Repatriating a UK registered van with no MOT

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Lizbiebrowne

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There's a motorhome I'm interested in buying in Portugal. It's UK registered with an expired MOT and no road tax. How would I get it back to the UK? I understand that once I'm in the UK I can legally drive it untaxed and without a MOT to a testing station for a pre-booked appointment but can it be legally driven to Santander or Bilboa for the ferry home?
 
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chaser said:
All in all it looks to be more trouble and cost than it's worth, but it's going to be the same problem for anyone buying it , unless it's very special or very cheap it's going to end up scrap price.
Why is it there with no tax or mot.?
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Maybe been out of the country for more than a year ?
 
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We met a couple several years ago that were touring Europe in their motorhome ,they wanted to be away for several years so my wife suggested looking for a housesit. They found a farm in Italy and stayed for over two years,the girl even flew home and drove a car back over for them to get around in. At the end of the housesit they drove home with both vehicles, obviously with no MOT and probably tax. They made it onto the TV, BBC to tell their story, nobody asked the question about their illegal journey home.
 
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Emmit said:
But
1. You would have had to know that he was in the car park.
2. 23yrs ago from memory, the Police had their own vehicle examiners, in addition to VOSA (but I don't think they were called VOSA then) or were they?
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No, simple ministry of transport. But that wasn’t catchy enough for the 21st century
 
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Thinking about this again since my previous response last night. As you are yet to purchase said vehicle, couldn’t you factor the repatriation cost (legal means) into the negotiation. Surely the seller realises anyone wanting to bring the vehicle back to Blighty will have similar expenses.

Just one other thought, could the vehicle not obtain an MoT (or whatever the equivalent is in Portugal) where it currently is residing.
 
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I'm now going down a rabbit hole

Have you physically seen and touched the vehicle and confirmed there is no HP oustanding

Is it theirs to sell
 
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stewartwebr said:
So lets' look at worst case scenario, your vehicle is in a complete loss situation and it appears to be blame lies with you. You are potentially being prosecuted and third party is claiming substantial damages. Your insurer asks you to prove your vehicle is roadworthy as per the conditions of your insurance. Your car is in a million bits, a large lawsuit is being persued against you. How do you demonstrate in a court of law that your vehicle is roadworthy and therefore your insurer needs to meet its obligation to cover you as per policy.
It is very easy when you hand over a current MoT...job done! If you have no MoT how do you demonstrate the vehicle is roadworthy as per the conditions of your policy.
With a QC..sorry KC for a Mother she continually advises me that life is so much easier on the rightside of the law, it can become very dark and complex when you stray into those grey areas when things go wrong. Bottom line, have a valid MoT.
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A current MoT can never be used as proof of roadworthiness. The insurance company will perform their own examination.

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DerryW said:
Thinking about this again since my previous response last night. As you are yet to purchase said vehicle, couldn’t you factor the repatriation cost (legal means) into the negotiation. Surely the seller realises anyone wanting to bring the vehicle back to Blighty will have similar expenses.

Just one other thought, could the vehicle not obtain an MoT (or whatever the equivalent is in Portugal) where it currently is residing.
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Yes it can, but it mean zilch unless it's a Portuguese registered vehicle.
 
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A T4 weight is 2.5 to 2.8 tons it will fit on a 3.5 ton trailer so there are people moving vehicles around the EU all the time you just need someone that's going to the port after dropping. I'm sure you would get a good price as they don't like running empty. If your serious I could put it on a notice board I would need a pick up point and destination also if it starts, or rolls for loading some might drop at the mot station depending what you want.
 
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Bertilak said:
Just a thought, but do they have MOT stations in Gibraltar? If a Portuguese transporter or trade plate owner would take it to the border...
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Gibraltar MOT is not valid in the UK. As its registered in the UK it would not have a valid MOT. Now if you could get it registered in Gib?:giggle:
 
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stewartwebr said:
So how would you suggest you would prove roadworthiness of your vehicle in the event of a total loss and vehicle was unfit for examination? My interpretation would be a forensic examination of the vehicle to inspect anything which could be inspected along with my MoT to show that it had been inspected using predefined methods of testing which are prescribed to review elements which are dangerous or could degrodate to a condition over the next 12 months deeming said vehicle to become dangerous. There is however no gaurantee at MoT that futher degrodation due to lack of care and attention could bring. But a current MoT puts you in a far stronger footing than not having
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As far as I as I am aware you cannot fail something you think will fail within the next 12 months. Below is direct from government website regarding mot’s. If you think your mot is dodgy most items are only 28 days after the test.
If a part is worn but not a fail they go down as advisories.

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Nobody has mentioned buying an MOT in the UK and proceeding from there. Still possible but getting more difficult….
 
