My British Registered Car has an Expired MOT. Can I get an ITV done in Spain instead?

This is a very common question, and also one which has caused some confusion amongst the owners of foreign registered vehicles, but the simple answer to the question is no.

The technical inspection certificate for a vehicle is only valid when issued in the country of registration, in the case of this vehicle, the MOT certificate issued in the U.K. If your MOT has expired, you must make arrangements for the vehicle to be transported back to the U.K. for a test to be carried out, remembering that from the moment the MOT expires, you are not able to drive the vehicle on the roads in Spain.

Many people have reported taking their foreign registered cars to ITV stations and having an inspection carried out, and certified, so how is this possible? Well, the simple answer is this. You may take any vehicle to an ITV station and the inspectors will indeed conduct a test and issue a report. However, if you look closely at this report, on the top, it states that it is a “voluntary inspection”. In other words, it has no legal standing in Spain.

You may be concerned about a fault with your car, or you may just want a mechanic with superior knowledge to check your car for faults, which is why the inspectors will carry out examinations on any vehicle. But again, the point is that these examinations, on foreign registered vehicles, are voluntary and have no legal standing.

So, you may of course take your British registered car to an ITV station, assuming your MOT is valid when you drive there, and you will be inspected at your request, but this ITV certificate does not, in any way, replace the requirement for the vehicle to return to the UK in order for it to be subject to your mandatory MOT inspection.