Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Just renewed road tax from 1st July free of course,when doing it a notice came up saying according to there records car is over 40 years old ,73 model ,it then asked me to agree that car had not been modified,I ticked box but am confused does this mean no more mot tests

Yes - if you don't want to you don't have to.
Long thread on the subject on the forum.

Are you currently MOT-ed?

When I taxed mine I got nothing. It's been suggested this is due to it already having a MOT.

Non I think you are correct if you have MoT when tax starts it's a standard renewal.

Yes car was mot d till 29 of June

If you have a current MOT but the tax date does not coincide then you need to SORN your vehicle for five days and then retax it as MOT exempt. Otherwise once the MOT runs out, if its still taxed then it still shows up as an MOT is due and liable on the DVLA computer system, which is linked of course to the PNC so if you pass a ANPR camera life will get complicated for sure. So it is not as straightforward as it might appear....

That's exactly what I did - SORN for 5 days, then re-tax. However the DVLA site did not offer me the option to declare it exempt, despite it being in the Historic Vehicle class (and showing as such). Like I said, it had been suggested this was due to me already having unexpired MOT on the car, but now I am not so sure.

I need to sort this out somehow as the MOT expires mid June, and I have my daughter's prom night at the end of June, which I need the car for.

There is also this: https://www.gov.uk/historic-vehicles

Specifically:

What you have to do
You must apply for a vehicle tax exemption to stop paying vehicle tax. This is sometimes called putting a vehicle into the ?historic tax class?.

You do not have to apply to stop getting an MOT for your vehicle each year. However, you must still keep it in a roadworthy condition.

The bit in bold confuses me. Isn't declaring MOT exemption an "application"?

I'm sure that plod will be able to work out that an Historic Vehicle without MoT is allowable.
I still think that it's worth getting an MoT to show a degree of 'due diligence' in terms of roadworthiness.
I know it's only valid at the time of test, but it is independent and not self certification.
If one is of doing low annual mileage then accusations of negligence on our part are less likely.

MarkDa wrote:I'm sure that plod will be able to work out that an Historic Vehicle without MoT is allowable.
.

......much in the same way that they'd let you off not taxing a historic vehicle because it's free anyway?
I see your logic but I'm afraid I don't believe there are many common sense coppers around anymore, or more exactly, those that feel able to apply it, sadly.

Hopefully the magistrates will understand - however having to go that far is a pita.
That's why I'm going to MoT and will probably try To make it continuous!

After consideration going to put it through mot next month,after all I might be selling it ,asked guy re mot test said it was a visual ,no idle emissions as it was made before 1975

Precisely - it should be money for old rope for an experienced examiner as there is so little to check and everything is visible and light to manipulate.
I take my own 40mm square timber spacers to ensure the rear wishbones don't get bent though after having to rummage round his workshop one time and splitting a bit of wood he had lying around! A