Driving to an MoT station after failure

Driving to an MoT station after failure

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Discussion

Oliver Hardy

Original Poster:

3,040 posts

86 months

Friday 21st March
quotequote all
Been searching and not to sure

Car failed its MoT two years ago, on

Do not drive until repaired (dangerous defects):

Offside Front Brake disc in such a condition that it is seriously weakened (1.1.14 (a) (ii))
since then it has been in the garage

one year and 600 miles previously and it was

Offside Front Brake disc worn, but not excessively (1.1.14 (a) (i))

The car stops fine and I want to drive it for a repair and MoT, legal?

Cylon2007

563 posts

90 months

Friday 21st March
quotequote all
Oliver Hardy said:
Been searching and not to sure

Car failed its MoT two years ago, on

Do not drive until repaired (dangerous defects):

Offside Front Brake disc in such a condition that it is seriously weakened (1.1.14 (a) (ii))
since then it has been in the garage

one year and 600 miles previously and it was

Offside Front Brake disc worn, but not excessively (1.1.14 (a) (i))

The car stops fine and I want to drive it for a repair and MoT, legal?
Have you fixed the issue that caused it to fail 2 years ago? If not it won't have improved in the last 2 years so no it isn't legal to drive it, why not arrage an local mobile mechanic to fix it on the drive rather than risk brake failure on the way to having it fixed???

sunbeam alpine

7,149 posts

200 months

Friday 21st March
quotequote all
My understanding of the law is that you are OK if you are driving to a pre-booked appointment for repairs or MOT (if the repairs have already been carried out).

martinbiz

3,531 posts

157 months

Friday 21st March
quotequote all
sunbeam alpine said:
My understanding of the law is that you are OK if you are driving to a pre-booked appointment for repairs or MOT (if the repairs have already been carried out).
Not if the car is an un roadworthy or dangerous condition

Bill

55,208 posts

267 months

Friday 21st March
quotequote all
No idea if it's legal but it does seem a bit daft to drive it unless it's a very straightforward journey to the garage.

Ask yourself what's the worst that could happen? (Catastrophic brake failure into a queue of school kids/pensioners/kittens...)

Bill

55,208 posts

267 months

Friday 21st March
quotequote all
I had a brake disc shear the other day. Mrs Bill told me her brakes were juddering so I took it out for a test to see what's what. Hard braking seemed to help so I did one last emergency stop. From 70mph. There was a massive bang and what felt like total loss of braking.


paul_c123

259 posts

5 months

Friday 21st March
quotequote all
There's 2 things you need to comply with:

1) The rules surrounding the exemption from MoT: to/from test station (pre booked test); to/from place of repair (pre booked)
2) The construction and use rules surrounding roadworthiness

You need to comply with both, at all times. 1 is fine in your situation but 2 is not.

If you have an MoT failure, your car is likely to also be unroadworthy (but not necessarily). For example, you could have a rear seat belt missing, but its roadworthy for a driver alone to drive it. Or you could have an unroadworthy car which would pass an MoT.

OutInTheShed

10,432 posts

38 months

Friday 21st March
quotequote all
Oliver Hardy said:
Been searching and not to sure

Car failed its MoT two years ago, on

Do not drive until repaired (dangerous defects):

Offside Front Brake disc in such a condition that it is seriously weakened (1.1.14 (a) (ii))
since then it has been in the garage

one year and 600 miles previously and it was

Offside Front Brake disc worn, but not excessively (1.1.14 (a) (i))

The car stops fine and I want to drive it for a repair and MoT, legal?
Not legal IMHO.
The brakes are faulty, the car is not roadworthy until you've had them repaired.
How did it get home from the last MOT, other than illegally?
Either get a garage to tow it for repair or a mobile mechanic to change the disc?

If you talk to the garage who you want to repair the car, they should sort it. Assuming it's local, they should come and have a look.
I suspect some garages I've dealt with would happily come and pick it up if it's close.

If something did go BANG! not only would there be potential legal issues, but also damage to the car.
Sometimes £100 or so to make it someone else's problem is great value.

Pica-Pica

14,915 posts

96 months

Friday 21st March
quotequote all
Whether it has, has not, or even is not old enough for an MOT, if a car is unroadworthy, it’s unroadworthy. End of.

petrolbloke

515 posts

169 months

Friday 21st March
quotequote all
Depends on the actual condition of the brakes.

I had an advisory before for discs that were 50% worn, so I don't have a lot of faith that everything you read (or don't read!) on an MOT certificate is an accurate reflection of the condition of the vehicle.

You could measure the thickness of the discs and compare that to the minimum thickness.

Or save yourself the potential headaches and just get a mobile mechanic to replace them before driving it anywhere...

petrolbloke

515 posts

169 months

Friday 21st March
quotequote all
Also seems strange to have one fail and no advisory for the other on the same axle. Maybe a caliper has been sticking at some point and wearing one side more than the other.

