Returning to the road DVLA

[Jeffds1360]

When I got my 13/60 last year I found two tyres were 15 years old and two were 9 years old.

I binned them straight away.

A couple of hundred pounds is a pittance to pay for safety. 

I was shocked that tyres had not been mentioned in the last few MoTs. (Which I am continuing to have done. Every year. Even though I only do circa 500 miles per annum)

[Pete Lewis]

old tyres  black and round   after 10 years or less they  go very hard  and  have the grip of a banana skin

its worrying when you see classics advertised as on original tyres as if its something Good  .........  they are out there ............ hopefully not on the road 

dont mess about its all you have between you and the tarmac 

wise moves to get them into the recycling bin 

[Peter Truman]

Re old tyres agree fully there’s been a few times where club members have had tyre failures on club runs/trips and the tyres have blebs on them or cracked in the walls. Some wealthy members who do all the maintenance and whiz bangs but for some reason if the tread looksOK won’t change the tyres.

on a club 2week trip to Tasmania one member had a failure wall cracks  he was only going to replace the one tyre I threatened him with cancelling his club permitted vehicle ie cheaper limited use registration which is permitted with club authority, unless he replaced them all! It was a bit chilly for a few days but his wife thanked me!

I’d rather use cheap Chinese tyres than old P’s or M’s. having said that it’s not an issue I get my M’s free, sons annual freebie. Trouble now is they don’t make my preferred 165/75/13 and I really don’t want to go 175/70/13 I know plenty do but I just think it’s too much esp with the 4.5 in rims on one car all others 5 in or larger.

[Pete Lewis]

i agree 175/70 on a 4,5 rim is a bit over ballooned sidewalls   much better on 5"  better still on 5.5"

just change all the wheels its only MONEY   ha !

Pete

[Qu1ckn1ck]

I have just acquired a vehicle built in 1980 and first registered in January 1981.  Car has current MOT cert and the seller still had it taxed as a Private rather than Historic Vehicle.  This road tax lapsed on my purchase and I need to "tax" the car as a Historic.  I have no logbook yet, apparently necessary to change to "Historic" at a Post Office only, not online with DVLA.

From reading the above, do I understand that even when I get the new logbook the change to Historic will not take effect the moment I present it at the PO but many weeks later ?

Is there any way round this farrago or do I have to pay a years tax in full and reclaim many weeks later when DVLA actions the change ?

Bemused of Baldock

 

[postman]

Yes I'm sure you do. I am still waiting for Historic Vehicle approval and road tax refund  after xx months..

Ticked off of Torbay

aka Despondent of Devon. 

 

[Ian Cooper]

I have to say DVLA turned my 'Historic Vehicle' approval around in just under four weeks, also the website states that you can use the vehicle whilst awaiting your application.

Ian

[Colin Lindsay]

The DVA continues to confuse me...

After reading this thread I decided to see when my cars are due. The GT6 tax expired on July 31st.... oops. I'm in trouble again. But wait: no it didn't, I'm now taxed to July 2022. How did that happen?

My daughter's Fiesta is due from tomorrow, but when I went online to tax it just now, it's also taxed to 1st September 2022. 

We haven't MOTd a car, bar the GT6, in almost two years due to the Covid extensions (funny that the only one that is MOT exempt is the only one that had to be tested and wasn't extended!!) but it seems that unless someone else in the household is paying - which I doubt - the tax is skipping along merrily too. Strange...

[Qu1ckn1ck]

27 minutes ago, Ian Cooper said:

I have to say DVLA turned my 'Historic Vehicle' approval around in just under four weeks, also to website states that you can use the vehicle whilst awaiting your application.

Ian

My new classic showed on the DVLA website as "Untaxed" as soon as the seller registered the sale.  Cannot make an application at the PO for Historic tax class until I have the new logbook in my name, so no tax and no application yet.

Can I still use the vehicle whilst in this limbo situation ?

Nick   

Nonplussed of North Herts

[Pete Lewis]

to show you dont need an mot at a post office theres declaration form V112

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/925057/v112-declaration-of-exemption-from-mot.pdf

there was a snag when i free taxed the 2000 when i bought her and the PO issued a free tax but kept the V5 and sent it away it reurned a week later , no idea why 

nothing seemed changed but you need a V5 with historic notation in place to avoid tax payments 

it has to be taxed and insured   to be on the road even though its free the system has to know or you will get anpr pulled 

pete

[Qu1ckn1ck]

The car has a valid MOT and was taxed to the end of the year as the previous owner had not done the change to Historic.  At the moment I have both MOT and Insurance but no VED tax and currently no Log Book, only the change of owner slip.  Will the PO accept a change to Historic with only the slip which has minimal info on it ?

[thescrapman]

You apply for an anonymous tax disc (virtual) And once they receive the V5 to change it to your name they then associate the anonymous tax to you.

Then they refund you as it is actually Historic, or more likely you need to apply for it.

[Qu1ckn1ck]

The (expensive) saga continues.

Got the new V5 for my 41 year old recent acquisition today so completed the V112 form in best black capital letters and took both to the Post Office to change the car tax class to HISTORIC.

