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CAR MOT WARNING

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I bought a car from a large reputable company in July of last year of which I have been very satisfied. I decided to check when the next service would be but could only find they had serviced it before I bought it and the MOT was due April 26th. I went on the DVLA website to see if the car had had any advisory’s and what they were. Imagine my total shock and horror to find the MOT stated January 2019, I had been driving around unaware that if stopped I could have had the car confiscated and left stranded, along with my disabled father of 92.

When contacted the ‘company’ said they had emailed me to say an MOT was due - this I totally dispute as I check emails each day along with ‘spam’ and why would they when their records stated April.

Now what I can’t understand is why, when the car was a 13 plate and therefore must have been registered sometime on or after March 2013 with the first MOT due March 2016, was it suddenly changed to be January.

Please, regardless of who you buy a car from, make sure you have a copy of the previous MOT certificate (something the ‘company’ did not provide me with) and go to the DVLA website and check the details.

Ignorance of a fact is not an excuse for breaking the law, and ‘‘tis can have dire consequences, I was lucky you might not be.MO

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I have a motorcycle which was registered on Jan 1st but i MOT'd it early  at the end of the summer rather than wait till the winter,your car may have been sold before by someone who put 12 months MOT on it when sold/to sell,there is nothing underhand about it.When bought you should have been given an MOT certificate, if not it is up to you to ask for one.Not only could your car have been confiscated your insurance will also have been void.......

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It's your car and your responsibility to ensure it's insured, taxed and has a valid MOT , if anything the DVLA have made it very easy to check the tax and test.

You can do it online, over the phone or with a smartphone app.

 

1 hour ago, lingarth said:

Please, regardless of who you buy a car from, make sure you have a copy of the previous MOT certificate (something the ‘company’ did not provide me with)

The car could have come from a trade auction, not uncommon for them to come without any paperwork.

 

An MOT garage can print you another MOT certificate should you want one.

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1 hour ago, geared said:

It's your car and your responsibility to ensure it's insured, taxed and has a valid MOT , if anything the DVLA have made it very easy to check the tax and test.

You can do it online, over the phone or with a smartphone app.

In fact there is now no excuse to be caught without MOT, tax or insurance in this digital age. 

 

It wasn't so long ago that many cars were sold with  dodgy tax discs with the reg numbers changed, forged MOT certificates and insurance documents with the expiry dates changed. Now we no longer have to take the dealer/seller's word for it. You can actually check  these things online before you even agree to buy, never mind hand over any of your hard earned.

 

https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-tax

 

https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-status

 

https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

 

https://www.gov.uk/checks-when-buying-a-used-car

 

 

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On 05/03/2019 at 10:23, lingarth said:

I bought a car from a large reputable company in July of last year of which I have been very satisfied. I decided to check when the next service would be but could only find they had serviced it before I bought it and the MOT was due April 26th. I went on the DVLA website to see if the car had had any advisory’s and what they were. Imagine my total shock and horror to find the MOT stated January 2019, I had been driving around unaware that if stopped I could have had the car confiscated and left stranded, along with my disabled father of 92.

When contacted the ‘company’ said they had emailed me to say an MOT was due - this I totally dispute as I check emails each day along with ‘spam’ and why would they when their records stated April.

Now what I can’t understand is why, when the car was a 13 plate and therefore must have been registered sometime on or after March 2013 with the first MOT due March 2016, was it suddenly changed to be January.

Please, regardless of who you buy a car from, make sure you have a copy of the previous MOT certificate (something the ‘company’ did not provide me with) and go to the DVLA website and check the details.

Ignorance of a fact is not an excuse for breaking the law, and ‘‘tis can have dire consequences, I was lucky you might not be.MO

Why didnt you do a quick MOT check online before you bought the car ? 

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On 05/03/2019 at 10:23, lingarth said:

When contacted the ‘company’ said they had emailed me to say an MOT was due - this I totally dispute as I check emails each day along with ‘spam’ and why would they when their records stated April.

Emails aren't guaranteed to get through even if spam filters, etc. don't get in the way of them.

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The digital age we are in has seemingly done away with most of our vehicle paperwork.

 

Angel1.

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On 05/03/2019 at 13:05, Top Cats Hat said:

In fact there is now no excuse to be caught without MOT, tax or insurance in this digital age. 

 

It wasn't so long ago that many cars were sold with  dodgy tax discs with the reg numbers changed, forged MOT certificates and insurance documents with the expiry dates changed. Now we no longer have to take the dealer/seller's word for it. You can actually check  these things online before you even agree to buy, never mind hand over any of your hard earned.

 

https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-tax

 

https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-status

 

https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

 

https://www.gov.uk/checks-when-buying-a-used-car

 

 

Thousands of people do not own a computer or know how to use one .

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3 hours ago, Albert smith said:

Thousands of people do not own a computer or know how to use one .

In a country of tens of millions??  That puts them squarely in the extreme minority.

 

Computer access is available at most librarys, computer use courses are also usually on offer.

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Not to mention the fact that most mobile phones now have internet access and if they don't, most people know someone with a phone with internet access who could check the MOT status of a vehicle in 20 seconds.

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On 05/03/2019 at 10:23, lingarth said:

I bought a car from a large reputable company in July of last year of which I have been very satisfied. I decided to check when the next service would be but could only find they had serviced it before I bought it and the MOT was due April 26th. I went on the DVLA website to see if the car had had any advisory’s and what they were. Imagine my total shock and horror to find the MOT stated January 2019, I had been driving around unaware that if stopped I could have had the car confiscated and left stranded, along with my disabled father of 92.

When contacted the ‘company’ said they had emailed me to say an MOT was due - this I totally dispute as I check emails each day along with ‘spam’ and why would they when their records stated April.

Now what I can’t understand is why, when the car was a 13 plate and therefore must have been registered sometime on or after March 2013 with the first MOT due March 2016, was it suddenly changed to be January.

Please, regardless of who you buy a car from, make sure you have a copy of the previous MOT certificate (something the ‘company’ did not provide me with) and go to the DVLA website and check the details.

Ignorance of a fact is not an excuse for breaking the law, and ‘‘tis can have dire consequences, I was lucky you might not be.MO

Ignoring the not received email, did they tell you when the MOT was due when you bought it?

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Lingarth,

I think you started the thread to warn others not to end up in the same situation.

Unfortunately you have received quite a bit of criticism for your effort to help. Sorry to see that.

I am guessing that you trusted the garage regarding the MOT status. I guess it is easy to say that the absence of the MOT certificate at the time of purchase was an alert.

Just put it down to experience. Certainly I would now have doubts about the large garage being reputable as per OP. In my experience,  main dealers for example are the worst kind, but some people like to see main dealer stamps in the service history.
 

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