E-bmw

10,580 posts

164 months

Saturday 22nd March
quotequote all
Oliver Hardy said:
Been searching and not to sure

Car failed its MoT two years ago, on

Do not drive until repaired (dangerous defects):

Offside Front Brake disc in such a condition that it is seriously weakened (1.1.14 (a) (ii))
since then it has been in the garage

The car stops fine and I want to drive it for a repair and MoT, legal?
Here is your answer above in bold.

LosingGrip

8,208 posts

171 months

Saturday 22nd March
quotequote all
Oliver Hardy said:
Been searching and not to sure

Car failed its MoT two years ago, on

Do not drive until repaired (dangerous defects):

Offside Front Brake disc in such a condition that it is seriously weakened (1.1.14 (a) (ii))
since then it has been in the garage

one year and 600 miles previously and it was

Offside Front Brake disc worn, but not excessively (1.1.14 (a) (i))

The car stops fine and I want to drive it for a repair and MoT, legal?
No not legal.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1986/1078/regu...

18.—(1) Every part of every braking system and of the means of operation thereof fitted to a vehicle shall be maintained in good and efficient working order and be properly adjusted.

An offence to drive it. Possible for a prohibition to be placed on the vehicle.

Get it repaired by either getting it recovered to the garage (not towed if you are sat in it. Spec lift wouldn't be a problem). Or mobile mechanic.

Once it's been repaired you can drive it to a prebooked MOT legally.

trevalvole

1,379 posts

45 months

Saturday 22nd March
quotequote all
E-bmw said:
Oliver Hardy said:
Been searching and not to sure

Car failed its MoT two years ago, on

Do not drive until repaired (dangerous defects):

Offside Front Brake disc in such a condition that it is seriously weakened (1.1.14 (a) (ii))
since then it has been in the garage

The car stops fine and I want to drive it for a repair and MoT, legal?
Here is your answer above in bold.
Yes, this. If anything goes wrong, then a suitably qualified person (the MOT tester) saying do not drive until repaired will be the first thing they look at.

Riley Blue

22,090 posts

238 months

Saturday 22nd March
quotequote all
The answer is spelt out in line three of the first post yet the question is needing to be asked - strange...

Alex Z

1,675 posts

88 months

Saturday 22nd March
quotequote all
Riley Blue said:
The answer is spelt out in line three of the first post yet the question is needing to be asked - strange...
Indeed. It’s not like the general claim that a failed MOT invalidates the rest of its duration no matter what the problem.

That’s very clear on what you should not do.

E63eeeeee...

4,874 posts

61 months

Saturday 22nd March
quotequote all
Can you not just replace the brake disc? It's going to need doing anyway to get through the MOT. I don't know what car it is, but on most cars it's barely more difficult than changing a wheel.

Oliver Hardy

Original Poster:

3,040 posts

86 months

Saturday 22nd March
quotequote all
Thanks for everyones answer, I guessed what it would be but I was wishfull thinking, although still don't get how the disks went from Offside Front Brake disc worn, but not excessively to Offside Front Brake disc in such a condition that it is seriously weakened in 600 miles?

How did I get it home, I drove it home. When I went to pick it up the receptionist told me it had failed and would need new disks and pads but couldn't fit in the work for a few weeksand gave me the keys, i had a full service done at the same time, I didn't really look at the failure sheet

Tisy

278 posts

4 months

Saturday 22nd March
quotequote all
As an MOT tester (and business owner), you can legally drive a vehicle without a current MOT pass certificate to a testing station for a pre-booked test appointment. However, this does not trump C&U regulations which state vehicles can only be driven on the public roads in a roadworthy condition.

Driving to a garage in the morning to have the disks changed, and then taking it to the pre-booked MOT in the afternoon is not permitted. This would only be permitted if your drive was directly from the garage to the pre-booked test after your defective disks had been replaced with new units, as a) your vehicle would be road legal to the best of your knowledge and b) you are driving directly to the test centre with a pre-booked appointment.

If, for example, you got stopped by the plod for a bald tyre and/or no valid MOT and tried to argue that you are on your way to a pre-booked MOT test but are calling at Kwikfit next door to get your tyre changed first, this would not wash and you'd likely be given a ticket by plod if they are on the ball.

Also, in case you and anyone else considers using the "I'm on my way to have it MOT'd" excuse, the plod can and sometimes will call the test centre and ask them what vehicle registrations they have booked in for the day to validate your story. I have had a handful of such calls over the years with some being valid and others being fraudulent.

OutInTheShed

10,432 posts

38 months

Saturday 22nd March
quotequote all
petrolbloke said:
Also seems strange to have one fail and no advisory for the other on the same axle. Maybe a caliper has been sticking at some point and wearing one side more than the other.
Not strange at all.
People habitually park their cars the same way on the drive, one disc gets more rain than the other.