MOT bay - how far?
Posted By : Jason Chinn, 12-Apr-2006, 12:02pm
Put like that I'd say most definately not in the spirit of the law and illegal - whether you'd get caught or not is another matter. Of course whether
you have an MOT or not your car should be in roadworthy condition - so if say you're headlights don't work you'll still be knicked whether you've got a
current MOT ticket or not 
MOT bay - how far?
Posted By : Ian Osprey, 12-Apr-2006, 12:04pm
Chris,
My opinion is that this is a wooly law, and as such can be interpreted differently by different police forces, and different judges,
and over 35 miles, isn't worth risking the &163;1000 fine.
No such thing as an offical period of grace, the arguement wouldn't stand in court
The last time I hired a car transporter trailor it cost me &163;25+vat for the day.
If this option is not practical, then , there are other exclusions to driving without an MOT (ref; http://www.motcentrefinder.co.uk/nav/info_pages/dr...)
"To a garage that will working on you vehicle repairs after an MOT test failure."
"Driving from the place where the test took place."
My option would be to have the mot done near where the car's being worked on, then drive it home. You never know, it may pass, at worst, you'll have a list of things to work on to get it passed.
Try your insurance company's help line for another opinion.
My opinion is that this is a wooly law, and as such can be interpreted differently by different police forces, and different judges,
and over 35 miles, isn't worth risking the &163;1000 fine.
No such thing as an offical period of grace, the arguement wouldn't stand in court
The last time I hired a car transporter trailor it cost me &163;25+vat for the day.
If this option is not practical, then , there are other exclusions to driving without an MOT (ref; http://www.motcentrefinder.co.uk/nav/info_pages/dr...)
"To a garage that will working on you vehicle repairs after an MOT test failure."
"Driving from the place where the test took place."
My option would be to have the mot done near where the car's being worked on, then drive it home. You never know, it may pass, at worst, you'll have a list of things to work on to get it passed.
Try your insurance company's help line for another opinion.
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MOT bay - how far?
Posted By : Ian Mulford, 12-Apr-2006, 02:01pm
My understanding was you could drive a car without an MOT, with no limit on how long it has expired, as long as you were taking it to a MOT testing station where you had an appointment.-
MOT bay - how far?
Posted By : Steve Cureton, 12-Apr-2006, 02:09pm
I was under the impression (maybe mistakenly) that it has to be a local garage. This would prevent anyone booking an MOT in Cornwall to coincide with their holiday etc.-
MOT bay - how far?
Posted By : Nigel Gibbins, 12-Apr-2006, 04:34pm
It does have to be a local garage (to where the car is kept), and the cover is for one journey only. The appointment has to be current (ie within an hour of when you are questioned). But due to the number of MOT stations around I wouldn't expect you'd get away with more than five miles - for instance I have at least 6 stations within a mile of me.
If you have no MOT then your insurance is likely to be invalidated too (unless you have comlied with the above) - so there's extra fines/problems for you.
You should trailer it or get it tested by the welder or a station near him. But then again, why do you think you'd be stopped? Then again (again) if you are involved in an accident - you're screwed
!
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MOT bay - how far?
Posted By : Colin Lindsay, 12-Apr-2006, 04:34pm
There is NO period of grace; if it's expired then it's expired - the only exception is with a Certificate of Exemption which is issued by the MOT Testers if a car cannot be tested eg due to long waiting lists or broken machinery etc etc.
Your insurance will probably refuse to pay in the event of an accident; they love any excuse.
You can legally drive an untested car to a pre-booked appointment but whether or not this is your NEAREST available station is unclear. Technically you could sell an untested car on eBay, have the buyer book a test at his location, then drive it to him. Whether or not this will ever stand up in Court is a different matter...
Colin
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MOT bay - how far?
Posted By : Van Hamlin, 12-Apr-2006, 04:55pm
If you drive a car without an MoT to a testing garage where you have it booked in it still has to be road legal ie in MoT pass condition. So even if you drive it to your nearest MoT station where you have it booked in you can still be prosecuted for driving an unroadworthy vehicle.
The car should be roadworthy for the insurance to be valid, even if you have an MoT.
I would give it a very thorough check over when you pick it up, and MoT it at a garage near where you had the work done, where you can leave it or have any work done if necessary.
Van
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MOT bay - how far?
Posted By : Mike Crewes, 12-Apr-2006, 05:26pm
Chris
All the previous posts offer good advice. Although the law allows you to drive a car with no MOT to an MOT appointment and back again if it fails, this is generally recognised by courts as somewhere nearby, for all the reasons already given. Your MOT lapses on the day on the Certificate, there is no period of grace.
Through experience I would argue that a court probably would not except 35 miles as a reasonable distance to an MOT Testing Station and they would probably see through your ruse. If it's not capable of passing an MOT Test then it needs to be trailered, or recovered on a recovery vehicle.
Regards
Mike-
MOT bay - how far?
Posted By : Chris Stanley, 13-Apr-2006, 09:57am
All,
Seems like pretty sound advice. I guess I won't chance it - the welding has always been the iffy bit on the car, the rest is MOT spec, but I think the plan of driving it straight to a local MOT bay seems reasonable. Unfortunatly the welder is a one-man business, not a garage, so he can't do it.
