MOT

[Trebor]

Good morning jazzerets,the guy across the road wants to sell his car,but theres no road tax or mot,if I bought it how would I get it to the mot station without breaking the law.

[culzean]

Good morning jazzerets,the guy across the road wants to sell his car,but theres no road tax or mot,if I bought it how would I get it to the mot station without breaking the law.

You can drive to a pre-arranged MOT test quite legally without a current MOT and Tax ( they realise you cannot tax the vehicle without a current MOT ),  but you cannot park a vehicle on the public roads without tax and MOT.

[madasafish]

Good morning jazzerets,the guy across the road wants to sell his car,but theres no road tax or mot,if I bought it how would I get it to the mot station without breaking the law.

You can drive to a pre-arranged MOT test quite legally without a current MOT and Tax ( they realise you cannot tax the vehicle without a current MOT ),  but you cannot park a vehicle on the public roads without tax and MOT.

And to be legal it MUST be insured.

(You can sometimes get the Catch 22 situation when the insurer will not insure a car without MOT and you cannot get an MOT without it being insured)

[ColinS]

If you take it for it's MOT while it's still owned by the guy across the road, it will likely be covered by your own insurance, but check to make sure.

[culzean]

You can get insurance without an MOT,  and if your MOT runs out it does not mean insurance will be invalidated.  The key term is 'roadworthy' and your car could be considered un-roadworthy the day after an MOT pass if say a tyre developed a bulge in sidewall or a light bulb blew.

https://www.cuvva.com/how-insurance-works/can-you-insure-a-car-without-an-mot

Does the guy who is selling it have it insured ?  if so tell him you won't buy without a valid MOT,  or as ColinS suggested if you already have vehicle insurance you would be covered by your present insurance for 3rd party if you were not the owner of the vehicle - I do not know if only the registered owner can apply for an MOT ?

[Jocko]

You are only covered by your insurance if the vehicle owner also has insurance. Regards getting a car without an MOT. If I was selling a car without an MOT and the prospective buyer insisted I get it MOT'd first I would. Then add £350 to the asking price!

[culzean]

Check out the cars MOT history here...

https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/


And here are some insurance questions answered..

https://www.compareukquotes.com/insurance/motor/can-i-drive-an-uninsured-car-with-my-insurance

You can check insurance status of a vehicle

https://www.askmid.com/askmidenquiry.aspx

[embee]

As the others say, however be VERY careful about understanding the situation regarding insurance, there are many pitfalls even if you think you are covered.
I'm not suggesting this is the case for you, but just as an example it might state on your insurance that no-one under 25 is covered, but a 24yr old son/daughter with their own car insurance might think they are OK to drive your car using their cover, but your insurance would not be valid with that driver so their insurance would not be valid because the other car must have valid insurance. Get my drift?
Just be careful. Driving someone else's non-MOT'd/taxed car might possibly be a tricky case, for example if their insurance was valid for them to drive under those circumstances but it was not valid if someone else was driving, hence your insurance would not be valid either.

I might be over cautious, but driving without insurance is a big no-no.

[Trebor]

You know what guys,I don’t think I’ll bother it’s too much aggravation.thanks for the advice.

[ColinS]

Just ask him to get it MOTd.  Job done.

[MiniNinjaRob]

Just ask him to get it MOTd.  Job done.

Definitely this.

It’s in his interest and yours. If it passes you’ll know what need doing with it and hopefully you’ll just have to pay the MOT fee and a bit for for his time. If it doesn’t you can weigh up the options and make a silly offer if it makes sense.

[Lord Voltermore]

If its so cheap that even if it fails you intend to get it repaired then insure it in your name and go for it.
Its then just a matter of luck how much of a bargain it really was.

If you think it might be borderline ready for the scrapheap  an alternative would be to have it trailered to the garage  then based on the mot result decide whether its worth insuring it  to drive,  or  to cut your losses and scrap it while you still have the transporter.  This can be a good little earner for those in the motor trade with the equipment, but a bit of a faff for most people.   

[culzean]

You can get the garage who are doing the MOT to pick the car up using their trade plates - which means their insurance will cover it.  Otherwise you can get it taken to MOT on a trailer...