Many people leave getting an MOT until the last minute. If we are fully booked when your vehicle is due it might mean we can’t get it tested until after the existing MOT has expired, or before the tax is due for renewal.

What a lot of people don’t realise is that you don’t need to wait until the MOT due date to get the test done.

“But, I don’t want to waste the days left on it!” we hear.

You won’t do, by coming in during the month before the expiry date. For example, if your MOT expires on October 22nd, you can come in any time from September 23rd and next year’s expiry date will still be October 22nd. We can’t fail to give you that date either, as the computer does it for us!

Take a look at last year’s MOT certificate and you will see the earliest day that the vehicle can be presented in order to preserve the anniversary date – giving you a whole month in which to find a convenient date for the test.

If the vehicle fails its test, there are 10 working days in which to come back for a free retest (where we only need to test the failure points and perhaps some directly related components). The latest DVSA advice on driving a failed vehicle can be found at https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/after-the-test.

Then there is the tax disc* renewal, if the MOT expiry date is around the same time. You need to have a valid MOT before being able to renew the tax. Finding there are repairs to do which take you past the first of the month means you may not be able to renew your tax on time.

Our advice is to get your vehicle in early for its MOT. As long as you are within that last month, you have nothing to lose by doing so.
 
 
 
* 06-02-2015: Although you no longer need to display a tax disc, you DO still need to pay for it. The reminders should be sent from DVLA, as before.