Italian car MOT (revisione): deadlines, cost, fines and checks

What to do first

If you drive a car registered in Italy, you need to know 3 things: when the revisione expires, where to have it done and what happens if you are stopped with an expired one. The first step is to check the expiry date on the Portale dell’Automobilista or in the iPatente app. Then choose between a Motorizzazione Civile office and a garage authorised by the Provincia, book, and take the registration document (carta di circolazione) with you.

In short, according to the Portale dell’Automobilista of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport:

• first revisione: 4 years after first registration;
• subsequent tests: every 2 years (biennial);
• annual revisione for certain vehicle categories;
• at the Motorizzazione Civile: payment of €45.00;
• expired revisione: administrative fine and withdrawal of the registration document.

How often the revisione is due

Periodic test: 4 years, then every 2 years

According to the Portale dell’Automobilista, the first revisione must be taken 4 years after first registration. Subsequent tests are carried out every other year.

These deadlines apply to:

• cars;
• motorhomes;
• dual-purpose vehicles carrying people and goods;
• goods or special-use vehicles with a total mass not exceeding 3.500 kg.

Since 2003 the same deadlines have also applied to motorcycles and mopeds.

Annual revisione

Some vehicles must be tested every year. The Portale dell’Automobilista lists:

• passenger vehicles with more than 9 seats, including the driver’s;
• cars used as taxis;
• cars for hire with driver;
• goods or special-use vehicles with a total laden mass over 3.500 kg;
• trailers and motorhomes with a total weight over 3.500 kg;
• buses and coaches;
• ambulances;
• atypical vehicles, for example light electric city cars.

If you have a heavy motorhome or a small electric city car, check carefully which group you fall into: the difference between annual and biennial testing is substantial.

One-off test ordered by the Motorizzazione

As well as the periodic test, the Motorizzazione Civile office can order a one-off revisione. According to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport this happens in 3 cases:

• doubts about whether the vehicle still meets road safety, noise and emissions requirements (art. 80 paragraph 5);
• an accident (art. 80 paragraph 7);
• random checks on vehicles already tested at authorised centres (art. 80 paragraph 10).

Anyone receiving the order must request the revisione at a Motorizzazione Civile office, following the same procedure as the periodic test.

Where to have the revisione done

You have 2 options, according to the Portale dell’Automobilista:

• Motorizzazione Civile offices: for all vehicles;
• mechanical repair garages authorised by the Provincia: only for vehicles with a total mass not exceeding 3.500 kg.

To find an authorised garage, the Portale offers a search for DTT authorised garages. To find the nearest office there is the Motorizzazione Civile office search.

The garage manual published on the Portale dell’Automobilista adds some useful limits:

• garages can only carry out ordinary tests, that is the compulsory periodic ones;
• a vehicle weighing over 3.500 kg cannot be tested at a garage, only at the Motorizzazione Civile;
• a deregistered vehicle (for example through scrapping, theft, fire or export abroad) cannot be tested;
• a vehicle whose plate has been cancelled, through a change of plate or theft or loss of the plate, cannot be tested;
• a vehicle not on the MCTC Information System database cannot be tested.

How to book and pay

At the Motorizzazione Civile

For a revisione at a Motorizzazione Civile office, the Portale dell’Automobilista sets out these steps:

1. submit the application on form TT 2100, available at Motorizzazione Civile offices and online;
2. attach proof of payment of €45.00 into c.c.p. 9001 in the name of the Dipartimento Trasporti Terrestri;
3. book the vehicle inspection and test;
4. present the vehicle’s registration document.

At an authorised garage

At a garage you simply turn up at one authorised by the Provincia. You pay the garage directly, which issues a receipt and makes the payment. According to the garage manual, the garage can pay in 2 ways: by deducting from prepaid credit via Poste Italiane payment systems or with a postal payment slip. Each slip has its own identification codes and cannot be reused for another test.

