Kit Car Registration, is this dodgy?
Discussion
Seen a nice kit car for sale, but I have a question over the registration. The seller says it’s based on a Ford Sierra and the plate on the car is the one from the Sierra. However on the gov website it still shows as the original Ford, not the car that it now clearly is. Showing as untaxed with no MOT for about 10 years.
My guess is that this means it has not gone through the kit car inspection (SVA?) and this is totally illegal, and that if I rock up for an MOT the testing station might say it’s a rather odd looking Sierra.
I am no expert in kit car legalities quite clearly, but I am sure someone on here will know if this is ok or not.
Thanks so much everyone.
My guess is that this means it has not gone through the kit car inspection (SVA?) and this is totally illegal, and that if I rock up for an MOT the testing station might say it’s a rather odd looking Sierra.
I am no expert in kit car legalities quite clearly, but I am sure someone on here will know if this is ok or not.
Thanks so much everyone.
When kit cars were being built in the past there were many variations of DVLA offices. They could issue a log book that said anything, like Ford based convertible, for example.
There was an amnesty that allowed miss described cars to be corrected when SVA came into being but many cars were not done at the time.
From what you describe I would say it is not one of those and sounds very strange indeed if still registered as a ford sierra whilst being a different car.
There was an amnesty that allowed miss described cars to be corrected when SVA came into being but many cars were not done at the time.
From what you describe I would say it is not one of those and sounds very strange indeed if still registered as a ford sierra whilst being a different car.
DVLA offices back then took different interpretations towards registering kitcars, so you could get some doing it properly, and others not quite so much.
The registration number can be carried over if the kitcar uses a large majority of the donor car parts, the 'points system' in kitcar-speak. You haven't said what the car is, though.
Evenif that's the case, the kitcar SHOULD have its own VIN on a chassis plate. It shouldn't carry the donor Sierra's VIN, so worth checking that if you can.
It's still possible to find some old kitcars that were never properly registered.
The registration number can be carried over if the kitcar uses a large majority of the donor car parts, the 'points system' in kitcar-speak. You haven't said what the car is, though.
Evenif that's the case, the kitcar SHOULD have its own VIN on a chassis plate. It shouldn't carry the donor Sierra's VIN, so worth checking that if you can.
It's still possible to find some old kitcars that were never properly registered.
Seen a nice kit car for sale, but I have a question over the registration. The seller says it’s based on a Ford Sierra and the plate on the car is the one from the Sierra. However on the gov website it still shows as the original Ford, not the car that it now clearly is. Showing as untaxed with no MOT for about 10 years.
My guess is that this means it has not gone through the kit car inspection (SVA?) and this is totally illegal, and that if I rock up for an MOT the testing station might say it’s a rather odd looking Sierra.
I am no expert in kit car legalities quite clearly, but I am sure someone on here will know if this is ok or not.
Thanks so much everyone.
My guess is that this means it has not gone through the kit car inspection (SVA?) and this is totally illegal, and that if I rock up for an MOT the testing station might say it’s a rather odd looking Sierra.
I am no expert in kit car legalities quite clearly, but I am sure someone on here will know if this is ok or not.
Thanks so much everyone.
I saw a similar a couple of weeks ago - when I asked the advertiser whether it was correctly registered he said it was and emailed me a copy of the V5 (which showed make Ford and no model) and a copy of MOT which showed it named as the kit car, This was pretty meaningless, as it's the V5 that is the defining document - MOT stations will put in what's on the badge on the car. Interestingly he didn't put my question on the auction advert for others to see!
RochdaleGT said:
to make things short:
the car in front of you should be the car described in the v5c..no discussion!!!
if the amnesty period (around mid 90ies) was missed, the car is nowadays considered as incorrectly registered.
any chance for a picture of this (kit) car?
However......... There are anomalies! I had a previous Rickman Ranger that was registered as a Ford Rickman, so I believed DVLA were aware of it, and that was their 'new name' at the time of registration. Frustratingly when I rang them on the day I bought it, they were non-commital, just saying 'that should be alright'the car in front of you should be the car described in the v5c..no discussion!!!
if the amnesty period (around mid 90ies) was missed, the car is nowadays considered as incorrectly registered.
any chance for a picture of this (kit) car?
