Free MOT retest
Your free retest — book it for 3pm or 4pm.
Failed your MOT with us? Pop your reg in below, we check it failed here recently, and you pick a 3pm or 4pm slot. If 3pm is already taken, you’ll just see 4pm.
Is my retest free?
A lot of customers think a free retest is an automatic right. It isn’t. The DVSA only guarantees a free partial re-examination when all of the following are true:
- The vehicle comes back to us (the same test station) by the end of the next working day,
- ownership hasn’t changed, and
- only the listed items below need re-checking (one or more of them, and nothing else).
Redvers Services goes further than we have to. As a courtesy to our customers we offer a free retest within 10 working days of a fail with us. That’s a goodwill gesture — not something we’re obliged to do — except where the prescribed items below apply. We’re happy to do it; we just want you to know where you stand.
Items covered by a free partial re-examination
If your fail was on one or more of these items only, and the vehicle is brought back to us by the end of the next working day, the re-check is free (no additional fee). This is the DVSA’s own list.
- Access panels
- Battery
- Bonnet
- Boot lid
- Brake pedal anti-slip
- Break glass hammer
- Doors (incl. hinges, catches & pillars)
- Door open warning device
- Dropsides
- Electrical wiring
- Emergency exits & signs
- Entrance door remote control
- Entrance / exit steps
- Fuel filler cap
- Headlamp cleaning / levelling devices
- Horn
- Lamps (excluding headlamp aim)
- Loading door
- Main beam ‘tell-tale’
- Mirrors
- Rear reflectors
- Registration plates
- Seat belts (but not anchorages)
- Seat belt load limiter
- Seat belt pre-tensioner
- Seats
- Sharp edges or projections
- Stairs
- Steering wheel
- Tailboard
- Tailgate
- Towbars (excluding body around anchorage points)
- Trailer electrical sockets
- Tyre pressure monitoring system
- Vehicle identification number (VIN)
- Windscreen & glass
- Windscreen wipers / washers
- Wheels & tyres
Some items apply only to certain vehicle classes (for example emergency exits, steps and stairs on buses/coaches). A few are excluded for motorcycles (classes 1 and 2). If you’re unsure, just ask us.
Back next working day
Same items only, no change of ownership — partial re-examination at no additional fee.
Left with us for repair
Retested before the end of 10 working days from the fail — partial retest, no fee.
Taken away & returned
Returned for retest within 10 working days — only a partial retest fee may apply.
Only one partial re-examination is allowed per full examination. In any other case a full re-examination is charged at the full fee.
Free MOT retest — your questions
Is an MOT retest free?
Not automatically. The DVSA only guarantees a free partial re-examination when the vehicle is brought back to the same test station by the end of the next working day, ownership hasn’t changed, and only the prescribed items need re-checking. At Redvers Services we go further and offer a free retest within 10 working days of a fail with us as a goodwill courtesy.
How long do I have to bring my car back for a free retest?
For the DVSA free partial re-examination, by the end of the next working day. As a courtesy, Redvers Services offers a free retest within 10 working days of the original fail.
What items qualify for a free partial re-examination?
DVSA-listed items including lamps, mirrors, registration plates, seat belts, wheels and tyres, windscreen and glass, wipers and washers, horn, battery, bonnet, boot lid, doors and many more. If your fail was on one or more of these items only, the re-check is free.
When can I book my retest at Redvers Services?
Retests run at 3pm and 4pm every working day at our Swindon workshop. If the 3pm slot is already taken you’ll be offered 4pm.
Book your free retest
Retests run at 3pm and 4pm every working day. Enter the reg of the vehicle that failed with us — we check it straight away — then pick your slot. If 3pm is already booked, you’ll just see 4pm.