Can I drive a SORN / No MOT car hundreds of miles to garage?

[Gdgd]

Hi all,

Due to work commitments in August I missed getting my car MOT'd and as it was going off the road for winter anyway I just sorned.

End of Feb its due a major service and the missed MOT. Issue is I'm in central Scotland and the nearest garage who will touch the car (and I trust really) is in Newcastle. It's an R35 GT-R and they're the only ones who have ever worked on it so I'd like to keep it that way.

I know legally you're OK to drive to a pre-booked MOT but can that pre booked MOT be 200+ miles away?

Car is always kept in perfect condition if that counts for anything, not like driving an old nail with clear defects across country!

Thanks all

[Taita]

Gdgd said:

Hi all,

Due to work commitments in August I missed getting my car MOT'd and as it was going off the road for winter anyway I just sorned.

End of Feb its due a major service and the missed MOT. Issue is I'm in central Scotland and the nearest garage who will touch the car (and I trust really) is in Newcastle. It's an R35 GT-R and they're the only ones who have ever worked on it so I'd like to keep it that way.

I know legally you're OK to drive to a pre-booked MOT but can that pre booked MOT be 200+ miles away?

Car is always kept in perfect condition if that counts for anything, not like driving an old nail with clear defects across country!

Thanks all

Yup.

[bigandclever]

Won’t the inability to remove it from being SORN’d scupper you driving it?

[Vipers]

Think so so long as it is insured, there is no specified maximum allowable distance in the DVLA rules, or so it said when I googled, suggest check DVLA rules.

But I am sure someone will know for sure.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

The issue is the car has to be roadworthy. You feel it is. Is it?

Why can't you have it MOTd locally then take it for its service?

Seems madness to drive 200miles and stretching it alittle.

[Dog Star]

It’s absolutely legal to do so. You’ll need to tax it to drive it home though.

[InitialDave]

I'd MOT it more locally then tax it again before taking it to be serviced, if it were my car. It just seems like less potential hassle, even though I don't think there's anything untoward about your plan.

[gsr121]

Dog Star said:

It’s absolutely legal to do so. You’ll need to tax it to drive it home though.

Not sure that is 100% correct. From gov website:

“When you can drive your vehicle
You can only drive a vehicle with a SORN on a public road to go to or from a pre-booked MOT or other testing appointment.”

[AdeTuono]

bigandclever said:

Won’t the inability to remove it from being SORN’d scupper you driving it?

No.

[Dog Star]

Hugo Stiglitz said:

The issue is the car has to be roadworthy. You feel it is. Is it?

Why can't you have it MOTd locally then take it for its service?

Seems madness to drive 200miles and stretching it alittle.

Stretching what? The law is the law, surely. This is either legal or illegal.

As to your first point - is this not the case every single time you drive your car on the public road? The OP seems pretty conscientious from what he is saying and if you asked me if my car was roadworthy then I’d say yes - I’ve never had a car or motorbike fail an mot in 38 years.

[Dog Star]

Hugo Stiglitz said:

The issue is the car has to be roadworthy. You feel it is. Is it?

Why can't you have it MOTd locally then take it for its service?

Seems madness to drive 200miles and stretching it alittle.

Stretching what? The law is the law, surely. This is either legal or illegal.

As to your first point - is this not the case every single time you drive your car on the public road? The OP seems pretty conscientious from what he is saying and if you asked me if my car was roadworthy then I’d say yes - I’ve never had a car or motorbike fail an mot in 38 years.

[Oceanrower]

Curiously enough, the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias as it fell was “Oh no, not again.”

[OverSteery]

Oceanrower said:

Curiously enough, the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias as it fell was “Oh no, not again.”

And it didn't end well for the petunias ....

[LF5335]

Why does the same question keep being asked over and over again on here?

Could someone please say “your insurance is invalid”* too so that we can have a full house.

* it’s not, but doesn’t stop that fallacy keep being mentioned as well

[Ziplobb]

Similar position to you. Busy very little time off & located on Isle of Wight. I would get Mot done locally if for nothing else than if you get challenged on the way down it saps your time & if the authority wanna be a pain they can.

All the decent Indy specialists for my 911 are towards London/Kent so its a ferry and a drive. I get the Mot done locally in fact 400 yards from where I work & I cant see any advantage in taking it anywhere else. The car is up together and so does not fail & even if it did it would be a very minor thing they could do there but by their own admission they dont have the depth of experience and regularity of working on 911s so it goes off Island for that & we organise a night away and turn it into a mini break.

[Gdgd]

Thanks all. I could of course have it MOT'd more locally before the trip for the service but if I dont *need* to I'd rather not. It'd need low ramps and I'm just a bit hesitant to hand it over to somewhere I've never used.

[Vipers]

Gdgd said:

Thanks all. I could of course have it MOT'd more locally before the trip for the service but if I dont *need* to I'd rather not. It'd need low ramps and I'm just a bit hesitant to hand it over to somewhere I've never used.

But as an MOT is only checking things, what’s the problem of a local garage doing it, a service I can understand.

[Oceanrower]

Vipers said:

Gdgd said:

Thanks all. I could of course have it MOT'd more locally before the trip for the service but if I dont *need* to I'd rather not. It'd need low ramps and I'm just a bit hesitant to hand it over to somewhere I've never used.

But as an MOT is only checking things, what’s the problem of a local garage doing it, a service I can understand.

Does it matter why?

Question is ‘Can I?’
Answer is ‘Yes’

[CarCrazyDad]

Gdgd said:

Thanks all. I could of course have it MOT'd more locally before the trip for the service but if I dont *need* to I'd rather not. It'd need low ramps and I'm just a bit hesitant to hand it over to somewhere I've never used.

Plenty of garages have flat or low ramps.

It's an MOT test.

Unless you have a Decat?

[Rozzers]

You need to check that you are actually insured and on MID. Not being on MID may result in an ANPR pull and unless your insurer covers you for driving with no MOT, that’s issue one.

Second is that if the car is found to be unsafe, that’s a problem too - a long way from home.

That aside, it’s technically legal to drive to a pre booked appointment by a direct route.