MOT question - buying car from Northern ireland

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Mon 29 Mar 2021 15:16
MOT question - buying car from Northern ireland - Grenache

I live in Scotland but have seen a car in Northern Ireland I'd like to buy.

It's just over three years old, but in NI it will not need a MOT until it's four years old. But I'm wondering that if I buy it and give the DVLA my British address I might not able to tax it as it's over three years old and no MOT.

So, would I need to get the seller to get an MOT before I buy the car or do I need to go to the nearest MOT station as soon as I get off the ferry?

And just in case you are asking, there are none of the particular model I would like any where near me - Belfast is just as easy to get to as the south of England.

Thanks!

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Mon 29 Mar 2021 15:47
MOT question - buying car from Northern ireland - moward

I don't know the answer to your opening question, however as a Belfast native, I think you would likely have great difficulty in getting a 3 year old car MOT'd here at present.

As you may know already, MOT centres here are government run, and not the responsibility of local garages. Early last year, a problem was discovered with the vehicle lifts (cracking in the scissor mechanism, something like >80% of lifts affected) and as a result MOT centres were closed to enact repairs with temporary exemption certificates (TEC) used to cover cars affected.

Fast word a few months when the Covid pandemic hit, MOT centres were repurposed as drive through covid test centres and vehicle testing capacity was greatly reduced. Only certain categories of vehicles are eligible for test at the moment, basically cars coming up to 4 years old, public service vehicles, and vehicles who's TEC has run out. Everything else is getting a TEC (got a whole year added to mine). Link below.

Coronavirus (Covid 19) and motoring | nidirect

I imagine cars between 3 and 4 years old travel across from here to Scotland on the ferry all the time, cant see you running into difficulty if you were to bring one over.

Hopefully someone else reading will know better.

Regards,

M

edit: forgot to mention, if you are buying from a dealer, you can get them to tax it on your behalf as a new keeper, which should at least save you that hassle.

Edited by moward on 29/03/2021 at 16:02

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Tue 30 Mar 2021 18:07
MOT question - buying car from Northern ireland - Grenache

Thanks moward

I've just had a phone call with the DVLA on this one.

The story is that if the car is registered to a keeper with a Northern Ireland address, then it does not need a MOT till it's 4 years old, even if being driven in Britain (Scotland/England/Wales) as a visitor.

However if I buy the car from a dealer in NI and my address is in Britain, then if it's over three years old it becomes liable for a MOT the moment I drive off the ferry - I would need to go direct to a pre-booked MOT appointment at the nearest MOT station to the ferry port.

Looks like I would have to buy a car under three or over four years old.

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