Yes, technically you can drive to a pre-booked MOT appointment, even if it's 3 hours away.

Do note that it is a legal requirement that your car MUST be roadworthy. Lights, tyres, brakes, etc. etc. must be in a condition where you will pass the MOT upon presentation - so it will be up to you to inspect it and ensure that it is all legal BEFORE you set off on your trip. Also note that any 'stop-off' en-route (apart from to refuel) will mean that you are not travelling directly. to the appointment, and will thus be using the car illegally

If you get 'pinged' by ANPR cameras expect to face a prosecution, and to have to defend your actions in a courtroom.

Do note that you must have insurance cover in place.

Edited by RobJP on 08/04/2018 at 00:59

The auctions I bought my van from used a garage just outside their gates and they did MOT's and repairs for people having bought cars at the auctions. Might be worth asking the auction house if they have a nearby garage that does work for them or their customers.

I paid £50 to have the van delivered to me, ask the auction house if they deliver.

When I built my first Caterham it needed an MOT before it could be registered. The system was laid out in the DVLA documents and the MOT had be be carried out at the closest MOT station and be pre booked. Unfortunately my closest MOT station could not MOT the Caterham since the lift they used would not allow the Caterham onto the ramps. The next closest MOT station did their MOT's on a pit thus no issues. I simply informed the DVLA before hand and they agreed to me going to the alternative.

I cannot see the DVLA allowing anyone to drive past numerous MOT stations in a car with no current MOT sim[ply becxause they want to MOT a car they have bought with no MOT when they get home.. If the worst should happen and a failure cause a death there would quite rightly be uproar which would result in a prosecution of the driver and the officer who had given the approval.

You say you built the Caterham. There are, or were, different rules for kit cars and some other categories where a new or transferred registration number DVLA local office was involved.

I have actually built 2 Caterhams and the MOT situation applied to both, perfectly legal to drive to your loacl MOT station for a pre-booked MOT with no tax and no registration plates but it had to be insurred. The specialist brokers were aware of the rules and insured it on the VIN, the MOT garage wrote the VIN on the certificate and when it was registered the local DVLA office wrote the reg nunber allocated to the car at the side. All you needed to do then was buy a set of plates.

That simple system was replaced by the SVA test and that was replaced by the IVA test. Much more complicated and much more expensive. No idea of the rules, never needed to find out.

I cannot see the DVLA allowing anyone to drive past numerous MOT stations in a car with no current MOT sim[ply becxause they want to MOT a car they have bought with no MOT when they get home..

As I explained in the other - now closed - thread (under "Legal Matters), there is no restriction on the distance between the beginning of the journey and the chosen MoT station. All that i required is that the appointment must be pre-booked and that the vehicle is driven directly there.

...assuming the car is safe to drive (I'm not legal expert on this issue, so I'll leave it to others to argue that point), and that's down to the individual opinion of the Police officer that (may) pull the owner over for a 'chat'.

Personally speaking, I don't think they would also take kindly, even if it were safe at that point, to the owner saying they would be driving it half way across the UK before getting the MOT failure items fixed (as any one of those itmes could easily become 'dangerous' during the long trip), as that would demonstrate an unsafe (and selfish) attitude.

<< I presume you mean E-bay (or similar). The fact that it has no MOT means it has some serious faults, if it didn't the seller would MOT it and get way more than the MOT fee back. >>

Not necessarily - the car may have been SORNed for a considerable time, and the seller decided to get rid, assuming the buyer would truck it away?

Personally speaking, I don't think they would also take kindly, even if it were safe at that point, to the owner saying they would be driving it half way across the UK before getting the MOT failure items fixed (as any one of those itmes could easily become 'dangerous' during the long trip), as that would demonstrate an unsafe (and selfish) attitude.

As I explained in my answer to the other question, it isn't a matter of whether they "take too kindly" to it or not. The legislation does not specify that the vehicle must be taken to the nearest MoT station, or one "reasonably close" or any similar stipulation. It makes no condition at all other than the appointment having to be pre-booked and the vehicle being driven directly there. I cited an example of a driver taking his car from Birmingham to London for a test and he was acquitted in court.

Neither are we talking about a car in a dangerous or unroadworthy condition. That is an offence at any time, with or without a valid MoT. The question was simply about driving to a pre-booked MoT and there is no restriction on the distance the vehicle can be driven to a pre-booked appointment.

Edited by Middleman on 10/04/2018 at 21:28

Neither are we talking about a car in a dangerous or unroadworthy condition.

How do you know that?

The OP has only posted once and there is no mention of the age or condition of the vehicle in that post.

Presumably there is also the opposite angle, that it is illegal for the vendor to allow the vehicle to be sold and knowingly driven away in an unroadworthy condition? Having said that, I suppose that issue is circumvented if the sale has already taken place remotely? Or is it the point of V5 exchange that counts? Or does the "it's going straight for an MOT" get around it? Interesting.

Edited by 520i on 11/04/2018 at 16:14

3hrs away is a bit more than London to Birmingham. personally, I think that's pushing their luck.

It isn’t a matter of “luck”. It is a matter of the legislation. He can be lucky and not be detected at all or he can be unlucky and detected within two minutes of driving off, His defence is available regardless providing the two conditions I mentioned are met. The issue has been tested in court on more than one occasion (the Birmingham to London example being just one) and found to be sound.

Neither are we talking about a car in a dangerous or unroadworthy condition.

How do you know that?

I don’t. I was simply answering the question which centred around driving a vehicle a considerable distance for an MoT test. You cannot drive an unroadworthy vehicle 100 yards to an MoT station with or without a valid MoT which would have been my answer had that question been asked. In my earlier answer I voiced warnings about driving an unroadworthy vehicle.

Edited by Middleman on 11/04/2018 at 18:39