Test Failures and Retests
If your vehicle has failed its MOT Test you may qualify for a free or reduced retest.
If the MOT Test Centre carries out the repair then ordinarily they would retest the vehicle at a reduced cost or no cost at all, depending on the nature of the work and the time between the two MOT tests.
If you decide to take your vehicle away for repair you will need to ensure that your vehicle's current certificate is still valid. If your certificate is no longer valid then you will only be able to take your
vehicle to a repair agent to get the defects corrected and to an MOT Test Centre with a pre-arranged MOT test appointment. You will not be able to take your vehicle to any other location.
If you have taken your vehicle away for repair and manage to return it to the same test centre before the end of the next working day for a retest, the MOT Test Centre will not charge for the partial retest, assuming the repair is
one or more of the following items;
- access panels
- battery
- bonnet
- bootlid
- brake pedal antislip
- break glass hammer (class 5 vehicles only)
- doors (including hinges, catches and pillars)
- door open warning device (class 5 vehicles only)
- dropsides
- electrical wiring
- emergency exits and signs (class 5 vehicles only)
- entrance door remote control (class 5 vehicles only)
- entrance/exit steps (class 5 vehicles only)
- fuel filler cap
- headlamp cleaning or levelling devices (that doesn’t need a headlamp aim check)
- horn
- lamps (excluding headlamp aim)
- loading door
- main beam 'tell-tale'
- mirrors
- rear reflectors
- registration plates
- seatbelts (but not anchorages), seatbelt load limiter and seatbelt pre-tensioner
- seats
- sharp edges or projections
- stairs (class 5 vehicles only)
- steering wheel
- tailboard
- tailgate
- trailer electrical sockets
- towbars (excluding body around anchorage points)
- tyre pressure monitoring system
- vehicle identification number (VIN)
- windscreen glass, wipers and washers
- wheels and tyres (excluding motorcycles and motorcycles with sidecar)
If the repair is for another fault or you do not get your vehicle back within the time period then you are eligible for a charge.
If you return your vehicle, after a repair, within 10 working days of the original test then the MOT Test Centre can complete a partial test which may be free or at a reduce charge.
If it is not within this period then the MOT Text Centre will need to carry out a full test for which a full charge can be made.
