UKC

My car is on a four year lease - the first time I've done this - and I'm just about to hit the end of year three.  I'm responsible for servicing it.

I obviously need to get the MOT done, and I know I can get that done in the weeks leading up to the critical date because they'll post-date the certificate, and because I hand it back on 8th Nov 2020 (having recieved the car on 9th November 2016) I'm not responsible for getting the second MOT done. But when it comes to the service, is it best that I deliberately delay the service date until a day or two after the anniversary so that when they pick the car up, it's still showing a few days until the service falls due? 

If I get this service done now, along with the MOT, it's going to start saying that it's due the end-of-fourth-year service before I hand it back - and I think that makes me responsible for getting it done.  Am I right?

In reply to Jamie Wakeham:

Slight tangent - I didn't realise that was allowed! This will save me a few fivers over the years (I usually put mine in 3 or 4 weeks early so I have breathing space to get any nasties fixed up)

In reply to Blue Straggler:

You can get your car tested up to one month (minus a day) before it's due to expire and retain the same expiry date for the following year. 

It doesn't buy you any breathing space though.  If you put your car in for an MoT at any time and it fails, that means it's not road worthy regardless of the date on your current certificate.  (Which is no longer actually a certificate by the way, for some years now it's just been a printout of the computer record held on a big database somewhere.)

I don't know whether ANPR cameras would flag your car up as untested and traffic bobbies are virtually extinct so I doubt you'd be done for it, but if you were to get involved in an accident or something you would be considered to have been driving your car without a valid MoT.

In reply to deepsoup:

Very good point. Sorry, I did know that from the first time I did this and I’ve been compliant since then (I get a “pre test” done if any doubts) but I was being slow witted this morning and my brain was remembering a time when I THOUGHT you could do as I described ) 

In reply to Jamie Wakeham:

Is annual servicing required? My latest lease the car was on long life servicing (I think that's what Audi call it). Up to 20k between services, the car adjusts depending on driving type, I'd get 19k (14-15 months) which meant only 2 services in 4 year.

But yes, if it annual then do yr3 service +1 month and then it won't be due when you return it.

You may need to watch out for MOT, if they agree to collect a few days after lease ends then you need it MOT and insured. You could also look at VT a few months before end if no equity which gives you some more control over the swap over date and some negotiating power with the next company.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

You're right - until a couple of years ago you could get your MOT done 30 days before the old certificate expired, discover you'd failed, and then you could continue to drive it on the old certificate whilst you got the fault fixed.  What's changed is that if the failure is a major, it immediately invalidates the previous MOT.  I believe (though I'm not sure) that ANPR will then pick you up for this.

In reply to Philip:

Thanks, Phil.  The manual gives it as 12,500 miles or one year intervals, whichever comes first.  Looking back, it seems I was actually a few days late on both the first and second service (did them on 11th Nov 2017 and 12th Nov 2018) so if I do exactly the same this year, I'll have three days in hand when they take it back.  I presume they're not going to get difficult about the fact that I was technically three days late on my first service...

I will watch very carefully that they pick it up before the MOT expires on 9th Nov 2020!

In reply to Jamie Wakeham:

That's only if it fails with a "dangerous" fault:

https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/after-the-test