How much it costs

The only figure given by the Portale dell’Automobilista is the €45.00 payment for a revisione at a Motorizzazione Civile office. The Portale does not give the total price charged by authorised garages: ask the garage before booking. Nor does the Portale say from what date the €45.00 amount has applied.

What is checked and the possible results

The revisione checks the condition and effectiveness of several of the vehicle’s components, starting with the braking system (handbrake and service brake).

At the end, the Motorizzazione Civile or the garage hands over a sticker to be applied to the registration document. The sticker bears one of these wordings:

• revisione regolare: the vehicle has passed;
• revisione ripetere: the vehicle has failed and must return for a new inspection within 1 month, after repairs by a mechanic of your choice;
• revisione ripetere sospeso dalla circolazione: the vehicle has failed and may only be driven on the day it goes to the mechanic, at a speed not exceeding 40 km/h, and on the day of the new test.

Watch the wording: the same Portale page sometimes refers to a “sospeso” result and at other times to “revisione ripetere sospeso dalla circolazione”. With a sospeso result, the Portale specifies that after repairs a new revisione request is needed before the vehicle can be driven.

According to the garage manual, after a ripetere or sospeso result the new test must be done at the same garage or at the Motorizzazione Civile office.

Checks and fines for an expired revisione

According to the Portale dell’Automobilista, anyone driving a vehicle that has not been tested faces:

• an administrative fine;
• withdrawal of the registration document.

The withdrawn registration document is sent to the Motorizzazione Civile office responsible for the place where the offence was recorded and is returned only once the revisione has been done. The Portale does not state the amount of the fine.

Checks on vehicles on the road are also carried out by Motorizzazione Civile offices, which work with the police as part of the Road Traffic Police Service.

How to check the expiry date

The Portale dell’Automobilista and the iPatente app, available on the Apple and Google stores, show the same data. Here is what you can do:

• vehicles registered to you: after logging in you see technical data, the revisione and insurance expiry dates and whether a duplicate registration document can be issued;
• notifications: you can switch on a service that flags the revisione expiry, as well as licence expiry and changes to your points;
• someone else’s vehicle: using the number plate you see insurance status, emissions class, suitability for newly qualified drivers and the latest tests carried out since 2018.

Checking someone else’s vehicle is useful if you are buying a used car. The Portale also warns that information letters currently sent by post will be gradually phased out: it is worth switching on the app notifications.

Alternatively, look at the latest sticker on the registration document.

Exceptions and special cases

COVID extensions no longer apply

During the health emergency the Portale dell’Automobilista published deadline extensions for vehicles registered in Italy. Vehicles in categories M, N and O3 and O4 with a revisione due between September 2020 and June 2021 could be driven for up to 10 months after the normal deadline. Those whose revisione expired in August 2020 could be driven until March 2021. No extensions applied to categories L and O1 and O2. These deadlines have now passed: the ordinary rules apply.

Motorcycles and mopeds

Since 2003 motorcycles and mopeds have followed the same deadlines as cars: first revisione after 4 years, then every 2 years. For a moped with a CIC, a garage test requires the CIC to be given.

Vehicles over 3.500 kg

They cannot be tested at a garage: they must go to the Motorizzazione Civile. Many of these vehicles, such as motorhomes over 3.500 kg, also fall under the annual revisione.

Checklist before you set off

• Check the revisione expiry date on the Portale dell’Automobilista or iPatente.
• Find out whether your vehicle follows the biennial or annual cycle.
• The registration document must carry the sticker reading revisione regolare.
• If the last result was ripetere, make sure you have the garage certification and return for testing within 1 month.
• If the result was sospeso, do not use the vehicle for your trip: you may only drive it to the mechanic, at no more than 40 km/h, and on the day of the new test.
• If the revisione is about to expire, book at an authorised garage or the Motorizzazione Civile; for the Motorizzazione, prepare form TT 2100 and the €45.00 payment.
• Switch on the app notifications so you do not miss the next deadline.