PO counter clerk went through all the motions, tore my new V5 in half and finally told me :  COMPUTER SAYS NO.

Luckily I had taken a current MOT Cert along too, so had to tax the car as PLG and cough up £280.

To add insult to injury his card machine kept rejecting my Visa Card but finally accepted it on the third try.

So what do I do now to claim Historic Tax Status?

[NonMember]

You either have to obtain evidence of the build date and take that to a DVLA office, or wait until April. The exemption begins on 1st April of the year following the vehicle's 40th birthday, and since yours was registered in 1981 that would be next April.

[Qu1ckn1ck]

On 03/09/2021 at 18:04, NonMember said:

You either have to obtain evidence of the build date and take that to a DVLA office, or wait until April. The exemption begins on 1st April of the year following the vehicle's 40th birthday, and since yours was registered in 1981 that would be next April.

After the second attempt at corresponding with DVLA Swansea with a Heritage Certificate to prove a 1980 build date, I have finally received a new V5  which now confirms the tax class as "Historic".  Next problem is how to retrieve the £280 that I had to pay for VED when it should have been free.

[postman]

I too am now on my second attempt to get Historic tax classification for my Spitfire 1500, first registered 29.01.81. I spoke to DVLA today and they will accept a letter of confirmation of last possible date of manufacture (August '80 for a Spitfire) provided it's dated and on official headed notepaper from an owners club on their official approved list. Can anyone tell me, is TSSC on the approved list ? I have also emailed admin and  await their reply.

[DerekS]

My Spit 1500 was built in August 1980 and registered in June 1981, I applied at our local post office in the first week of April. I took my heritage certificate  with the paperwork and it went through there and then. I was told that my tax refund would be automatic and take a few weeks to come back and it actually took nearly 3 months, but it was back-dated.

[postman]

Thanks Derek. I don't have a heritage certificate, but will obtain one if necessary. To be honest I know nothing about them but it looks as though I will be finding out.. 

[postman]

Oh, I just googled it. Quite nice and simple. I think the nice lady at DVLA mentioned this but I'm deaf as a very large post so normally try hard to avoid the phone at all costs. £43 + p.& p. it'll be then. 

[Ian Smith]

I sent my V5 off a few weeks back, with a polite letter covering the details, and what I need to 'square up' the paperwork. The youGov  site says it's a bit of a wait, but, I've got a years' worth of work in front of me, so I'm not too bothered right now. I sent off my V5 to Swansea, not our local Post Office. I took an educated gamble with this. The rationale being that Post Office-generated V5 document changes 'might' be outsourced to a sub-contractor; the posted delivery being done in-house, at Swansea. 

Now, I could be entirely wrong, but we'll see. The covering letter has as much relevance as the V5 itself. The faceless people are actually human, so I believe a  polite letter helps it along. They might bin the letter, but at least we tried...

have a great weekend, everyone.

Ian.  

[DerekS]

If I remember correctly, getting it done back in April at our local Post Office meant that the status change went through right away and could be checked on the  DVLA website the following day. The guy in the post office knew his stuff, he'd done it before. He took the strip off my V5 to send away but handed the main part of the V5 back.

Derek. 

[postman]

I have now ordered a Heritage Certificate, even though I probably won't need it by the time it arrives...I'm determined to get at least one of my 6 month 'tax discs' refunded.It took three post office visits (including a rarity, a Crown Office) to get any DVLA acknowledgement, and that was a refusal. The first two got it completey wrong and having read the DVLA website info I knew it was wrong but they said (wrongly) that it's 'different' now. The third one was a small sub office and the young man was in his first week in the job - he did it right, not his fault the DVLA said 'No'.

Disappointing to grumble about the PO lack of knowledge/training - I was a sub postmaster (non car tax office) for many years !

I'm not sure what to do when the Heritage Certificate arrives as the DVLA website only appears to tell me what to do if I want to actually tax the car. I don't want to wait that long or it'll be too late for a refund I think.

 

[postman]

Thanks Mathew. It's the Historic tax classification that's my only problem now. The car is on the road, it's only proof of date of manufacture that's holding things up . 

Ian, indeed DVLA is staffed by human beings. My problem is that the car wasn't registered until 29.01.81 so I have to prove it was manufactured before 01.01.81. As Spitfire production ceased in August 1980 I thought this would be simple...However in my experience the covering letter, together with lots of relevant printed information is of no help unless it's on official headed notepaper from a DVLA approved owners club or a proper official Heritage Certificate (or something else the helpline mentioned but I failed to catch - I feel sure she mentioned a blank printed cheque from someone or other as proof of something or other). Nothing gleaned from the internet is acceptable either. 

Next year will be no problem, I just didn't want to pay excise duty this year.😁

[PeteH]

DVLA site:-

If you do not know when your vehicle was built, but it was first registered before 8 January 1981, you can still apply to stop paying vehicle tax.

 

Pete

[Ian Smith]

" The 'car was built in 1973, and here's my great grandfather to prove it...."