have failed your test, to get your vehicle on the road again isn’t cheap. if the vehicle has less worth than the repairs to fix it, you could move your car on as a non-runner. This is easy and not costly compared to other more troublesome routes. 

If you think their decision about the MOT service is wrong you legally have the right to appeal. You should always talk to the community centre first to rule out any mishap. If you still feel your MOT results are wrong there are things you can do. You can complete a form and send it to the DVSA in 14 working days after the MOT. Once a retest has been put in place, you will have to pay the full price of a standard MOT. However if you were right and the MOT is successful, you will get given your money back. You must not repair your vehicle before the retest as the retest will be cancelled.