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Plate character spacing fail - try different garage?


John K

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I failed on that with my private plate once upon a time. I'd bought it online back in about 2000 and hadn't typed in a space!

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My garage was the opposite and wanted a proper plate mounted vertically.

 

It's no hassle to cable tie it to the grill for 30 mins.

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I'm liking the normal plate mounted on the grill concept, but do I have to obscure the stick on whilst it is being tested?

 

I can't imagine two front plates being OK.

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Yes you must obscure the old plate. Bit of sellotape and white paper will do. MOT tester is not allowed to remove it but may give a manual advisory.

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My stick on plate wasn't mentioned, but then the tester was sympathetic as he's a cobra owner.

 

Not sympathetic enough to not insist on a proper plate, but I don't mind that, and he'd warned me in advance.

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A lot of this is being driven by the fear of getting caught out. In the past many mot testers used common sense, as they would say it was not like that at he time of testing.

So take a scenario where you get pulled because the camera vans cannot see you from the front? You say it has been like that for several years, here are some picture. Mot station is now in trouble if they believe you. So some now just go exactly by the book.

I take mine where they know Kit cars inside out, especially where a Q plate is fitted. They do it correctly but are not in fear of any come back as knowing the rules they stick to them, which are more flexible on a Q reg.

As for where to take it. So long as you have an appointment, you can drive a car to a none local MOT station legally. You must not stop or deviate, ie pick parts up. It is the same way as if it needed to go to a garage for remedial repairs prior to MOT, for welding for example, again the law allows this otherwise it is a catch 22 situation.

On that plate, if I were a betting man, the reason it sticks out is I suspect that it has been made with letters from a DIY store as the backing looks the correct size but the letters look too big. The post before with the sizes is a good guide.

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Could you get a new stick on number plate, made to the correct legal standards and stick it over the current one. If the current one is not legal then you could get pulled up for it at any time, at least if you know that the plate has been manufactured to the correct standards you can argue your corner. 

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Just buy a proper plate to keep him happy, easiest in the long run.   Then it's up to you whether you just have the suck on one between tests.

 

Price of plate is £12 'ish,  Price of a second MOT is £45 'ish and it may fail again.

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Could you get a new stick on number plate, made to the correct legal standards and stick it over the current one. If the current one is not legal then you could get pulled up for it at any time, at least if you know that the plate has been manufactured to the correct standards you can argue your corner.

pretty sure all stick on plates are illegal?

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Stick on plates are not necessarily illegal as a method, it comes down to the reflective materials used.

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And when the tester was talking to me about it, he never mentioned the stick on, only the spacing.

The exact wording for the fail was "Front registration plate character(s) incorrectly spaced [6.3.4a]"

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I think stick ons don't have the BS number (or whatever it is) or the makers name (not the ones I've seen) so don't comply with the 2001 law.  And they should be as near to vertical as reasonable.  The MOT tester should have a quick look to see if its reasonable.  Most of us seem to have very reasonable testers

 

Due to ANPR cameras, the law want all plates to be perfect, so they can catch the untaxed and uninsured

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pretty sure all stick on plates are illegal?

 

The legality or not of stick on plates is a different subject that has been discussed on this forum more than once and so far I've never seen a definitive answer on the question, but there are plenty of members who use them and get MOTs without issue. My comment was that if a stick on plate was to be used then make sure it's as legal as can be, the original post did not mention that the issue was related to it being stick on it was that the plate did not conform to the legal spacing requirements.

Therefore my suggestion was to get a stick on plate that does conform to legal standards. If the plate can then get past the eagle eyed MOT technician it will also probably go unnoticed by PC Plod and not be an issue in the future. In my opinion changing your car just for MOT purposes is never going to be the recommend thing to do unless there is no other choice, if you do there is always the chance of getting caught out by it in the future.

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Stick on plates are not necessarily illegal as a method, it comes down to the reflective materials used.

 

 

The legality or not of stick on plates is a different subject that has been discussed on this forum more than once and so far I've never seen a definitive answer on the question, but there are plenty of members who use them and get MOTs without issue. My comment was that if a stick on plate was to be used then make sure it's as legal as can be, the original post did not mention that the issue was related to it being stick on it was that the plate did not conform to the legal spacing requirements.

Therefore my suggestion was to get a stick on plate that does conform to legal standards. If the plate can then get past the eagle eyed MOT technician it will also probably go unnoticed by PC Plod and not be an issue in the future. In my opinion changing your car just for MOT purposes is never going to be the recommend thing to do unless there is no other choice, if you do there is always the chance of getting caught out by it in the future.

What about the BSAU number and manufacturers postcode details, pretty sure that is a legal requirement?

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