MOT Exemption.

[Vic Butler]

The MOT on my 1975 Land Rover ran out yesterday 1st July. Today I checked the DVLA records for it and the MOT section is a green box with "No Results Returned" written in it. MOT exemption is automatic for vehicles in the Historic tax class it appears.
The Land Rover was given a thorough examination last month, much more thorough than the MOT and it is OK.

[Paul Hollingworth]

Don't think so Vic, just checked the history on my 1971 B and its intact including the voluntary test I had since registering as a Vehicle of Historic Interest. So think something has gone wrong at the DVLA regarding your Land Rover. I 'taxed' my B last year when there was insufficient MOT left by declaring that it was not substantially modified. I had a test a week later.

[Vic Butler]

Paul, I didn't have a voluntary test. The Land Rover was inspected thoroughly last month but it wasn't an MOT. As the MOT expired 1/7/19, the records are correct. Had it had an MOT the records would have shown so.

[Peter Cresswell]

Vic and Paul
I think what happens now is different from the early statements given to the DVLA by the DVSA, which implied originally the MOT had simply expired, then it said 'Not Found' both of which led the Police to stop cars unnecessarily for no MOT and presumed therefore, no tax or insurance, when in fact everything was ok officially.
Now it seems the statement 'No Results Found' will be shown and Police will see this along with the age of the car and (should) by now understand the situation. If you do submit the car to an MOT it will display the MOT expiry and on the DVSA site the full MOT history will be there.
There might be some odd examples of MGB LEs which were built in 1979/1980 but some were not registered until 1982 or even later. These will start to become VED exempt (from build date) this year but not MOT exempt (which goes on Date of First Registration) for another couple of years.
I still though think you should carry form V112 in the car, and if you are taking the car into Europe then MOT before you go as that is what they expect the car to have. I have also noticed that a lot of classic cars offered for sale do come with a new MOT which implies buyers are more attracted to cars with an MOT than those without.

[Vic Butler]

Peter, if I ever sold the Land Rover or MG, I would get an MOT.
I have never declared exemption, it was automatically applied after the MOT expired.

[Paul Hollingworth]

Vic and Peter,
I'm surprised your MOT history is not visible even if you don't have a current MOT. I would have also thought that you would have to declare your vehicles as not substantially modified when you 'taxed' them. I know I did.
I will continue to submit my car for a voluntary test because I don't have the facilities of a MOT station at home for example a brake test rolling road. I failed recently on an imbalance of my rear brakes which I was unaware of.

[Dave Wheatley]

Just to corroborate Vic's experience. My MOT ran out on 4/7/19, so I checked the records. MOT 'NOT FOUND'. On the MOT history page, dire warning about £1000 fine for having no MOT, but it does say that this vehicle may be MOT exempt. I'm assuming that this normal now.
Dave

[Vic Butler]

Dave, have you changed the taxation class to "Historic?" If you haven't then you will have to get an MOT. It will be a green box for the MOT with "No results returned." That's legal.

[Vic Butler]

Further to my previous post I checked the MOT history of the Land Rover and it states that the MOT has expired but also states that the vehicle may be MOT exempt.
On the site "vehicle enquiry service.gov.uk," the MOT box for the Land Rover is green stating "No results returned." which is correct for an MOT exempt vehicle so it's all above board. If the MOT box on this site is red with a white cross and an expiry date then the vehicle is not MOT exempt.
I agree it's somewhat confusing but what do you expect?

[Dave Wheatley]

Hi Vic. My V5c says 'historic ', so no MOT required.

It seems that the Mot 'Not found' and 'this vehicle may not need an MOT' is the normal thing for Historic vehicles on the Vehicle enquiry service website now.

Why do they do everything in the most confusing way possible? :-)