How Much Does an MOT Cost in the UK?
The government sets a maximum price for an MOT, not a fixed one. For a standard car it's £54.85, and no test station can charge you more than that for the test itself. Plenty charge less, because garages are free to set their own price anywhere up to the cap.
The maximum fee for each vehicle
These are the maximum fees listed on GOV.UK at the time of writing (October 2026):
- Cars (up to 8 passenger seats): £54.85
- Motor caravans: £54.85
- Vans and goods vehicles up to 3,000kg design gross weight: £54.85
- Goods vehicles over 3,000kg and up to 3,500kg: £58.60
- Motorcycles: £29.65, or £37.80 with a sidecar
- Taxis and ambulances: £54.85, with the first test due at one year old rather than three
Larger vehicles such as minibuses and coaches have their own, higher caps. There's no VAT on top of the fee, and fee caps can change, so GOV.UK's MOT fees table is the place to confirm the current figure before you book.
Why you might pay less than the cap
Because the figure is a ceiling, the price depends on the garage, and it's worth comparing a few local test stations. The test itself is identical everywhere, so a lower price doesn't mean a lesser test. What differs is what's bundled in, so check whether a quoted price is for the MOT alone.
What a retest costs
If your car fails, what you pay next depends on where the repairs happen and how quickly you come back:
- Repaired at the same test centre and retested within 10 working days: a partial retest, with no fee.
- Taken away for repair and back by the end of the next working day: no second fee for a partial retest on listed items such as windscreen glass, wipers and washers, or wheels and tyres.
- Taken away for repair and back within 10 working days: a partial retest, and the centre may charge a partial retest fee.
- Retested after 10 working days: a full retest, with the full fee to pay again.
Our guide to MOT retests covers what a partial retest actually checks.
The cost that catches people out
The fee pays for the test, not for repairs, and it's the same whether the car passes or fails. The repair bill after a failure is usually the bigger cost, and the most common causes are small ones. In published analysis of DVSA data, lighting and electrical faults are the biggest single failure category, ahead of suspension and brakes (see the MOT statistics). A bulb, a wiper blade and a tyre check before you go can save you a failed test, so we put together a short list of pre-MOT checks.
See what your car's last MOT flagged. Advisories are the best preview of what could fail this year. Check any car's history by registration number, free.
Check MOT history