What the Different Results of the ITV Test Mean

Last week we spoke specifically about what happens if your vehicle fails the ITV test, but there are other statuses that we need to know, as your vehicle might not be a complete failure.

When you take your vehicle for the ITV test, the result will be one of three options, favorable, desfavorable, or negativa (favourable, unfavourable or negative), and although we all hope for a favourable pass, it is important to know the implications of the other results, and what we have to do about it.

FAVORABLE

If the ITV result is “favorable”, it is possible to continue driving safely and without the need to return until the next test is due. However, sometimes, when the Technical Inspection is favorable, some slight defects may have been detected. In this case, the owner of the vehicle must repair them as soon as possible, although it will not be necessary to return to the ITV station to submit the car to a new technical inspection.

The equivalent to this in the UK MOT system would be a PASS.

DESFAVORABLE

If the report received from the ITV test shows that the technical inspection is “desfavorable”, this means that our vehicle has serious defects that put our safety and that of other road users at risk. Consequently, we will only be able to drive the vehicle to a workshop to repair the faults and return to the station to carry out a new inspection. The time that we have to correct the defects of our car is 2 months and we must return to the ITV station to verify that the detected defects have already been corrected within that time. Remember though, we are only allowed to drive to the workshop and back to the test centre in this case.

Although it cannot be directly related to the UK MOT system, a similar standard here would be a PASS with MINOR defects.

As a general rule, this second inspection is free if it is done within 2 months. If this is not the case, and we go to the ITV after that time, the vehicle will have to be inspected again, and we must pay again.

NEGATIVA

The technical inspection with a negative result, “negativa”, or what we would call the equivalent of a fail, for its part, is due to the fact that at least one defect is considered very serious because it constitutes a direct and immediate risk to road safety, or has an impact on the environment. In this case, the vehicle is no longer permitted to drive on public roads.

The equivalent to this in the UK MOT system would be a FAIL.

If this situation occurs, as we mentioned last week, we cannot even drive away from the test centre, and must contract a tow truck (grua) to transfer the vehicle to the workshop to be repaired.

Once again, we have a period of 2 months to carry out the repairs and return to the test centre, but remember that the vehicle cannot be driven until the test has been completed successfully, and so not only must the tow truck take the vehicle from the test centre to the workshop, it must also be used to take the car back for the subsequent, and hopefully successful, inspection.