Can I sell a car without an MOT?

Yes. There is no law against selling a car that has no MOT, or one that has failed its test. The rules are about driving it, not selling it.

What you cannot do

You cannot drive a car with no MOT on the road. The only exceptions are driving it to a test you have already booked, or to a garage to have it repaired for the test. Driving without an MOT can mean a fine of up to £1,000, and your insurance may not cover you.

That is the real problem with selling privately. A buyer cannot legally drive the car away, so they need a trailer or a recovery truck, and most private buyers do not have one.

What you need to tell the buyer

Describe the car honestly. Say that it has no MOT and, if it failed, what it failed on. The MOT history of any car can be checked online for free from its registration, so a buyer will see the failure anyway.

What it is worth

Less than the same car with a full MOT, because the buyer is taking on the cost and the risk of getting it through a test. How much less depends on why it failed. Worn tyres and a blown bulb are cheap to put right. Corrosion or an emissions failure may not be worth fixing on an older car.

Your options

• Repair it and retest it. Worth doing if the repair costs clearly less than the value it adds.
• Sell it to a buyer who collects. We buy cars with no MOT and collect them on a recovery truck, so the car never has to be driven.
• Scrap it. If the repairs cost more than the car is worth, scrap may be the best price you will get.

If the car is going to sit off the road untaxed while you decide, declare it off the road (SORN) with DVLA.

To find out what yours is worth, see selling a write-off, non-runner or MOT failure, or enter your registration at the top of this page.