New MOT Rules: Is Your Car Now Illegal?

You may have heard about new MOT rules coming into action, but some of these could now make your car illegal if you were to have an MOT carried out.

There are some new checks are somewhat targeted at diesel cars, as well as other new checks that impact all motorists. We’ll help clarify exactly what these changes are and how you can avoid failing your next MOT.

These new MOT rules came into effect on the 20th May 2018, so if you’ve got yours due soon, you better see exactly what’s changed.

Diesel cars need to be “clean”

If you drive a diesel vehicle, be it a car, van or even bike, you need to check your exhaust.

Firstly, if your diesel vehicle emits any kind of visible smoke, you will receive a major fault which is the second most serious fault you can get, obviously resulting in a failed MOT.

Secondly, if the examiner finds any evidence that your DPF (diesel particulate filter) has been meddled with, you will receive a major fault. Thousands of drivers in the UK have either tampered with or completely removed their DPF. This is because a clogged DPF can often cause warning lights to come on or in some cases, actually cause serious damage to your car.

However, if the MOT garage finds any sign that the DPF has been altered in any way, you’ll fail your MOT. That being said, the garage will only be able to inspect the exhaust system from the outside, they won’t be taking it apart to look inside.

New checks you need to be wary of:

As of May this year, you’ll need to make sure a few extra things are in order before you drive to your local MOT tester.

A few that you can check easily are the inflation level of the tyres, leaking fluids coming from the car and brake pad warning lights. All of those things will potentially cause you to fail your MOT if they’re not up to standard.

On top of that, the garage will now have to check if your brake fluid is contaminated and if any brake pads/discs are missing. If your car has reversing lights or headlight washers first used from 1st September 2009, they will also be checked and the same goes for daytime running lights first used from 1st March 2018.

If you have headlight washers or reversing lights that predate September 2009 then you don’t need to worry, the same goes for daytime running lights older than March 2018.

It’s important that we are all educated on these new changes as driving around without a valid MOT certificate registered to your car can result in a fine of up to £1,000. You can also see the list of changes we talked about in neat bullet point form below.

These MOT changes came into effect on 20 May
Some vehicles over 40 years old are now exempt from MOT

MOT now checks for:

Any visible smoke on diesel cars
DPF tampered with on diesel cars
Deflated tyres
Contaminated brake fluid
Fluid leaks posing environmental harm
Brake pad warning lights
Brake pads/discs missing
Faulty reversing lights first used from 1 Sept. 2009
Faulty headlight washers first used from 1 Sept. 2009
Faulty daytime running lights first used from 1 March 2018

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