How accurate is theGov.uk Mot History site?
Posted by mus00004@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 14 comments
How accurate is the gov.uk MOT history? I am looking at a car from a private seller who has told me the car is Mot’d till February next year. When I go on the gov.uk Mot history it says the vehicle has never been Mot’d and is due one from 2018 but other websites say it has been done. I’d usually be inclined to go with the official site but this feels wrong.
Firm-Line6291@reddit
What i dont understand is , do they retrospectively make vehicle owners plug the gaps in theory MOT history if there was.no SORN ? As in MOT expired Oct 24 but no.new MOT until May 2025 do they make you fill in that gap with some type of fine if the vehicle.was not SORN during thay period... it seems not and seems massively unfair to legal road users, with CCTV state surveillance these days its fairly.easy to run a license plate and find hits on public roads during the none MOT'd period
hugobosslives@reddit
You're confusing two things. Although they often are occur simultaneously SORN and MOT are different things.
A valid MOT says a vehicle is 'safe' to drive on a public road. And therefore its a legal requirement to have a valid MOT to drive on a public road (with some not relevant exceptions). There is no requirement to have an MOT if not being driven on a public road.
A SORN is nothing to do with safety. It's to do with insurance and tax status. It's the governments way of making you formally/legally declare you aren't going to drive it on public roads and therefore exempting it from the mandatory insurance and tax that otherwise apply to any car. (About a decade ago they made it illegal to own an uninsured/taxed car unless it's SORN, in a bueracratic attempt to stop people occasionally driving non-insured/taxed cars).
Firm-Line6291@reddit
Yeh thanks for info... it seems my close neighbour simple cannot be an adult, its really frustrating
Scarred_fish@reddit
There is only one MOT history website : https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history
Anything else is a scam, or scalping the info from there.
TheTegMogul@reddit
This is not strictly true, the dvla offer an api which other honest sites use to give users insights on the mot that the gov website doesn't always, for example https://www.carinformation.co.uk/fullmotcheck?reg=V340gmo
But there are a lot of dishonest site out there in this space so always question where the data comes from!
mus00004@reddit (OP)
I checked this site and it says the car never had its first Mot which would have been due 2018. The car has done 60k miles. How realistic is it that it’s just never had an MOT?
Scarred_fish@reddit
Assuming it's tax exempt, then it is entirely possible if the owners managed to avoid getting caught on camera.
Have you checked that it's taxed?
https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-tax
Also check the make/color match - definitely something dodgy.
mus00004@reddit (OP)
That’s strange, the first link you sent says it’s never been Mot’d but the second one says next Mot is due in May24. Looks like there is just an issue with the gov.uk site
Interesting-Buddy957@reddit
You get 5 years on a new car
2018-2023
bluejackmovedagain@reddit
I'd ask if it had a private numberplate at some point, it can take a while for gov.uk to catch up with reg changes.
Interesting-Buddy957@reddit
Accurate?
As accurate as the data the mechanic puts in..
Forever_a_Kumquat@reddit
Some cars don't need an MOT. Police vehicles, paramedic cars, doctor cars, fire chief cars. Could be something like that. Maybe it's first mot was when it was released to the public after its service life.
Or it could just be a dodgy car.
Necessary_Driver_831@reddit
It sometimes goes slightly awry if private plates are involved but it’s normally updated very quickly as soon as the plate is removed.
And the site is updated with the current MOT status as soon as the tester completes the test so I’d say you’ve got a dodgy car and to avoid it at all costs.
Ben750@reddit
Might have been a taxi. Under some authorities they don't need an MOT as they have other more regular checks. Could also mean it's been clocked.