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We have a rather elderly car that has just failed it's MoT and the cost to get it through is far to much. It's currently sat at the garage that failed it, my plan being to collect it and drive it home later today. In theory the current MoT expires next week but as it's just failed then my understanding is that that is irrelevant now.
But, what next?
WBAC say they'll buy cars with a failed MoT and various scrap places will presumably do the same.
Am I right in saying that from a legal perspective I can only drive to a place of repair and/or for it's retest? I can't drive it to WBAC for instance?
I'm not sure if the current MOT is invalidated or not, easiest way to check is:- https://vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/?_ga=2.137357621.480282456.1697116757-1324261892.1693831792
Obviously driving it in any event depends on what it failed on.
eBay - with honest description. And stipulation it must be trailered away.
Buyers will try and drive away though. So as soon as the cash is in your hands/bank get on DVLA website and change ownership immediately. Ideally while they are there.
Gumtree with honest description. Let them see the mot failure list so they can see the registration plate so they can see for themselves the list on the mot checker online.
Cars near me driven in to a scrappy is £200, or £100 picked up.
WBAC would have given me £330 for my car, but with a £49 admin fee driven in with no MoT
In the end my car did pass an mot (older vw polo) so didnt need to go down these routes - even though i thought it would fail badly
Just sold an octavia that had run out of MOT on Facebook on monday for £400.
Guy picked it up and drove it straight to garage to get it fixed and put through an MOT.
Tried to sell it on Ebay when it still had a few weeks MOT left and just got lots of people agreeing to buy it and then not showing up or paying.
If it failed the MOT with a "dangerous" fault then you can't even drive it home, it's unroadworthy. If you're scrapping it then you'll have to get someone to transport it away.
If it failed with "major" then the expiry date of the old MOT still applies, you can drive it about until then.
Park it at Luton airport...
Recently sold a 2003 Focus that had terminal rust in the sills to WBAC for £300.
WBAC - sold my 2006 focus that has a knackered gearbox and was battered outside and in from transporting bikes for £250.
Simon-g has it ^
Hmm, being very, very honest on WBAC they have said they'll give me £650 for it. I'd take half that so it's quite tempting.
Checking the paperwork it's a "Major" fault, which means I can at least drive it to somewhere to be got rid of.
I've done the ebay thing- just took really good photos, put in a full description to help bidders (cos if you're buying a crap car for cheap to fix or part out, you need to know exactly what it needs and what it has) and listed it for the weigh-in value plus the cost of the fuel in the tank. And bizarrely sold it for pretty much what I'd failed to sell it for as a runner 6 months earlier, I guess there are people always out there looking for parts cars and fixer uppers who maybe don't look at "cheap crap runners"?
Did almost the same but with facebook marketplace for the donor car that I'd stripped the engine out of for my mx5, a guy came and bought the entire car just for the brakes and the front seats. And I sold wheels cat and gearbox and between those 4 things got most of the cost of the car back. No doubt he ended up weighing it in for pretty much exactly what I'd have got from the scrappy at that point, and got some bits out of it.
Anyway, all worth a try. Failing that, you may have local scrap places that collect and that imo nets more than WBAC. But WBAC are probably less hassle, dealing with scrappies ime always has some sort of unexpected madness involved.
If it failed the MOT with a “dangerous” fault then you can’t even drive it home, it’s unroadworthy. If you’re scrapping it then you’ll have to get someone to transport it away.
If it failed with “major” then the expiry date of the old MOT still applies, you can drive it about until then.
+1
Technically it was illegal to even drive it to the MOT in that state, but to be caught it would need to be really bad or stopped at a DVSA checkpoint. The only legal options to move it now are on a trailer or get if fixed where it is.
Have search through the various "we scrap any car" type websites. I got offers from £200-£400 for both of my last cars and they collected them, stamped the V5 and no hassle. All they cared about was that the car was all there* and could be moved**. IIRC both mine went to Redcorn Recycling, but the best offer was via 3rd party website.
*didn't matter that it was an insurance write-off
**no clutch and shoving it in 2nd gear and cranking the starter counts
If WBAC are offering £650, I’d be all over that! It wasn’t all that long ago you’d be having to pay a scrappy to take it off your hands.
Copart might be another option as well.