MOT date problem

[mikes5]

I have always taken my cars in for it MOT on the first available date ( eg one month before expiry ). This enabled me to do some repairs, and get the best quote for repairs that I could not do. and use to drive cars on road to and from work.
I am now told that if a car not pass MOT the car can only be driven home or to the nearest garage for repair.
So now going to wait till expiry date for MOT

[NemesisUK]

I thought that was always the case?

[normski2]

1 hour ago, NemesisUK said:

I thought that was always the case?

Me too.

 

[mikes5]

I can now see logic of this, only couple of MOT failures in all the years of MOT.

Was never explained to me until yesterday, minor failure fixed by garage after MOT

[Rutlandlex]

I think it's to do with the new MOT rules as explained here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mot-changes-20-may-2018

Pay attention to section 1 where it says that there are 5 categories of Item Results.  No need to hold off until expiry date it's just that if there are any Dangerous faults then you can't drive it away regardless of when it's tested but I wonder how this will work in the real world where some customers may threaten violence or to torch the garage if they don't get their car back.

[NemesisUK]

A garage cannot prevent the driver taking their car away, even with a Dangerous fail.

What they can do is alert the Police, should the car be driven, rather than removed on a flatbed/trailer. 

[Thackeray]

6 hours ago, mikes5 said:

This enabled me to do some repairs, and get the best quote for repairs that I could not do. and use to drive cars on road to and from work.
I am now told that if a car not pass MOT the car can only be driven home or to the nearest garage for repair.

The website describing the new MOT rules seems at last to have clarified this issue about driving a car that has failed its MOT. There was a long discussion thread about this earlier in the year with people giving different opinions about whether or not you could drive a car that had failed.

It certainly seemed to be the case previously that you could only drive a failed car home or to a pre-booked appointment at a garage. 

Now, this government website says:

"Driving a vehicle that’s failed

You can take your vehicle away if:

• your current MOT certificate is still valid
• no ‘dangerous’ problems were listed in the MOT

Otherwise, you’ll need to get it repaired before you can drive.

If you can take your vehicle away, it must still meet the minimum standards of roadworthiness at all times."

This seems clearer and doesn't specifically restrict driving to going home or to a repair appointment. So it implies you can drive it anywhere so long as it's roadworthy and has a valid MOT certificate from a year earlier.

[Texas]

My friend who owns a MOT authorised garage workshop said that if the car fails on a dangerous then they will inform owner of the situation but at the end of the day he said he don't want the car sitting in his garage while the owner decides what to do with it.

paul m.