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MOT Information

Everyone who uses a vehicle on the road is required to keep it in a roadworthy condition. The purpose of the MOT Test is to ensure that vehicles over a prescribed age are checked at least once a year to see that they comply with key roadworthiness and environmental requirements.

When your car is tested, the MOT looks at some important items to see if it meets the legal requirements. The MOT certificate is not a guarantee of the general mechanical condition of a vehicle.

Vehicles should have their first MOT when they reach 3 years of age and then they will need to be tested yearly.  An MOT can be carried out at any time.   If the vehicle is presented for test within the calendar month prior to the date that the MOT is due, the test certificate will run from the date of the test to one year after the expiry date of the current certificate (e.g. if the current certificate was due to expire on 1/4/03, and the vehicle was presented on or after 2/3/03, the certificate would run from the test date until 1/4/04). To have this extension, the vehicle owner should present their old certificate to the Test Station to verify that the extra time is applicable. The tester would then write the serial number of the old certificate in the appropriate section of the new certificate.

The same rule would also apply if the vehicle was taken in within a calendar month of its first MOT. In this case, the vehicle owner would need to present their registration document and the serial number from this document will be entered in the 'last certificate serial number' box on the MOT.

If the vehicle is tested earlier than one month before its due date, it will only run for twelve months.

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