Staying legal with an MOT
An explanation of the laws surrounding MOT Testing.
The Law
You need a valid MOT if your car or van is over 3 years old. If your name is in the logbook, you are the registered keeper, so it is your responsibility to ensure it has an MOT if it is to be driven on the public road.
If your vehicle does not have a valid certificate, it may only be driven on the public road to the MOT testing station and back for a pre booked test and with correct insurance cover. We are happy to take such a booking over the phone. If you book a test on-line with us, that will also count as a 'booking'.
13 Month Certificates
Testing the car up to one month before the existing certificates expires, allows the new certificate to run from that expiry date - a sensible option.
Personal Number Plates
If you have a personal number plate such as a non-dating, different suffix or prefix, you must ensure the plates on the vehicle at the time of the test, read correctly.
Mis-spacing or doctoring of letters to make the plate read differently will result in an MOT failure. It is also critical that cars registered after Jan 1973 use reflective type plates only. Up to that date silver or white digits on black plates are legal.
MOT Test explained
The modern equipment used for the MOT is increasingly sophisticated and computerised. This includes a brake tester to check foot braking and handbrake, a gas analyser to check emissions and beam tester for headlamp aim.
Key checks
- Lights
- Suspension
- Brakes
- Tyres
- Seat belts
- Emissions
- Vehicle structure
http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/your-car-and-the-mot