How Early Can You Do an MOT? (Full Guide)

That big red circle on the calendar is coming up. Your MOT is heading your way—but so are a bunch of other bills. So how early can you do an MOT? And what does it mean for future MOT anniversaries?

There are lots of reasons your MOT date could be inconvenient. But the good news is, you have some wiggle room here. We’re going to take you through everything you need to know about your options. And we’ll look at some other handy hints for preparing for your MOT too.

What’s the earliest an MOT can be done?

If you want to keep your existing MOT anniversary, there is some flexibility on your MOT date. You can have it done up to one month minus one day before it’s due. 

In other words, if your current MOT certificate expires on 25 September, you could have your MOT any day from 26 August. 

That certificate would keep the same anniversary. That means your new MOT certificate would last for 13 months. And your next MOT would be due on MOT anniversary. But if your question is just “How early can I MOT my car?”, you have other options too.

Can you MOT a car 6 months early?

If you don’t mind having a different MOT date in future years, you’ll have a lot more flexibility. And if your anniversary falls at an expensive time—near Christmas, or a loved one’s birthday, perhaps—changing it could be a real plus.

There’s no legal barrier to getting an MOT as early as you like. So if you want to get one six months before your existing certificate expires, you can. That new MOT certificate will then be valid for 12 months from the date of the test.

Doing this will mean you’re spending money well before you need to. Instead of lasting a year, your previous MOT will have lasted for only six months. Another way of looking at it is that the cost per month of driving will have been twice as much.

But if a new anniversary works better for you, that cost might be worth it.

Can you MOT a car before 3 years?

If you’ve bought a car that’s brand new, you won’t need an MOT until the third anniversary of its registration. But if you don’t want to wait that long, you don’t have to.

Just as with older vehicles, there’s nothing to stop you getting an MOT before it’s required. But you will be spending money before you need to.

Note that not all new vehicles have the same three-year period for that first MOT. Taxis, for example, and private passenger vehicles with at least nine seats, require an MOT after a year. Check the government’s list of MOT fees for more details.

What if you don’t know when your MOT is due?

The expiry date for your MOT will be on your vehicle’s MOT certificate. But what happens if you can’t find it?

Don’t panic. As long as your car was tested in England, Scotland or Wales since 2005, you can look up the details online. And it’s completely free of charge.

The government database will allow you to look up the details for any vehicle. All you need is the number plate. That also makes it a useful resource to check the MOT history of any used car you’re considering buying.

As well as the MOT expiry date, you can check if it passed or failed previous tests, and the mileage of the vehicle when it was tested. And if there have been any fails, you can see the details of the problems, and any minor issues.

If you’ve got the V5C number—that’s the 11-digit number from the vehicle’s logbook— you can also see the test location.

Can you drive a car that’s failed an early MOT?

You might think that by sending your car for an MOT early you buy yourself some time to take action if it fails. After all, you’ve still got a valid MOT certificate.

But the question of whether you can drive away your car after a failed MOT isn’t quite that simple. And it depends on the issues that have been identified by the new MOT.

Not every problem with a vehicle means it will fail its test. If the issues are minor, the test centre will give you a list, with advice on what to do about them. But that won’t stop you from continuing to drive your car.

But if there are major or dangerous faults, you’ll get a notice that your vehicle has failed the test. That will set out what category of faults have been identified. And it will also explain exactly what those faults were.

Whether you can continue to drive your car depends on the fault category. If your car has any faults classed as dangerous, you won’t be able to drive it anywhere until they’re fixed.

Having a MOT certificate that’s still valid won’t make any difference to that. The test centre will record the result of the new test on the MOT database. 

So if you continue to drive a vehicle with dangerous faults, you could find yourself in big trouble. The penalty for doing so is a fine of up to £2,500, a driving ban, and three points on your driving licence.

But if your car has failed because of faults that aren’t dangerous, and your MOT certificate is still valid, you can drive it until that certificate expires. 

That is, of course, assuming that the car meets basic standards of roadworthiness. If it doesn’t, you could be facing the same penalties for driving a dangerous vehicle.

Do you have to pay to get your car retested if it fails?

Has your car failed its MOT, but you’ve had the problems fixed? You’ll need to get it tested again to get a new MOT certificate.

But get the work done quickly, and you’ll avoid extra costs. If you leave the car at the test centre to get the work done, and the repairs are made within 10 days, you’ll only need a partial retest. And there’s no fee for that.

Alternatively, you can choose to get the work done somewhere else, as long as the car is roadworthy. And you can avoid a partial retest fee in those circumstances too, as long as certain conditions are met.

Firstly, you must return your car to the test centre before the end of the next working day. The repairs must also only be to certain parts of the car. You can find the list of which parts are eligible for a free partial retest here.

If you return your car to the same centre later than that, but within 10 days, you’ll only need a partial retest. But you may be charged a fee for that.

And if the gap is any longer, or if you go to a different test centre, you’ll need to pay for a full test.

What if an MOT has expired?

It’s been estimated that 7 million people have missed their MOT or service. So what happens if you’ve lost track of time and the MOT for your car has expired?

It’s a serious offence to drive a car that doesn’t have a valid MOT certificate. If you find yourself in this position, book a test straight away. 

You are allowed to drive a car without a valid MOT directly to a test center. But if you’re stopped by the police, you’ll need to be able to demonstrate that you’ve booked a test and that you’re on your way to it. If you can’t do that, you’ll be looking at a fine of up to £1,000.

Should you have an MOT and service at the same time?

When it comes to your car, an MOT and a service are both major expenses. So should you bite the bullet and get them done at the same time? Or is it better to space them out?

There are different schools of thought on this.

Some advocate getting your MOT and service together. It’s more convenient, they argue, to take your vehicle into the garage once for both jobs. And some firms offer a discount if you have them both done at the same time.

But there are some benefits to having a gap between them too. One of those is that you can ask the garage to undertake a “pre-MOT” check as part of your service. 

That should identify any issues which might cause your car to fail its MOT. And it will give you time to get them fixed before the test takes place.

There’s no right or wrong answer here, so go with whatever works best for you.

How early can you do an MOT? The bottom line

If you want to keep your MOT anniversary the same, you can get your car tested up to a month minus a day before the existing certificate expires. But if you don’t mind changing your anniversary date, you can get it done as early as you like.

And if your vehicle fails its MOT, prompt action will keep your retest costs as low as possible.

Also read:
Driving without a valid MOT: What you need to know
Make sure your vehicle is MOT’d
Understanding your car MOT test
5 reasons your car fails its MOT