The Technical Vehicle Inspection (ITV) is a procedure that all vehicles over a certain age must undergo periodically, which varies according to their type. For example, trucks have to pass it for the first time two years after their registration; the mopeds at three; while private cars and motorcycles are required to do so when they turn four. We make the use section because taxis are also passenger cars, but since they are professionally intended for the transportation of people, they must undergo inspection every year until they are five years old and then every six months.
Taking these periodicities into account, cars and motorcycles that were registered for the first time in 2020 will have to debut in the ITV during 2024. Below, we detail when they must pass the inspection based on their registration.
Once the test has been passed, the cars must pass it again every two years until they reach a decade. From then on, its annual validity. There is the possibility of completing the procedure before it expires. It can be exceeded within thirty calendar days prior to its expiration without this shortening the period of validity by doing so in advance. Thus, if the inspection is brought forward a couple of weeks, the date of the next ITV will not be modified, that is, in the event that it must be passed on February 19, 2024 but it is passed on the 4th of that same month. month, the ITV in 2026 will also have February 19 as its deadline.
On the other hand, it is important to comment that if you advance more than thirty days, then the validity period is shortened because that date is taken as a reference for the next review. As they explain on ITV.com, “if you go on June 20 to pass the MOT on your car and it was valid until August 30, the new date will be June 20 of the corresponding year.”
It should be noted that it is not mandatory that whoever takes the vehicle to the ITV station be its owner. The owner can delegate this procedure to another person, since administrative staff and inspectors only require the presentation of the vehicle’s original documentation. That is, the driving license, the technical sheet (if the vehicle has previously passed the ITV) and the accreditation of the vehicle’s mandatory insurance. The vehicle driver’s identification document may also be requested.
In 2022, Spanish ITV stations inspected a total of 21,826,484 vehicles, of which 81.4% passed the exam on the first try. Despite the large number of inspections carried out, there continues to be high absenteeism. According to AECA-ITV, 34% of the vehicles that should have passed the procedure in those twelve months did not do so. And this poses a danger to road safety, since there are no guarantees that the drivers who travel on our roads are driving vehicles in good condition.
Failure to comply with this legal obligation entails a fine, but does not imply the deduction of points from the license. The regulations establish that you cannot circulate with an unfavorable ITV, unless it is to go from the ITV station to the workshop to repair the defects and from the workshop to the ITV for the second inspection of the vehicle. Doing so outside of this circumstance may entail paying up to 200 euros, the same amount as for having the review expired.
Driving a copy with a negative inspection entails a penalty of up to 500 euros and also the immobilization or removal of the vehicle. In fact, when the problems detected in the inspection are so serious that they pose a great danger, the specimen will have a negative inspection that will lead to its immobilization and it can only be transported by crane to the workshop for repair.
The most common defects that prevent the vehicle from passing its MOT the first time are concentrated in the lighting and signaling system, the tires, the brakes and the polluting emissions control system.