Thanks,
Chris-
MOT bay - how far?
Posted By : Colin Wake, 13-Apr-2006, 11:47am
I always use an MOT station about 10 miles from home because..
The nearer ones are manned by 'yoofs' who hit my cars with their little hammers, try to emission test them (hopefully resolved now the computers have arrived), look for fog lights, door mirrors..... the list goes on.
The one I use the guy used to work at the Triumph garage. I knew I had found the right place when I first took my Kit Car there.
As I pulled up he said 'you've got a Vitesse engine in there have'n't you??. He had recognised the exhaust note.
This will become more of a problem as more of the older guys retire.
Colin-
MOT bay - how far?
Posted By : Colin Lindsay, 13-Apr-2006, 07:35pm
Sadly this is a problem everywhere, Colin - the old boys are all leaving, and all their skills are being lost in our bolt-on / throwaway world. Servicing your own car these days means changing the batteries in the LED gearknob. The MOT inspector knows only what the computer tells him is right or wrong and you can't reason with him. Thank God for the handful of older mechanics left who are inclined to be more flexible.
Colin -
MOT bay - how far?
Posted By : Andy Cook, 14-Apr-2006, 01:07am
Colin,
I had a great example of a yooof MOT tester last year when I took my GT6 to a local testing station and the tester looked like a spotty teenager and was dressed in a hoody and baseball cap!
He came into the waiting room and asked me to come over to the testing bay as he couldn't find the bonnet release under the dashboard!
I only take it to this testing station as they are the only local one that doesn't charge for retests, it's about 8 miles away. This year I got a much older tester there though who seemed to at least know a bit more about classic cars.......-
MOT bay - how far?
Posted By : Colin Lindsay, 14-Apr-2006, 08:54am
Have you had the horizontally challenged one yet that won't fit behind the GT6 steering wheel? Over here the tester has to drive the car for the brake test, and if they don't fit it can be entertaining.
Colin-
MOT bay - how far?
Posted By : Colin Wake, 14-Apr-2006, 09:41am
I do my own brake testing on my kit car, none of teh 3 blokes can fit behind the wheel!!!!
Colin-
MOT bay - how far?
Posted By : Gavin McFarland, 14-Apr-2006, 10:01am
All this MoT chat is making me nervous - my Spitfire's booked for a test in Belfast at 2.05 today... Hope I don't get a fat tester - might fail me for laughing...-
MOT bay - how far?
Posted By : Julie Sewell, 14-Apr-2006, 11:23pm
My Spit is booked in for tomorrow morning. Only problem being that the MOT tester is short staffed so I am going to have to help him by wiggling a few things!!
Julie-
MOT bay - how far?
Posted By : Gavin McFarland, 15-Apr-2006, 11:07am
Well, I'd nothing to worry about. I got a very nice tester who was very understanding. Especially since while waiting outside the test centre the car decided to idle at 2000rpm (throttle link rod binding slightly)... He trusted me to fix it immediately (which I did, after the test). My handbrake only just passed (as usual), and although the headlights were a bit low, apparently since the car is pre 1980 it's only an "advisory" point, not a fail. He also pointed out a slight coolant leak from the top hose, which could have led to grief on the way home.
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MOT bay - how far?
Posted By : Julie Sewell, 15-Apr-2006, 11:41am
I also had nothing to worry about. Also had a good MOT tester...a couple of advisorys but thats all.
Julie-
MOT bay - how far?
Posted By : Maria Theresa Bullen, 20-Apr-2006, 06:07pm
Last year my 1970 GT6 Mk 2 was MOT'd, it was put on the emmisions test and the brake test (rollers). Is this correct?
Many thanks
Maria
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MOT bay - how far?
Posted By : Kevin Rochfort, 20-Apr-2006, 06:28pm
Maria,
All cars have to undergo a brake test - most vehicles can be done on the rollers, but there are one or two that can't (for technical reasons to do with the design of the car) so they are done using a "g" meter placed in the passenger footwell and then taking the car for a drive and braking sharply.
Emissions test :
Modern cars have to undergo a specific rigorous test, older cars undergo an easier test, and all cars pre (about)1976 should undergo a very simple test - "visible smoke", which as the name implies is a visual test. For your car, there is no reason for the VOSA examiner to perform an emissions test with a machine, it's not required - but there is nothing to stop the examiner doing it for the sake of it, but he can't fail the car for failing on the machine, he can only fail the car if there is "visible smoke".
Kevin -
MOT bay - how far?
Posted By : Andy Cook, 20-Apr-2006, 11:15pm
Maria,
Brake Rollers yes but emmission test no.
On the MOT test Check list for my 71 GT6 the tester actually scrawled "visual check only for year" against the section where the emission figures would be recorded on a late car. Can't remember the xact year but it's late 70's cars onwards only that proper measured emission tests are necessary.
If you tester trys to test the emissions next year politely ask him to refrain from testing the emmssions and to refer to his testers manual which will confirm that a car of your year only rquires a "visual check" for excessive smoke from the exhaust.
Unfortunatly testers often are unaware of the regs for older cars, once a teste tried to fail my GT6 for not having door or wing mirrors. These are not however a requirement fo a 71 car and I made him get his testers manual out to check, the result of which was that he had to eat humble pie and tear up the fail certificate!
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