During an MOT, any defects or faults discovered with your vehicle will be categorised as either minor, major or dangerous. A major or dangerous fault will result in your car failing its MOT; minor faults won’t mean your car fails, but these will be recorded on your pass certificate and it’s your responsibility to monitor these and get them repaired. These are typically known as ‘advisories’.
If your car fails its MOT, you shouldn’t drive it. You could be fined up to £2,500, be banned from driving and get 3 penalty points for driving a vehicle that has failed its MOT because of a ‘dangerous’ problem.
If it’s failed with major faults, these need to be repaired before you can drive it again, though you are able to use your vehicle to drive to a garage for those repairs. You can also drive your car if you’ve had the MOT early and your current certificate is still valid – but you’ll need to get those repairs done, and re-tested, to get a new certificate.
If your car has failed its MOT because of dangerous problems, it can’t be driven at all until repairs are made. When your current MOT certificate has expired, you will need a new one to be able to continue to drive your car. It won’t be deemed legal and roadworthy until it passes.
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