More than two million motorists choose not to take advantage of the six-month MOT extension granted by the Government - research by car selling comparison website Motorway.co.uk reveals

●      1,407,611 MOTs were carried out in May, almost double the number in April (746,147)

●      Number of MOT tests last month were still 61% lower than the corresponding month in 2019

●      Almost 40,000 motorists in Birmingham area (39,611) took their cars in for an MOT in May

●      FOI request made to the DVSA by Motorway.co.uk

Over two million motorists have still chosen to take their vehicles in for an MOT test* since the start of April, rather than take advantage of the six-month MOT holiday granted by the government at the end of March.

But more than five milion fewer MOT tests were carried out during April and May, compared to the same period in 2019.

An FOI request made by car selling comparison website Motorway.co.uk to the DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) revealed that a total of 2,153,768 MOTs have been carried out since the grace period came into force on 30 March. That compares to 7,166,056 carried out in 2019.

According to DVSA figures, 1,407,611 drivers took their vehicles in for an MOT during May, almost double (89%) the number of tests during April (746,157).

Despite this increase, a substantial number of motorists did decide to take advantage of the extension, with MOT tests last month down two-thirds (61%) on the number of tests in May 2019, when more than 3.6 million MOTs were carried out.

Similar to April, Birmingham saw the highest number of MOTs, with almost 40,000 motorists taking their vehicles in for a test in May, and almost twice as many MOTs (34,469) were carried out by garages in the Sheffield postcode area last month compared to April (18,170).

Any motorists with an MOT due from 30th March have automatically been given a six-month extension. However, vehicles still have to be kept in a roadworthy condition, with garages remaining open for essential repair works.

The following table shows postcode areas with the largest % drop in MOTs in May 20 vs May 19

The following table shows postcode areas where the most MOTs were carried out in May 2020

Alex Buttle, director of car selling comparison website Motorway.co.uk comments:

“More than two million motorists have now chosen not to postpone their MOT tests since the government announced the extension at the end of March. And twice as many took their cars in last month compared to April. 

"However, MOTs were still signficantly down on last year, and that could mean there are a lot of potentially unsafe vehicles on UK roads.

“It does appear as though motorists are putting safety before saving as the number of MOT tests in May shot up compared to the previous month. With lockdown restrictions eased further, and people venturing further from home for days out, general maintenance and safety issues are likely to have been at the forefront of many drivers’ minds.

“The cost of an MOT test is small compared to the human cost if you’re driving a car that has a serious fault or defect, and many of us have our vehicles serviced at the same time as the MOT, which could flag up mechanical and safety issues that need to be addressed urgently.

“For those motorists with older vehicles, which tend to be more susceptible to problems due to wear and tear, they might be wise to stick to their original MOT date to give it a full check and service. It will give them the peace of mind that it’s in good condition and mechanically sound at the present time.

”And if owners are looking to protect the value of their car for selling in the future, then a heavily-delayed MOT may be an issue for some buyers. To boost your offer when you sell to a dealer on our website at Motorway.co.uk, we recommend main-dealer servicing and regular MOTs.

“Even if you can delay, it may be more cost-efficient to get the MOT done sooner rather than later to protect your car’s ongoing value.”

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Notes to Editors

* MOTs carried out - normal and re-tests