this guide may be helfull to anyone looking to buy a recovery truck just like i am.  there seems to lots of confusion about the mot exemption on recovery trucks, my advise is to contact your local vosa office and ask them. i did and was shocked to discover most of the recovery trucks advertised on ebay as exempt are NOT exempt from the mot.     this is what the nice people at vosa have told me. 1/ must be registered as a recovery vehicle..... 2/ must have a spec/lift fitted......3/ gross vehicle weight must be over 3.5 ton...... 4/ must be unable to carry any other goods .......  so if the recovery truck your looking at is a beaver tail/ tilt slide even if it has a spec fitted it still needs a valid mot.  and it gets more complicated if you use your mot exempt truck for anything other than recovering  broken down/ dead vehicles i.e. moving sales cars or stopping to do your shopping or comuting to and from work then it requires a valid mot.  if this information stops one person getting ripped off then it was worth the time i took to type it.   best advise is to buy a vehicle with a valid mot.   for more info please contact vosa direct.