MOT Spare

[DeTomato]

For a UK MOT, the Gov says the following:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/car-parts-checked-at-an-mot/car-parts-checked-at-an-mot

2.12 Tyres and wheels

… Spare wheels and tyres are not inspected.

So why do MOT Station garage's still check the tread on a Spare wheel if present?

And, if you take the spare wheel they state it is not present and it could not be checked?

Can you therefore still remove a spare wheel or space saver to pass?

[dankernow]

A lot of cars come with tyre repair kits now instead of a spare wheel. So you don't legally need one for a MOT. Some garages needlessly say " engine cover  preventing visual inspection" etc. MOT testing seems so varied and is the opinion of the tester!

[DeTomato]

Yes, it does appear to be a bit of a lottery. A mate of mine was advised he didn't have a spare wheel in his car (not a space saver one) but he never had one with his car in the first place and couldn't find one secondhand or afford to buy one. But it's not a requirement and it became an advisory on the MOT where he took it. Sure its good to have one even if the roadside services can change it over or a driver can do, but it still seems dumb when it's being highlighted when it's not a legal requirement any longer. Some MOT testers seem to do things by habit still I guess.

[oldcodger]

 

As stated it is not a requirement of the MOT and my mot testers have not checked mine since the new rules.

However, if they are checking your spare they are really doing you a big favour   - if you did have to fit the spare when on the road, you could have lots of problems if your spares tread was too low or damaged. eg police check or accident/insurance etc

Also when having a recent mot, they found a new deep cut in the tread of one of my tyres which I had not seen,  and because I had a good spare they let me change it over  there and then as they still had a few minutes of the test left,  if it did not have good tread it would have been a failure and back for another visit with a new tyre the following day.