If you've removed your rear seats and rear seat belts will the car fail the MOT if registered as a 4/5 seater?

Also do they still check the rear seatbelt mounting area's on the chassis for corrosion?

hi,

you only need a drivers seat & belt for the mot.

there is an advisory about passenger seats not being fitted.

and if there is corrosion around the seat belt mountings but no seat belts fitted then it would be just pass and advise.

Most Easterly Pandas said:

If you've removed your rear seats and rear seat belts will the car fail the MOT if registered as a 4/5 seater?

Also do they still check the rear seatbelt mounting area's on the chassis for corrosion?

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when i took the 750 in with no rear seat, they just tested it as a 2 seater. i don't know if corrosion came into it as the car was solid

dave said:

when i took the 750 in with no rear seat, they just tested it as a 2 seater. i don't know if corrosion came into it as the car was solid

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Cheers for that Dave. Out of interest were the seat belts still fitted in the rear?

I've the CLX for MOT in a few weeks with no rear belts or seats, and I've the 750L for MOT in a few months, that's currently not rear hammock seat but has the belts fitted still was going to sling the hammock back in, as thought I might have to as the belts are still in there, but if it's not needed I won't bother

they were fitted but not looked at

you can download the mot testers manual but C&U regs have to be paid for. http://www.motinfo.gov.uk/htdocs/index.htm

some c&u stuff for free here http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1986/1078/part/II/chapter/J/made

Doesn't the law state 'seat belts, where fitted, must be worn' ?

The important wording being 'where fitted'.
in which case, the tester's manual should have similar wording?

If their records tell them they are testing a 5 seater, I imagine they would note lack of seats (somewhere) as a later incident involving badly refitted seats could come back to bite them?

In the past I have had testers question me about switches with no obvious component connected. They told me they had to test them.

sludgeguts said:

Doesn't the law state 'seat belts, where fitted, must be worn' ?

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Indeed, but that's regarding there use by passengers and isn't linked to MOT I'd wouldn't have thought.

Most Easterly Pandas said:

Indeed, but that's regarding there use by passengers and isn't linked to MOT I'd wouldn't have thought.

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Yes, but my point was - wouldn't the MOT tester's manual have similar wording? in other words - 'where fitted, all seatbelts must be tested'
So, if you still had the belt fitted but not the stalk then a tester might fail this - as they have no way of testing it.
It might even say - every seat must also have an accompanying seatbelt?
I don't know, just a thought.

All fitted seat belts are testable, there are configurations for different set ups but all are testable. However, remove the seat and the seat belt is no longer a seatbelt (for testing purposes) and so can be present but not tested, this would be noted on the MOT certificate. The main use for this is not boy racers but motability vehicles with seats removed for wheel chairs.

A general point for MOT testing, unless compulsory, is "where fitted".

e.g. If you have a sun visor fitted it will/should be tested. If it flops down easily then you have a problem. However were you to fail you could remove the visor and reapply for testing. You will then be OK.

Now with regards to seat belts it may be a little more complicated.

After a certain date all cars with active passenger seats had to have seat belts and after another date they had to be self retracting (all trigger/based on vehicle production/registration date). So a 5 seater 2010 car I suspect WILL fail the MOT if seats are present but no seat belts are present. Remove the seats and I suspect you will have not problem.

An other pont to bear in mind is that an MOT is valid ONLY at the time of testing. So if you remove your floppy sun visor for the test and then refit it after the test and have an accident or otherwise get inspected then your vehicle (subject to obvious crash damage etc.) is assessed on roadworthy status at the time of the investigation. A classic example of this would be defect or bald tyres.

Another odd twist I seem to recall (from my motor sport days) is if you have a road legal single point/buckle release harness fitted (as opposed to a multi point buckle non legal road use harness) and still retain the normal seat belt then both will be testing and an issue with either will fail the MOT.

My advise to anybody, beside doing the research and legwork yourself is to visit you Local County Council MOT Testing Station. All councils have them and provide both Taxi/commercial and public testing by law.

These local government MOT testers will give you the best, most open and honest facts about MOT testing issues/criteria. They only do testing, they only apply rules and regs with fair discretion and they don't look for income revenue. If you fail they will never recommend a specific garage to get your car fixed.

My local council testing station will answer any of your MOT related question free of change and impartially. They will also will also, free of charge, check things that for us self maintenance people we can not reasonably be expected to be able to test ourselves. e.g. vehicle emissions, brake balance or headlight aim. These tests require specialist equipment and they will run the tests but you may have to book and they certainly don't accomodate fools wasting their time with clearly obvious issues that even the local cat could address.