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Can I sell my car with no MOT?

  Monday, 17 October 2022

Yes, you can sell your car, even if it has failed its MOT. Perhaps you are selling it because it has failed its MOT? It may not be worth spending money on the repairs to get it to pass the MOT test, and it is still possible to sell your car privately or as scrap.

The importance of an MOT

The Ministry of Transport (MOT) test has been a legal requirement since 1960 for all vehicles over three years of age in the UK. It is a 20-point test examining the roadworthiness of a vehicle. It covers basic components such as tyres, suspension, lights, mirrors, brakes and exhaust pollutants. MOT certificates are valid for a year.

It is not uncommon for a car to fail its MOT, or be given advisory points for owners to rectify. Some of these repairs do not cost a great deal; often they can be as little as a replacement lightbulb. However, as a car gets older the costs of the repairs often increase to the point where drivers might wonder if the car is worth it.

What do you do if your car has failed its MOT?

It is illegal to drive a car that has failed its MOT with a major or dangerous defect. It is also illegal to drive a car that is an MOT failure if your current MOT has expired, other than to a garage or to a pre-arranged MOT test appointment. The car should be left at the garage for the repairs to be made or driven from the test centre to your chosen garage.

If your current MOT has still to expire, or the fault is not a major one, you can drive the vehicle home or to a garage from the MOT test centre. If the car has a dangerous defect and you do not want repairs to be made or the car to be retested, the vehicle will need to be towed to your home.

Driving a car without a valid MOT is an offence which carries a fine of up to £1,000 and possible points on your licence.

A car without a valid MOT can still be sold

It is perfectly legal to sell a car that has failed its MOT. If you are selling to a private buyer, you will need to make them aware that there is no valid MOT, as this will affect the price they are prepared to pay. The buyer will also need to make arrangements to get the car collected or towed, if it cannot be driven on public roads for the reasons mentioned above.

The main advantage of selling a car with no MOT is that you don’t have to spend money on getting it repaired. The drawback is that potential buyers will see this as a justifiable reason to offer less for the car, particularly if they have the hassle of collecting it or getting it towed. The other alternative is to sell the car as scrap.

Scrapping a car that has failed its MOT means that you won’t have to worry about those awkward details of a private sale, especially if the car can’t be driven on public roads. An Authorised Treatment Facility will even collect your car as part of its scrappage service, if it is required.

Sell your car with no MOT to ASM Auto Recycling

At ASM Auto Recycling we will buy MOT failures and give you the best price for scrapping them. If you are not happy with our initial quotation you can give us a few more details and we will see if we can revise your quote. Selling your car to us is a quick and easy way to get that MOT failure off your hands in return for some cold hard cash.

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