Most people running a van never think about this until they upsize. The moment the design gross weight goes past 3,500kg, the vehicle leaves the MOT system that cars, vans and motorcycles sit in and joins the annual test system that lorries, buses and trailers sit in. Different fee, different timetable, different place, different paperwork.
Here is the whole picture in one table. All figures are the GOV.UK maximum MOT fees and the DVSA annual test fees at authorised testing facilities, the latter last updated on 15 July 2026.
| Vehicle | Test | First test due | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Motorcycle, any engine size | MOT class 1 or 2 | 3 years | £29.65 |
| Car, up to 8 seats | MOT class 4 | 3 years | £54.85 |
| Goods vehicle up to 3,000kg | MOT class 4 | 3 years | £54.85 |
| Goods vehicle over 3,000kg up to 3,500kg, petrol, diesel or hybrid | MOT class 7 | 3 years | £58.60 |
| Zero emission goods vehicle 3,501kg to 4,250kg | MOT class 7 | 3 years | £58.60 |
| HGV, 2 axles | DVSA annual test | 12 months | £91 |
| HGV, 3 axles | DVSA annual test | 12 months | £113 |
| HGV, 4 or more axles | DVSA annual test | 12 months | £137 |
Read the two bold rows against the row above them. A 3,500kg diesel Luton pays £58.60 once every year, and nothing at all for its first three years. A 3,600kg diesel version of the same vehicle is an HGV: £91 a year, starting twelve months after it was first registered with DVLA. An electric 4,250kg version pays £58.60 and waits three years.
That zero emission threshold exists because a battery pack is heavy, and without it every electric van would have been pushed into the HGV regime by its own batteries. If you are running a small fleet and weighing up diesel against electric, this belongs in the sums alongside the clean air zone charges, because it moves in the same direction.
The £91 is not what you pay. Annual tests are carried out by DVSA assessors, but usually at a private site called an authorised testing facility, and the ATF is allowed to charge you separately for the use of its pit. GOV.UK caps that service charge:
| Vehicle type | Maximum ATF service charge |
|---|---|
| HGV | £70 |
| Trailer | £50 |
So a two axle lorry can cost £161 at the gate rather than £91, and a two axle trailer £104 rather than £54. That is the number to budget against. The ATF may charge two service charges if a dangerous goods test and an MOT happen in the same visit.
Trailer test fees at an ATF, for comparison:
| Trailer | Annual test | Retest within 14 days | Average test length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 axle | £41 | £18 | 20 minutes |
| 2 axles | £54 | £25 | 25 minutes |
| 3 axles | £64 | £33 | 30 minutes |
| 4 axles | £64 | £33 | 35 minutes |
| 5 axles | £64 | £33 | 40 minutes |
Notice that the fee stops rising after three axles but the test gets longer. If you are booking a five axle trailer, book the slot generously.
This is the single most actionable thing in the fee tables, and it is not signposted anywhere obvious.
If your vehicle fails and you bring it back within 14 days, you pay a reduced retest fee. Bring it back on day 15 or later and you pay the full annual test fee all over again.
| Vehicle | Full test | Retest within 14 days | Retest after 14 days | You lose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HGV, 2 axles | £91 | £35 | £91 | £56 |
| HGV, 3 axles | £113 | £49 | £113 | £64 |
| HGV, 4 or more axles | £137 | £65 | £137 | £72 |
| Trailer, 2 axles | £54 | £25 | £54 | £29 |
There is also a part-paid retest, £13 for an HGV and £7 for a trailer, which covers the narrow case where only a small part of the test has to be repeated.
Miss the window on a four axle unit and a trailer in the same week and you have thrown away roughly £100 for no reason other than scheduling. If a vehicle fails on a Friday, the repair booking matters more than the repair itself.
A failed annual test is a planned, budgeted event. A prohibition is not.
DVSA and the police can carry out roadside spot checks, and where they find something serious enough they can issue a prohibition, which stops the vehicle being driven until the fault is put right. Clearing it needs a separate inspection, and that carries its own fee depending on how serious the fault was.
The practical point for anyone buying a used lorry, van or trailer: a clean annual test record is a snapshot taken once a year at a booked appointment, with the operator knowing the date months in advance. It tells you the vehicle can be got through a test. It does not tell you what state it is in on an ordinary Tuesday.
Good news, and it surprises people: the free DVSA MOT history service covers heavy vehicles too, not just cars and motorcycles. GOV.UK lists "check the MOT history of a vehicle" as one of the services under its own HGV, bus and trailer testing section, with records going back to 2005.
That means you can put a lorry or trailer registration into our free MOT history checker and get the same thing you would get for a car: the test dates, the results, the reasons for failure and the advisories. For a trailer this matters more than people expect, because a trailer is tested in its own right and carries its own record regardless of what has been towing it. Buy a tidy looking trailer with a bad history and you have bought the history.
What to read for, in order:
If you are choosing between two vehicles you can compare their records side by side before you travel to see either of them. And if you want the general background on what causes failures across all classes, what actually fails an MOT in the UK is the place to start.
If you are running vehicles under 3,500kg, none of this applies to you and you do not need to do anything. Your van gets an ordinary MOT at three years and £58.60 a year after that.
If you are about to cross that line, do three sums before you sign. Add the ATF service charge to the headline test fee, because that is the real annual cost. Put every test date in the diary with a repair slot already blocked out inside 14 days, because that window is worth £56 to £72 per failure. And if the vehicle you actually need is a large van rather than a lorry, check whether the electric version keeps you under the 4,250kg zero emission threshold, because staying in class 7 is worth more than the test fee difference alone once clean air zones are counted.
The test record itself is free to read for every one of these vehicles. Read it before you buy, not after.
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MOT Check UK is a trading name of Jagat IT UK Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 17474995. Registered office: 164 High Street, London Colney, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL2 1QF.