It's on last year's certificate, or free at gov.uk/check-mot-status with just the registration. If you've had an MOT with us we text you a reminder anyway. Cars need their first MOT at three years old and every year after that.
You can have the test up to a month (minus a day) before the current certificate expires, and if it passes the new certificate still runs from the old expiry date. So you lose nothing by testing early and you gain time to fix anything it finds. Book a live slot online or call — ours is a flat £45.
You don't need the V5C logbook, the old certificate, insurance documents or anything else — the tester looks everything up from the registration. The only exception is if the registration has just changed or the car isn't yet on the DVLA system.
It helps if the car arrives with a reasonable amount of fuel, the boot reasonably clear (the tester needs to get to the spare wheel well and rear seats), and with any chips, warning lights or noises mentioned at the desk so they can be looked at.
A trained tester works through the car against the DVSA standard: lights, brakes, tyres, steering, suspension, structure, emissions, visibility, seatbelts and so on. You're welcome to wait, or drop the keys and we'll text you the result.
Five minutes on the drive catches the easy fails — bulbs, tyres, wipers, washers, warning lights. Here's the checklist.
