when can I legally drive with no tax or MOT?

[dieselnutjob]

I know that I can drive to and from an MOT without tax or MOT provided that it's insured and booked in in advance, although some people say that no tax/MOT invalidates the insurance but I suspect that's BS.

 

I suspect that I can drive to a garage to have work done on it also provided that it's insured and booked in.

 

Does it have to actually fail the MOT before I can go to a garage to have work done? I had always assumed that the MOT failure gave you the right to take it to garages to get it fixed but maybe that's a false assumption. Thing is, if I can start getting obvious things fixed before the MOT then it increases my chances of getting any work done within the two week free retest time.

 

The SORN statement has some pretty serious words on it and makes no mention of any exclusion clauses.

[HillmanImp]

My understating is if its not taxed or mot'd it needs to be taken to where the work is being done. It's only legal on the way to and on the way back from the mot.

 

That's the way I have always worked it. If I am driving in between I normally have a wingman behind me.

[scaryoldcortina]

"It is the responsibility of the driver to ensure the roadworthiness of the vehicle"

 

Driving directly to a MoT station for a pre-arranged test is pretty much the only excuse accepted by the police if they stop you with no tax/test, but offences of no MoT are usually dealt with by giving you 14 days to go and get one or scrap the car. No tax is a DVLA offence, but the argument would be that they won't even sell you it until the car is tested....

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Why not get some french plates made up and stick those on.

If stopped, simply claim you've just bought it over in abroadshire.

I'm sure the excess of paperwork would scare the rozzers away from booking you.

 

Sounds like a plan, although I'd go with Cypriot ones because they can probably be made by any place that makes UK plates, and easily explain the RHDness of the car.

[nigel bickle]

Once its falied -you can legally drive to/from an appointed place of repair -as long as you can prove its prebooked. You must not stop or deviate from the route- so a fuel top up en route effectively breaks the law.

 

However- you can still be done, at any time for an unroadworthy vehicle. That journey will not exempt you for bald tyres/ no brakes etc.

 

Insurance is valid as long as the vehicle is effectively legal. But if those bald tyres cause you to slide into a bus queue -expect a long & frank discussion.

[Futuramic]

Once its falied -you can legally drive to/from an appointed place of repair -as long as you can prove its prebooked. You must not stop or deviate from the route- so a fuel top up en route effectively breaks the law.

 

However- you can still be done, at any time for an unroadworthy vehicle. That journey will not exempt you for bald tyres/ no brakes etc.

 

Insurance is valid as long as the vehicle is effectively legal. But if those bald tyres cause you to slide into a bus queue -expect a long & frank discussion.

 

Good advice Nigel; but slightly wrong on one point. There is a legal test case for this. A haulage firm booked an MOT for a failed lorry some distance from their yard. They emplyed a driver to move it between the two places sans MOT. IT was a journey of 100 miles or someting ludicrous. The driver stopped to buy cigarattes (I think) and was prosecuted. The judge dismissed the case on the grounds that the stop and re-start formed part of the same journey ie a legal visit to a pre-booked MOT. Therefore the precedent was set: it doesn't matter how lon the journey is and short stops are allowed. I wish I could remember the case name.

[dieselnutjob]

The welding guy that I use is 20 miles from my house. I have no intention of driving the car with bald tyres or lights not working etc.

 

So it has to actually fail the MOT before I can start taking to places to have work done?

[nigel bickle]

Futuramic -yes, I heard that. But it didnt set a legal precedent, the law still stands. Could be used as a good defence though. DVLA recently tried to prosecute a local man for buying his V.E.D on the way back from a pass. No deviation on route -just a stop. Dont know the outcome of that one

 

Yup- car has to fail first, otherwise you could drive anywhere for anything. And it can only be for items specified on the fail -not something ancillary/nice to have.

[Cavcraft]

I got tugged on the way home for stopping at a mates house which was on the quickest route home anyway. Think I ended up with small fine, it was a while back now. Tbh I don't think it's worth the hassle going off route or stopping.

[The Moog]

If I remember rightly you are in Ruislip. The garage I use in Hillingdon has a no pass no fee. Therefore no worrying about the retest time.

They are really good and open late during week and also on weekends.

 

You can book it in with them and let it fail and then drive it. Loads of hassle but is legal.

 

http://www.motest.co.uk/locations/hilli ... tm#Contact

[Station]

Giving traffic police any excuse to pull you? Funk dat.

[dieselnutjob]

If I remember rightly you are in Ruislip. The garage I use in Hillingdon has a no pass no fee. Therefore no worrying about the retest time.

They are really good and open late during week and also on weekends.

 

You can book it in with them and let it fail and then drive it. Loads of hassle but is legal.

 

http://www.motest.co.uk/locations/hilli ... tm#Contact

 

I didn't know about that one. I'll have to check it out.

[flat4alfa]

The judge dismissed the case on the grounds that the stop and re-start formed part of the same journey ie a legal visit to a pre-booked MOT.

But that's just it. You're left at the discretion of the judge.

[dieselnutjob]

For me it's not a problem. I can just drive straight there and straight back. I don't need to stop anywhere.

 

There is a BBC page about this here http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A12921581

scroll down to "Refusal of an MOT Test Certificate"

 

This is the relevant bit

It is illegal to drive a car of MOT-testable age that does not have a current MOT test certificate on public roads, with the exception of driving it away to a place of repair, which may include your home residence. From there you may be permitted to drive to a pre-booked place of repair, and to a pre-booked MOT test station.

[Lankytim]

Can you drive an untaxed and untested car away from an MOT fail to a scrapyard?

[dieselnutjob]

okay I found a government web page. It's pretty clear

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/Ow ... DG_4022108

It is generally an offence to use on a public road, a vehicle of testable age that doesn’t have a current test certificate, except when:

 

* taking it to a test station for an MOT test booked in advance

* bringing it away from a test station after it has failed the MOT test, to a place of repair

* taking it to a place, by previous arrangement, where problems that caused the vehicle to fail its MOT test, can be repaired

* bringing it away from a place where the problems with the vehicle have been repaired

[Guest Len H]

You can drive without an MOT on some Scottish islands, I'd suggest moving to one of them.

[George-Roper]

You can drive without an MOT on some Scottish islands, I'd suggest moving to one of them.

 

Which is the only place moto-scat would be popular

[Guest Len H]

It isn't popular even on obscure Scottish islands. (I checked)

[Guest]

Why not get some french plates made up and stick those on.

If stopped, simply claim you've just bought it over in abroadshire.

I'm sure the excess of paperwork would scare the rozzers away from booking you.

 

I think you'd find that this would land you in extremely deep doggy-do, no insurance for starters and I won't even get into false plates but hey, your MOT worries would be over because the BiB would have siezed the car anyway.

 

I guarantee they would relish such a nick not shy away from it.