Picking up a car with no MOT?

[Bailes1992]

I'm considering picking up a car that has no MOT down South.

The car will fail it's MOT as it has bald tyres, No CAT, a very poor handbrake and it's washer motor has failed.

If I picked it up, fitted legal wheels to it and slung it straight in for an MOT (which it would fail) would it then be legal to drive the 200 miles back home?

Bailes.

[dirtydirtydiesel]

I'm 99.9% sure that the answer is no, if your car has no mot you can pre book one & drive it to & from the mot station only & I think
you'd find that 200 miles is not classed as local.
Your only answer is a towing dolly or fix the probs then mot or pay to get it delivered or a trailer

[Bailes1992]

Massive shame. That makes a cheap car not that cheap any more.

[GingerMagic]

+1

A car with no MOT is illegal to drive on the road unless it is to or from a 'pre-booked' MOT - it also means any insurance you put on it to drive it back is void.
Tax isn't an issue - not a police matter.

Its up to you Sam, I regularly collect cars without tax or MOT to be either sold on or stripped and haven't been stopped yet - but its your licence and fines at the end of the day.

You can use a solid towing bar ( must be solid for motorway use ) or hire a car transporter for about £80, or just a car trailer for £50 - possibly the safest and most legal option ( I have been towed for 150 miles before on a solid bar - its quite tiring )

[Bailes1992]

My plan was to pre book the mot before I got down there. Swap the wheels over so I have legal tyres and stick the car straight in for an MOT while I was down there then drive it home.
I want to be 100% legal though.
Not worth getting 6 points of my licence.

What's the going rate to have it towed?
It's a 320 mile round trip.

[GingerMagic]

Have a look on Google for car delivery companies based either where you live, or where the cheap motor is.
The downside of this is you will be charged for each way, maybe £1 per mile.

If this cheap car is really what you want, you will find a way of getting it home.

Where is this bargain, any forum members nearby......

[jasper5]

Hire a trailer and pick it up that way....the only legal way to transport the car is all four wheels off the ground!
About £70 to hire a trailer, but the towing vehicle must be able to tow the weight of the vehicle and the trailer.

I had this problem trying to get the 406 estate up to my place.
The 407 I was going to tow a hired trailer with was out of the towing weight limit with the 406 on it.
It would have cost me around £200 using a delivery company and the same in fuel using a car transporter I was offered.
When my son's Astra broke the gearbox in Birmingham I hired a trailer for £70 and towed the car back to my house...total cost £110 including fuel.

[FarmerPug]

Is there much wrong with the car, any chance you could get (pay in advance) the seller to fix the failure points so it will pass the mot. It depends on what the car is and if it's cheap enough I suppose

Re the towing a car transporter with the 406, I'll ask here; could the 406 tow a transporter with a citroen Xsara on the back of it? I need to take the Xsara to an auto electrician but there is no insurance on it atm.

[Bailes1992]

Unfortunately my licence won't cover me to tow another Mondeo with a Mondeo. I suspect I'd be well over 3.5ton!
.bit of a shame but for another £500 I can get one with MOT which will save all the hassle.

[Welly]

I just think it's too far away to be worth the hassle. You should be able to find another Mondeo locally and if its only 10 or 20 miles away you can pay a recovery garage to pick it up, going rate is a pound a mile I think.

[Bailes1992]

Closest one is 30 miles away and it's a decent model so £1500 more than want to spend.
I'm looking for a ratty ST220 to buy and do up for the summer.
There's one on ebay at the moment which finishes at 10 to 1 with MOT. Il keep an eye on it but I don't want to spend more than £1500.
This was the car I was considering getting but it's just too much hassle.
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... 10&alt=web

[Welly]

I would've thought a ratty ST220 will pretty much stay that way without major spending? the point being if one has missed out on important maintenance it'll never really recover properly.

I think I'd start with something small, cheap and desirable as a first project and try to keep things low risk.

[Bailes1992]

Parts are the biggest issue and they aren't much more expensive than a normal mondeo. There's also a fair few of them on ebay being broken so I'm not too worried.
Il be doing any work myself so will save on labour.

I think it's finding one with the right faults. Lots of small issues which have built up rather than something with one major issue.

[PeterN]

Many years ago I bought a Vauxhall Cresta with a burnt out clutch in Bromley, Kent, and towed it down here on the Devon border, with a rope. I don't think you would get away with it now.

Peter

[Bailes1992]

Turns out there is no 'local' rule so I could book the car in for an MOT in Bridgend and drive it straight from Fareham to Bridgend.
I'd give the car a thorough look over before driving it home and stick the wheels from my MK4 on it.

Going to see if my father is up for a road trip this weekend!