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Riverbankannie said:
I have been doing google searches to look for that but cannot find it, of course it just may not have been published in a magazine that has not been picked up for online reading.
We have 2 cars in that category and I do not see how one could prove road worthiness at the time of an accident. Even if it had an MOT it could be up to 12 months old.
Take a photo every time we leave home? Doesn’t really mean much.
I think it would be difficult for the insurance company to get away with not paying out, especially the specialist ones who know what they are taking on.
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It was along time ago and lets not forget insurance companies will do anything they can to avoid paying out. I had it happen when my BMW motorbike was stolen and they never believed it was in my garage

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Insurance companies are a law to themselves.
Earlier this year my previous insurers wouldn't renew my policy on the grounds that my drive was not a drive.
Even though 12 months earlier they insured me fine with the motorhome kept at home on my drive.
 
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Try and get someone with trades plates to come and collect then drive to the port to meet it,
Insure it and book it in for M.O.T. hope that it passes,tax and drive home, sorted..
 
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Pugsy said:
If it's the one I seen he has been driving it in Europe without problems since it was sorned.
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Loads of brits did that in france, drive a car down use it until the mot ran out register it as sorn, put a french CT on it and get a french insurance company to insure it.
But they have clamped down on it now, my insurance company gave me a month to re-register the last car I brought down which is tight, but were a little flexible as long as I kept them upto date with how the re-registration was going.
 
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Taken from the Gov website
You cannot drive or park your vehicle on the road if the MOT has run out. You can be prosecuted if caught.
The only exceptions are to drive it:

  • to or from somewhere to be repaired
  • to a pre-arranged MOT test
The wording states “somewhere” it does not imply or state any limits on distance or time. Although it is pushing it provided the vehicle isn’t running with defective tyres lights etc and is not rotten there does not appear to be any specific rules saying you cant do it.

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tjay said:
Try and get someone with trades plates to come and collect then drive to the port to meet it,
Insure it and book it in for M.O.T. hope that it passes,tax and drive home, sorted..
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Don't know about Spain but, in this country, Trade Plate use has been greatly restricted, unlike the good old days! 😅
 
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This has been an interesting thread because, to me, it has raised a number of serious questions that I would love an answer too.

For instance, in Post#26 gpat stated that vehicles in IOM do not have to have an MOT's but can be driven, legally, in this country but we have to comply with, for example, the French regulation of Angle Mort plates on vans +3.5tonnes etc. and UK vehicles have to have an MOT to travel in the IOM?
Why this discrepancy? ( I thought, when vehicles travelled between countries, they had to comply with the legislation (Hours, Safety etc) of both countries?)

Also, Clive Bishop in Post#44 states that 'Sorry, you can't tow a vehicle in Spain, it has to be moved by a Grua.' so how is a 'Toad' behind a M/H legal?

IF they, or anyone else, can give me a serious answer, I would appreciate it, Thankyou!
 
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L' Hobo said:
This has been an interesting thread because, to me, it has raised a number of serious questions that I would love an answer too.

For instance, in Post#26 gpat stated that vehicles in IOM do not have to have an MOT's but can be driven, legally, in this country but we have to comply with, for example, the French regulation of Angle Mort plates on vans +3.5tonnes etc. and UK vehicles have to have an MOT to travel in the IOM?
Why this discrepancy? ( I thought, when vehicles travelled between countries, they had to comply with the legislation (Hours, Safety etc) of both countries?)

Also, Clive Bishop in Post#44 states that 'Sorry, you can't tow a vehicle in Spain, it has to be moved by a Grua.' so how is a 'Toad' behind a M/H legal?

IF they, or anyone else, can give me a serious answer, I would appreciate it, Thankyou!
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I think the only serious answer is....its a minefield

What is common though is

1. A vehicle has to be taxed (in its home country) and insured for whatever country it is in. In the UK a vehicle has to have an MOT to be taxed.
2. It has to be roadworthy and safe
3. You (the person) must comply the the laws of the country you are in
 
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L' Hobo said:
Also, Clive Bishop in Post#44 states that 'Sorry, you can't tow a vehicle in Spain, it has to be moved by a Grua.' so how is a 'Toad' behind a M/H legal?

IF they, or anyone else, can give me a serious answer, I would appreciate it, Thankyou!
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The answer to your question is they cannot as said so many times on here and elsewhere they are illegal to use in Spain and many other EU countries
 
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gpat said:
2. It has to be roadworthy and safe
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Who can judge, (without having an accident) what is 'roadworthy and safe' a 17yr old lad for instance? :unsure:

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eurajohn said:
The answer to your question is they cannot as said so many times on here and elsewhere they are illegal to use in Spain and many other EU countries
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So why, as it could be a nice little earner for the local police that can issue instant fines in many European countries, are they not prosecuted?:unsure:

Edit: When my Coaches were doing the Southern French, Italian & Spanish 'Flyers' (out from London on Friday, down to resort on Saturday, pickup passenger deposited there a fortnight before and return them to London on Sunday) I remember the French Police waiting at the many Peage toll booths (especially the one before Paris) just before the end of the holiday season, nicking a number of my Coach Drivers, because, as the times on the Peage ticket, from entering and getting too that Toll Booth, was not sufficiently long, they MUST have been speeding (however slightly). and had to pay a 'large deposit' to the Gendarme.
 
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