RochdaleGT said:
ford-rickman is ok and nothing to critisize.
but if it says ford sierra....also the body type is "4-seater saloon"...but in front of you stands e.g. a robin-hood seven....its not right!!
This^^^ is pretty much spot on advice. The problems also don't just end there - if you have an accident and the car is found to be incorrectly registered then you will find yourself in a bit of a pickle, out of pocket and without insurance. but if it says ford sierra....also the body type is "4-seater saloon"...but in front of you stands e.g. a robin-hood seven....its not right!!
How it's all evolved over the years is that in the beginning there was nothing - you could change your car to look/be whatever you wanted it to be. Beach buggy, 7, whatever...
Then DVLA brought in the Q plate system for cars made up from various bits (chassis from Locost, engine from an escort, other bits in the mix, etc.
Then the DVLA brought in the 8 points thing in order to retain the year of the original car (note, not the same registration plate just the year) so it wasnt on a Q plate..
Then SVA was introduced where prior to introduction there was a period of amnesty for Vehicles of dubious parentage in which the owners merely had to apply for correct registration and bingo they were correctly registered.
Then IVA was introduced to replace SVA
So in reality if you have a chopped up "thing" incorrectly registered as the original vehicle you are technically falling foul of the law (and should run it through IVA, pass the test, then get issued with age related if you meet the 8 point rule, or a Q plate if not).
Whether you get caught out or not though is a different matter but there are plenty of cars out there correctly registered and personally, I would go and look at these:-)
livinginasia said:
Thanks for the replies everyone, I quite agree. Wouldn’t risk buying anything that is remotely dodgy. I have attached a photo of the car, looks like fun but no way in these circumstances.
TooMany2cvs said:
Definitely not a Sierra in any way... The plate belongs to a red Scorpio Ultima, 1998cc.
Yes, red Scorpio not a Sierra - my typo. I would never buy anything like that, and it worries me that someone might, and drive around in it, have an accident and then the problems begin. Extremely dangerous. Changing the subject a tiny bit, there's another type of incorrect kit car registration which can happen. A kit car could be registered as another kit car. If an unscrupulous builder of a kit car wants to evade having to take an IVA test, they could buy a knackered old kit car beyond economic repair, or even just buy the V5C and swap over the number plates and chassis number. They then present their 2018 Seven-alike for an MOT test every year, with a V5C saying it's a 35 year old Spartan or Dutton (both of which sold a number of thousand), and unless the tester knows what it should look like and grasses to the DVLA, they may never get found out. Kit cars, by their very nature are individually highly bespoke. It could therefore be somewhat difficult for an MOT tester to argue with the owner if the owner says it's a highly modified or rebuilt Spartan, 1300 Striker or whatever.
Again, as has been said above, if a car is not correctly registered, it's not technically registered at all. Therefore, if a serious insurance claim was made and the insurers sent their investigator to go over things with a fine tooth comb, they would legally be within their rights to wriggle. I don't know how many 'cloned' kit car registrations there are, but it does come up now and again and I would say it's one to be careful of when buying.
Again, as has been said above, if a car is not correctly registered, it's not technically registered at all. Therefore, if a serious insurance claim was made and the insurers sent their investigator to go over things with a fine tooth comb, they would legally be within their rights to wriggle. I don't know how many 'cloned' kit car registrations there are, but it does come up now and again and I would say it's one to be careful of when buying.
Not disagreeing with any of the above but when I bought my previous cobra (dax) it had been taken off a personal number and back onto the same number as the donor so until I paid for VED the DVLA site returned it as a Daimler.
Once I'd paid it then reverted to a Dax.
So just because the DVLA site says its a Sierra that doesn't necessarily mean it's dodgy.
Of course the V5 was correct.
Once I'd paid it then reverted to a Dax.
So just because the DVLA site says its a Sierra that doesn't necessarily mean it's dodgy.
Of course the V5 was correct.
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