My Vehicle Failed It MOT: What Should I Do Now?

It's Friday, and you have made plans for weekends to go on a trip. But before that, you need to do the MOT test of your vehicle. You have an appointment today and you planned according, just wait for 1 hour for the test then head over to your trip.

But things don’t always go as planned, your vehicle failed its MOT test and you won’t able to use your vehicle until you resolve the issue. The question is what should you do now? The first thing you should check is why your vehicle failed the test, check the certificate and the reasons why your vehicle failed.

If there are any damages in your vehicle then ask the MOT test In Leicester centre if they provide repair and replacement service in-house. As most of the MOT test facilities are offered by independent garages in the UK the chances of having repair and replacement parts service are available in the MOT centre.

If your vehicle is repaired or issues are resolved within 10 working days you don’t need to pay for doing a retest but the condition is you have to do the test in the same centre.

If your test centre has the facility to repair and replace parts then ask for quotes. If you feel the prices are high or parts are not genuine then you have the option to do the repairs elsewhere.

However, there is a catch of driving away your vehicle from the MOT centre. If your vehicle has defects in its test under the Minor category then you can drive your vehicle to other garages for repairs.

But if your vehicle comes under the Major and Dangerous category, then you can able to drive your vehicle and you need to look for a vehicle recovery service to tow your vehicle to other garages for repairs. If you don’t understand the MOT failed categories, don’t worry we will talk about it later.

What Are MOT Defect Categories For Vehicles?

If your vehicle has defects in its MOT test for the first time and you don’t know much about MOT, then we will help you understand in a simple way. If a vehicle has defects in the MOT test, it comes under three categories dangerous, major and minor.

Both dangerous and minor defects are considered as MOT failure and you can’t able to drive your vehicle away from the garage until you resolve the issue. Let’s talk about these categories in detail:

Dangerous Defects

If your vehicle comes under the dangerous category then it does not meet the MOT standards which means your vehicle is not roadworthy. When a vehicle has dangerous defects it means there a serious repairs and replacement parts needed. You can give your vehicle to repair in-house or you can send your car to other garages.

However, you need to tow your vehicle as your vehicle is legally not allowed to use on the public road. Keep in mind that no MOT test centre can force you to do the repairs in their garage. If you find anyone forced to repair a vehicle in only their garage, then you can complain to the authorities.

Major defects

Major defects are also considered MOT failure and you need to repair your vehicle to pass the test. However, you option to drive your vehicle away from the MOT test centre if you don’t want to repair it in-house. This case is not applied to the dangerous defect category.

If you are not satisfied with in-house repairs then you can go else to repair your vehicle. As the tester can’t force you to repair the vehicle damages in-house. The only condition is you should have a valid MOT till then when you driving your vehicle away from the MOT centre.

Minor defects

As the name says minor defects are small defects that can be fixed easily without any major repairs or replacements. This is the reason it doesn’t come under the MOT failure. However, you need to do car repairs Leicester so that in case any police catch you while driving on the road, they can’t give a penalty for minor defects.

Can I Appeal In Case of MOT Failure of My Car?

If you regularly maintain your car, do proper care and are confident in your car it will not fail the MOT test. But, if it still fails the test, you can ask the MOT tester the reason for the failure.

If you are not satisfied with the reasons for failure, you have the option to appeal. For appeal, you need to file a complaint to the DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) But make sure it is done within 14 days of your MOT test.

After you send the form, you need to wait 5 working days as it is the average time for DVSA to respond to your appeal. However, as your appeal is accepted you need to pay for the retest and if your vehicle passes the test then you will get a part or full refund of the test fee.