MOTs

You can drive your vehicle in these circumstances, provided there are NO dangerous items listed as failures. Failures will be classified as “Major” or “Dangerous” items, you may only be able to drive your vehicle to your chosen repair garage to have repair carried out.

Important Notes: Items listed on your MOT certificate as “Advisories” or “Minors” must be fixed in the near future. It does not mean they are OK until your next MOT.

Your MOT is PASS/FAIL at the time of test, and does not mean your vehicle will remain roadworthy for the whole of the next year.

You are responsible for your vehicle’s roadworthiness every time you drive it!

You can carry forward 30 days (1 month – 1 day), for example, today is 10th October, so your expiry date if you were to MOT today would be 9th November, but if your expiry date is 13th November, you would lose the additional days, so wait until the 14th October.

The fine can be up to £1,000

Important Note: A fine may be imposed for driving a vehicle which has failures or is found to be “Dangerous” can be up to £2,500. You could receive a ban and receive 3 penalty points even if you have a valid MOT certificate.

If your brake pads are found to be below the minimum requirement of 1.5mm, it is a failure.

Please be aware that if your pads are worn and trigger the brake indicator wear sensor, which can be triggered above 1.5mm, your vehicle will fail an MOT with a “Major Defect”.

Tyres must be free of cuts and defects and be of the correct tread depth.

The minimum tread requirement for cars, light commercial vehicles and light trailers is 1.6mm and must cover the middle 3/4 width of the tyre around the entire circumference.

If your vehicle is not a car or light commercial vehicle, the requirement is different.