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UK car...trailer...mot...dificulties.


dave21478
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The ultimate aim here is to get my 3.5ton flatbed trailer to my place in Aberdeen rather urgently.

Its a UK trailer so no paperwork and I cant get it registered in France as the axle id plates are missing. (bloody farce, its an excellent, well maintained trailer that I can not use here legally, yet the fud in the next village with two back axles from a peugeot 306 welded to what looks like an old garden gate is "ok" since it says 500 kgs max in white paint on the side of it. He uses it to shift cars too....bound to come a cropper one day) I have a UK registered Mazda 4x4 pickup sitting here and was just about to book the ferry, then noticed that the bloody MOT expired 4 days ago.

So.....do I chance it? I have no fear using it on this side, but it is bound to trigger an ANPR camera as soon as I roll out at Dover. I would be happy to run the risk of the fine and its a non-endorsable offence, but there is confusion about what no MOT does to insurance, which is more serious.

Alternatively, I book it in for an MOT in Dover. If it passes...cool beans. If it fails....bummer. The rules state i can legally drive home from a pre-booked MOT even if it has failed, but is driving from Dover to Aberdeen not taking the piss somewhat? I can't see a copper buying that story on the hard shoulder of the M6.

I am not seeing any other alternatives?

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Book your MOT test in Aberdeen [I]

You can drive it to and from a pre-arranged MOT test, it will be the test centre nearest to your (UK) home, you just happened to be away from home when it expired.

There is no insurance ramification re lack of MOT although many will swear blind the opposite and as you say driving without an MOT is not endorseable.

I am not sure that the ANPR cameras also search the MOT database as I have been away a long time, what I do know is that the claimed ANPR cameras at the port of Dover if they actually exist did not pick up that the Caterham I drove over and back which displayed the chassis number on the number plates (with the omission of a zero it could have been a 1978 registration) did not flag anything at all even when they entered the number into their computer in the customs shed.

I dont think that you have much, if anything at all to worry about.

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From the UK Gov website

   If your MOT has expired

If your MOT has expired you can’t drive your vehicle on the road until it’s passed the test. You could be prosecuted if caught.

The only exception is if you’ve already booked an MOT and are driving your vehicle to the test centre.

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[quote user="idun"]

From the UK Gov website


   If your MOT has expired

If your MOT has expired you can’t drive your vehicle on the road until it’s passed the test. You could be prosecuted if caught.

The only exception is if you’ve already booked an MOT and are driving your vehicle to the test centre.

[/quote]Looking at our local paper there seem to be very few if any prosecutions for not having an MOT where the vehicle has not been involved in an accident  or committed another motoring offence.  So going by that I think if you drive sensibly and the car is roadworthy you should be alright. They don't seem to stop people just for not having an MOT
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Having a plate or not makes no difference. In order to register it I need a certificate of conformity from the axle manufacturer, another from the brake manufacturer, another from the hitch manufacturer and so on....its just not going to happen.

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I bought a plate off eBay for our IWT. Plated on the body as 750 kg but I have put a 499kg plate on the arm. Our IWT P7e came with the new CoC paperwork if we ever want to sell (I have retained the old plate). We only want to move a couple of pigs twice a year plus visits to the dechetterie so this limitation suits us.
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