Using Your Own Car For Your Driving Test

While most people won’t find themselves in this position, there is a small section of learners who would prefer to use their own car when taking their practical driving test, instead of one that has been provided to them. This may be because they want to prove to themselves that they can pass the test using the car they intend to drive when they have the licence, or because they have already completed many of their lessons using the car and are comfortable in it.

Using your car is perfectly fine with the DSA, but the car needs to meet a certain number of standards to allow it to be used for your test. As such, you need to ensure your car has all of the following before applying to use it.

Tax And Insurance

These are both important if you are going to be using the car for any purpose, not just for when you have passed your test. As such, you need to be insured on the vehicle and the tax needs to be up to date before you can use it in the test.

MOT

The car needs to be certified as roadworthy and have a current MOT. Furthermore, any safety faults that have come up as a result of having the car serviced need to be repaired. If any such faults are found during the test, you will fail instantly. Furthermore, you could place yourself and your examiner at risk. Furthermore, there should be no warning lights of any kind showing in the vehicle. If there are when you sit down to take the test, your examiner will not allow the car to be taken on the road.

Vehicle Interior

You may have to make a number of adjustments to the interior of the vehicle before it can be used for your driving test. Having a seatbelt for the examiner is vital, but should also come with the car. However, you may need to purchase a interior rear-view mirror that is specifically for the examiner’s user, in addition to ensuring their seat has a proper head restraint.

Vehicle Quality

The vehicle itself needs to meet certain standards beyond the ones already mentioned. For one, it needs to have four wheels, so there will be no taking a test in a Robin Reliant for all you Del Boy enthusiasts out there. Furthermore, the speedometer must measure speed in miles per hour (mph), rather than kilometres, and the vehicle needs to be able to reach a minimum speed of 62mph so that it can be taken on roads where you are required to drive the national speed limit. The car itself must also have a maximum authorised mass of 3,500 kilograms, which means you won’t be bringing any vans to the test.

Miscellaneous

Finally, there are a couple of common sense issues that you need to be aware of. You will not be allowed to smoke in the vehicle at any point during the test, so don’t think that you can treat it like your car for that period of time. Furthermore, the vehicle must have clear and visible ‘L’ plates on both the front and rear to ensure other drivers are aware that you have not yet passed your test.