English (London) MOT?

P

Phil-E30

Active member
Evening all,

Hope you're adapting to the newly-Mediterranean climate.... I wanted to ask a quick question, if I may.

Having lived in London for nearly 4 years, this will be the first year I need to MOT a car whilst here (the Zed lives in Ireland). I need to MOT my X3 and I have absolutely no idea how to go about it! :rofl: What is the process for organising, how long does it take etc? Also, if anyone can recommend an MOT garage somewhere near Battersea, that would be very much appreciated!

Thanks :thumbsup:
 
srhutch said:
Find either a council run one or a mot only place so they don’t try and find work to do.
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This is the bit I was most concerned about tbh. All the test centres in the North of Ireland are state-run, and they don't do any repairs, therefore the conflict of interest doesn't exist. I might give the council run MOT a go, most of the ones located nearby where I am seem to be garages and MOT centres.
 
I can understand your concern about them looking for work - but they aren't all like that. You just need to find a good one - recommendation is the best way.

I've been using the same one for a couple of years with no issues, although it is basically a body-shop that also does MOTs. (And was recommended by a mate who knows the proprietor)! :lol:
 
The one thing you must do is be reasonably sure it will pass.

The XC60 went in recently where one of the fog lights was out - apparently (or so I was told) if anything now fails it immediately becomes unroadworthy & cannot be used on a public road, unless fixed... whereas before u had until your old MOT expiry date to fix it.
 
Jembo said:
The one thing you must do is be reasonably sure it will pass.

The XC60 went in recently where one of the fog lights was out - apparently (or so I was told) if anything now fails it immediately becomes unroadworthy & cannot be used on a public road, unless fixed... whereas before u had until your old MOT expiry date to fix it.
Click to expand...
How would this work with a garage that only does MOTs?
Would you have to have the car transported to a garage to fix what it failed on?
 
Nictrix said:
Jembo said:
The one thing you must do is be reasonably sure it will pass.

The XC60 went in recently where one of the fog lights was out - apparently (or so I was told) if anything now fails it immediately becomes unroadworthy & cannot be used on a public road, unless fixed... whereas before u had until your old MOT expiry date to fix it.
Click to expand...
How would this work with a garage that only does MOTs?
Would you have to have the car transported to a garage to fix what it failed on?
Click to expand...

Does raise lots of questions if correct, but can’t confirm if true.. just something to check up on if you’re not 100% certain it’ll pass
 
I'm not 100% sure it'll pass, but I'm 99% sure it'll pass. If that is true (and hopefully it's not) that would just reinforce my opinion that garages are certain to find "problems". I don't think it's a good system.
 
Nictrix said:
Jembo said:
The one thing you must do is be reasonably sure it will pass.

The XC60 went in recently where one of the fog lights was out - apparently (or so I was told) if anything now fails it immediately becomes unroadworthy & cannot be used on a public road, unless fixed... whereas before u had until your old MOT expiry date to fix it.
Click to expand...
How would this work with a garage that only does MOTs?
Would you have to have the car transported to a garage to fix what it failed on?
Click to expand...

The place I use doesn't do repairs, but does sell bulbs and windscreen wipers. I suspect that a lot of us have our favourite independent garages, most of which don't do MOTs. Accordingly many will get driven after failing its MoT to get fixed.
 
Jembo said:
The one thing you must do is be reasonably sure it will pass.

The XC60 went in recently where one of the fog lights was out - apparently (or so I was told) if anything now fails it immediately becomes unroadworthy & cannot be used on a public road, unless fixed... whereas before u had until your old MOT expiry date to fix it.
Click to expand...

I don’t think that’s quite true Jembo. Even with the old system a failure would void your existing ticket. You are effectively driving an unroadworthy car. The police will have access to this as the result is posted online instantly so could do you for driving an unroad worthy vehicle.

You can of course still drive it home from the testing station.
 
srhutch said:
Jembo said:
The one thing you must do is be reasonably sure it will pass.

The XC60 went in recently where one of the fog lights was out - apparently (or so I was told) if anything now fails it immediately becomes unroadworthy & cannot be used on a public road, unless fixed... whereas before u had until your old MOT expiry date to fix it.
Click to expand...

I don’t think that’s quite true Jembo. Even with the old system a failure would void your existing ticket. You are effectively driving an unroadworthy car. The police will have access to this as the result is posted online instantly so could do you for driving an unroad worthy vehicle.

You can of course still drive it home from the testing station.
Click to expand...

From Googling it’s now clear under new rules if fails test is immediately unroadworthy - this I would argue means u can’t drive it home & what the garage was saying.

I suggest wherever you decide to go ask the question what happens if it fails - will they still let you drive it home?

The Volvo garage made the point about the old MOT rules & was the way those local to me had been working - what used to happen rightly or wrongly is immaterial now.

One thing that hasn’t changed is even if you’re stopped a day or so after passing an MOT & something’s happened that makes it unroadworthy, a valid MOT won’t save you.
 
Jembo said:
srhutch said:
Jembo said:
The one thing you must do is be reasonably sure it will pass.

The XC60 went in recently where one of the fog lights was out - apparently (or so I was told) if anything now fails it immediately becomes unroadworthy & cannot be used on a public road, unless fixed... whereas before u had until your old MOT expiry date to fix it.
Click to expand...

I don’t think that’s quite true Jembo. Even with the old system a failure would void your existing ticket. You are effectively driving an unroadworthy car. The police will have access to this as the result is posted online instantly so could do you for driving an unroad worthy vehicle.

You can of course still drive it home from the testing station.
Click to expand...

From Googling it’s now clear under new rules if fails test is immediately unroadworthy - this I would argue means u can’t drive it home & what the garage was saying.

I suggest wherever you decide to go ask the question what happens if it fails - will they still let you drive it home?

The Volvo garage made the point about the old MOT rules & was the way those local to me had been working - what used to happen rightly or wrongly is immaterial now.

One thing that hasn’t changed is even if you’re stopped a day or so after passing an MOT & something’s happened that makes it unroadworthy, a valid MOT won’t save you.
Click to expand...

There must be different levels here surely, a blown fog light wouldn’t render the car unroadworthy (how could it, some cars don’t even have fog lights) Bald tyres/worn out brakes I could understand.
Here’s some info, a fail doesn’t automatically mean the vehicle is unroadworthy
https://www.autonetinsurance.co.uk/autonet-insurance-company-blog/autonet-insurance-company-blog/2012/03/09/failed-mot-can-i-drive-my-vehicle-
Rob
 
indeed, the DVLA states that a car can be driven away from a failed MOT, as long as the current MOT certificate is still valid, and no ‘dangerous’ problems were listed in the MOT.

https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/after-the-test

a single blown fog light would not be dangerous, assuming the other foglight still works and the headlights work. if ALL the lights have failed, that would be a dangerous fault and you would not be able to drive it away.
 
Stand corrected - I thought the garage was being a bit over zealous at the time though if that’s what the Gov website says then can’t argue with that
 
Use halfrauds. £29. Had 7 done there over the past 3 years and never had an issue. The one in Slough also don't know how to spot a decat pipe either. Good times.
 
Some places you need to book an MOT, not all are turn up and pay, I would not expect a 3 year old X3 to have any issues, TBH Halfords is as good as anywhere
 
Monkeydonkeyratmagic said:
Use halfrauds. £29. Had 7 done there over the past 3 years and never had an issue. The one in Slough also don't know how to spot a decat pipe either. Good times.
Click to expand...

The bit about the decat pipe made me laugh :rofl:
 
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