My mums car has failed its MOT, and the woman at the test station said its illegal to now drive the car, despite it having weeks left on lasts years ticket. I thought this was the whole point of doing the test early, so you have time to sort the stuff out. It hasn't failed on anything dangerous either, just a split cv boot, and a noisy wheel bearing. Is this woman been stupid, or is there truth in what she is saying?

Cheers in advance.

well end of the day your mot certificate states how long the mot is valid for, so if your mum does come across problem she atleast has all the rite paperwork...

but then agen, having bald tyres will not pass you are mot, but u can still drive around if you are mot doesnt run out 4 a bit, and if u get pulled by traffic cops thats points....

Edited 15 July, 200818 yr by polo6n

yea if it fails the test then your car is unroadworthy, so it's illegal to drive (unless your driving it to a garage to get it repaired). Your MOT certifcate might still be valid but you are legally required to make sure that the car is safe to drive between MOT's...

i think your mum is allowed to drive it home if you wanted to fix it there... or take it to a cheaper garage!

Edited 15 July, 200818 yr by GT Jenny

The MOT station will be linked to a central database which the police can cross reference your car details with.

My understanding is that once a car is deemed unroadworthy at a test station regardless of previous MOT outcomes it is not to be used on the road until a pass certificate is issued unless driving to a pre booked MOT test.

you can drive it to a place of repair i think

" The MOT station will be linked to a central database "

really? The garages that i get my MOT's done don't report the failures to the police?

The certificate numbers will be on a database but in this guy's mum's case hers is still valid anyway.

and yea you're allowed to drive it to a garage to get it repaired and to get a re-test.

she can still drive it until the mot runs out... the womans spkin pish ... after it runs out.. shes only allowed to drive it to a test station the car is booked in at... and believe me.. the 5-0 will checked the car is booked in..

the MOT test and ROAD LEGAL are two different things. you can pass an mot but still be unroadworthey. you should never KNOWINGLY drive a defective vehicle on a public road.. thats it really!

the MOT test and ROAD LEGAL are two different things. you can pass an mot but still be unroadworthey. you should never KNOWINGLY drive a defective vehicle on a public road.. thats it really! also when you book the car in for MOT make sure the garage hear you say whats wrong with it and that they write you in the diary so if you get pulled on the way they dont just deny all all knowlege, give a name and get theirs too.

she can still drive it until the mot runs out... the womans spkin pish ... after it runs out.. shes only allowed to drive it to a test station the car is booked in at... and believe me.. the 5-0 will checked the car is booked in..

You are actually wrong, and giving out duff advice like this can put people in big shit!

what he meant by it is linked to the police was that VOSA who are the governing body for the Ministry Of Testing share the same files as the police. it helps the police find a stolen car by like the chassis number etc. also thats how cops know if you are MoT has run out.

but if you still have a few weeks till the old pass certificate expires you can drive it till you get a new pass certificate a VT20 green bit of paper. then it can post date when your car is next due an mot as it cancels out the old one, i.e all the sales cars that come into our place

Once a car has failed an MOT you can only drive it to another garage OR to a scrapyard and the trip to the garage/scrappy MUST be pre-booked.

The pre-booking is necessary to prevent people coming up with cock-and-bull stories about how "I was just on my way to the MOT officer..." when they get pulled over for having a car in dodgy condition. I know of several officers who have literally followed people to the scrapyard to make sure that they actually get their car scrapped which is a pain if if you were telling porkies about it :)