My car is now due a service & my local garage is throwing in free MOT tests with every service, my question is this my MOT does not expire till August, if I take the free MOT offer up & the car fails where do I stand ? Is my old MOT then void although it has 8 months to run ?

Never heard of a garage doing a pre Mot test 8 months in advance just say it passed now...8 months is a long time especially with salt from winter anything can happen to the the car in that time frame. Personally I'd run a mile away from a garage who will do a pre mot check 8 months in advance. They may scare you with things that will go that will go wrong and you will feel pressured to change the items that they say need attention. You never get anything for Free in life
4 months after your MOT passed a garage is re checking it  MY14 Kahn Converted Dynamic - Fuji White Ebony/Pimento Interior
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There's an MoT tester on here and I dare say he'll be along shortly to give you chapter and verse, but aiui if a car fails an MoT any certificates which may already be in existence are immediately void. So if your car fails it has failed - you cannot use the 8 months remaining on the earlier certificate.

But whilst one can get an MoT done at any time, getting one done 8 months in advance of the expiry of an existing certificate wouldn't seem to make much sense.

I'm an MOT tester but I'm not sure of the legalities of a failed mot with a current one still in force. In theory, the current mot is valid until it expires. Bit of a grey area.

LR NUT: the OP is referring to a 'free' MOT, not a 'Pre' MOT.

The reasons most garages can offer a free MOT with a service is because there's many items that are common to both. Carry out the MOT test and most of the service is already done. Carry out the service and in theory, most of the MOT is done (providing the MOT tester does the service). MOT test slots cost around £2.50 each so there's not much cost to the garage and whereas low brake pads or tyres near to the legal limit might be refused by the customer on a service, they'll probably have them done if an MOT is involved. Sales tactics really. If you accept that offer, you've just chucked 2/3 of what you paid for your last MOT way.

Basically, if you have the MOT and service done at the same time and pay for both you are paying twice for a lot of the work. Finances tight? Just have an MOT and your oil and filter changed.

I'd try playing the garage at their own game - refuse the MOT and ask for a discount/free antifreeze/valet etc or a voucher to return at a later date.

I wouldn't want another MOT done after just 4 months but then again, getting an MOT for my car is not as problematic for me as others! Past: FL2 TD4 HSE Auto
Evoque SD4 Dynamic Lux Auto
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Thanks for the advice I will try what you suggested & refuse the MOT & ask for maybe a valet etc as you recomended

I am no expert (just a layman) but I guess the question is whether the fail was for a safety issue or some other fault e.g. emissions.

If it failed on a safety issue, I wouldn't want to run the risk unless I was just relying on the 10 day retest period and the fault was minor. Also how you would stand with your insurance if you were to drive with a car which was known to be defective?

Pete 2007 TD4 HSE Auto

Remeber that MoT records are all electronic these days - the piece of paper doesn't mean much any more. So the real question is what will happen on the MoT database following a failure. It seems unlikely that a (later) fail will not cause the database to be updated and the (earlier) pass superceded.

The only way I could think that you could test the system out for a car with a current pass certificate in force would be to get a deliberate fail issued then see whether you could tax the vehicle online. As others have said though, if you knowingly drive a car with safety related faults, how would you stand in the event of an accident or insurance claim? I do know that you can legally drive a car to and from a pre-arranged MOT test without road tax and MOT as long as you have insurance. It doesn't make you immune from prosecution if you are stopped on the way to or from the station and dangerous faults are found though. As I said, a very grey area! Past: FL2 TD4 HSE Auto
Evoque SD4 Dynamic Lux Auto
Present: Audi A3 S Line.