MOT Retest Rules

Is an MOT retest free?

In some cases your vehicle can have a partial retest for free or for a reduced MOT fee. If you leave the vehicle at the test centre for repair and it is retested within 10 working days, you only need a partial retest. There is no fee for this.

Source: GOV.UK: Retest after a repair and GOV.UK: MOT testing guide, accounts and fees. Last checked 25 October 2026.

If you take the vehicle away for repairs and take it back within 10 working days, you only need a partial retest, but you can be charged a partial retest fee. The partial retest fee can be up to half the maximum MOT test fee. There is a maximum fee MOT test centres can charge, which depends on the type of vehicle. The maximum fee for a car is £54.85 and £29.65 for a standard motorcycle. You do not pay VAT on the fee.

In all other cases, you need a full retest and pay the full MOT test fee again.

How many days do you have for an MOT retest?

The retest must be done before the end of the 10th working day after the day of the first test. Working days do not include Saturdays, Sundays, Good Friday, Christmas Day or bank holidays.

If the retest is later than that, it is a full MOT at the full fee. The only shorter limit is the next working day, for the items in the list below.

Items you can bring back by the next working day

If you take the vehicle away, you will not have to pay again if you take it back to the same test centre before the end of the next working day for a partial retest on one or more of the items GOV.UK lists.

The items that can have a free partial retest when you take the vehicle back to the same test centre by the end of the next working day, as GOV.UK lists them:

• access panels
• battery
• bonnet
• bootlid
• brake pedal anti-slip
• break glass hammer (class 5 vehicles only)
• doors (including hinges, catches and pillars)
• door open warning device (class 5 vehicles only)
• dropsides
• electrical wiring
• emergency exits and signs (class 5 vehicles only)
• entrance door remote control (class 5 vehicles only)
• entrance/exit steps (class 5 vehicles only)
• fuel filler cap
• headlamp cleaning or levelling devices (that does not need a headlamp aim check)
• horn
• lamps (excluding headlamp aim)
• loading door
• main beam ‘tell-tale’
• mirrors
• rear reflectors
• registration plates
• seatbelts (but not anchorages), seatbelt load limiter and seatbelt pre-tensioner
• seats
• sharp edges or projections
• stairs (class 5 vehicles only)
• steering wheel
• tailboard
• tailgate
• trailer electrical sockets
• towbars (excluding body around anchorage points)
• tyre pressure monitoring system
• vehicle identification number (VIN)
• windscreen glass, wipers and washers
• wheels and tyres (excluding motorcycles and motorcycles with sidecar)

Source: GOV.UK: Retest after a repair. Last checked 25 October 2026.

Does the retest have to be at the same garage?

A free or partial retest has to be at the same test centre that did the first test, and the test centre must not have changed owner in the meantime. At a different test centre it is a full MOT at the full fee.

Only one partial retest is allowed for each full MOT test.

To book an MOT in Great Britain, GOV.UK says to contact an MOT centre. We do not book MOTs or retests. Read GOV.UK: Booking an MOT.

What is checked on an MOT retest?

At a partial retest the tester must check every item that failed, any item that may have been affected by the repairs, and any minor defect or advisory from the first test. If the repairs may have affected the brakes, the brakes are tested again.

If the tester finds a major or dangerous defect during the retest, the vehicle fails again and you get a new refusal of an MOT certificate.

Read GOV.UK: MOT inspection manual (section 19).

Can you drive your car before the retest?

After a failed MOT, you can take your vehicle away only if your current MOT is still valid and no 'dangerous' problems were listed. Otherwise, you need to get it repaired before you can drive it. You cannot drive or park your vehicle on the road if the MOT has run out, and you can be prosecuted if caught. The only exceptions are driving it to or from somewhere to be repaired, or to a pre-arranged MOT test. You can be fined up to £2,500, be banned from driving and get 3 penalty points for driving a vehicle that has failed its MOT because of a 'dangerous' problem.

Read more in our MOT advisories guide.

Check the retest on the MOT history

Every MOT test is recorded on the MOT database, whether it is a full test or a retest. So a retest shows as a new test in the vehicle's MOT history, and you can check it on our checker.

We label a pass as a retest when it comes 10 days or fewer after a fail.

MOT retests in Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, you must apply for a retest within 21 days of the original test. After 21 days a full test fee is needed, and retests must be completed within 60 days of the original test.

nidirect says a vehicle that fails its MOT in Northern Ireland is treated as not roadworthy and should not be on the road, even if there is time left on an existing MOT certificate. In Northern Ireland, the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) provides MOT and vehicle testing. Tests take place at test centres, and the same testing routine is used in every centre.

Read nidirect: After the MOT/ vehicle test, or book a retest on nidirect. Our Northern Ireland guide explains what an NI MOT check shows.

Frequently asked questions