Dealer’s Diary

MOT holiday

The news of the Government announcing a MOT holiday during the pandemic was a pragmatic move. It gave people breathing space to focus on more important issues at that time. But taking a MOT holiday wasn’t a mandatory instruction; MOT stations and workshops could legally stay open, and many intended to. Sadly, you give motorists margins and they use them up.

We had one elderly customer, who remained fully active during the lockdown and who was insisting on having his car MOT’d as per usual because he was still regularly using it. We advised him that the option was there to self-isolate and take advantage of the extension (he was concerned about taxing it), but at the same time, we’d gladly collect and MOT his car. And so it was agreed.

Then, the day before the appointment, he cancelled. He’d worked out that we wouldn’t be issuing an 18-month MOT. And that it was not economically sensible to spend £40 on a 12-month MOT now when in October he could spend £40 and get a 12-month