Duetto says panel van on Log Book ?

YI'm looking at a Duetto tomorrow but when I did a HPi check it says panel van
Not Motorhome on the DVLA information. I've had one before so I will know 
If it's not genuine. Pictures leave me no doubt it's genuine and 1 owner 
Oversight by A/S. I'm guessing easily changed with DVLA ? 
Any help appreciated

Sideways wrote:YI'm looking at a Duetto tomorrow but when I did a HPi check it says panel van
Not Motorhome on the DVLA information. I've had one before so I will know 
If it's not genuine. Pictures leave me no doubt it's genuine and 1 owner 
Oversight by A/S. I'm guessing easily changed with DVLA ? 
Any help appreciated

I'm pretty sure my Transit-based Flair of a few years back was similarly registered - the number of forward-facing seats was wrong too. It may have been an oversight, or it may be deliberate so that the original registration does not result in it eventually (once converted) being the wrong vehicle type. This caught out Bilbos a few years ago and for several months their conversions ended up as "Diesel Car" instead of PLG, which is a really costly mistake for the owner!

I was reading a thread on another forum where a chap has converted his VW van into a camper. He has gone through a right old game to get it re registered as a Motor caravan . If it was left registered as a "Panel van" the insurance would remain higher and the VED rate higher as well. 

If a vehicle is on the V5 as a panel van it may affect the above ?

I was mixing things up a bit above - it cannot have a Taxation Class of "panel van" because there is no such class! So it seems reasonable to assume that Body Type is recorded on the V5 as "panel van" (the Taxation Class will almost certainly be PLG or LGV depending on when it was registered).

If this is correct, I would view it with a great deal of suspicion, as it seems a bit unlikely that the previous owner would fail to notice that the Body Type was incorrect! IIRC it means that you have to adhere to lower speed limits, though I don't ~think~ it changes the VED...

The lower speed limit is for "van based motorhomes" irrespective of their V5 class. (Unless its changed) there is no "motorhome" category, you should be looking for "motor caravan".

It is quite common for self builds to be registered as panel vans. It was also common on early VWs as the converters had to buy panel vans from VW so some of them would have been pre registered. Westfalia could buy unfinished vans but everybody else had to buy a completed van. Is it possible that this still happens at times?

If you end up with a panel van you can get the registration changed. This is a link to a Transit page. I have to admit to not reading it today although I have in the past. I haven't changed the registration of my Transit as we don't have a permanent table. We don't even use one at home, why MUST we have one in our camper?

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I thought I would check the speed limits for "van derived motor caravans" and it would appear to be a figment of my imagination. The lower limit applies to all motor caravans over 3.05 tonnes.

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dbroada wrote:I thought I would check the speed limits for "van derived motor caravans" and it would appear to be a figment of my imagination. The lower limit applies to all motor caravans over 3.05 tonnes.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

That weight limit is 'unladen' not to be confused with max laden weight which most motorhome manufacturers use.

-mojo- wrote:I was mixing things up a bit above - it cannot have a Taxation Class of "panel van" because there is no such class! So it seems reasonable to assume that Body Type is recorded on the V5 as "panel van" (the Taxation Class will almost certainly be PLG or LGV depending on when it was registered).

If this is correct, I would view it with a great deal of suspicion, as it seems a bit unlikely that the previous owner would fail to notice that the Body Type was incorrect! IIRC it means that you have to adhere to lower speed limits, though I don't ~think~ it changes the VED...

Vans pr commercial vehicles pay more than their counterpart car versions. My wee Ford Fiesta 1.6 TDCI van that is my daily runaround costs £235 per year to tax. It is just a Ford Fiesta 1.6 TDCI car but has no rear seats and has panels fitted where the rear side windows go in the car version. The car costs just £20 per year to tax.. 

I think my 2013 Peugeot based MH with the 2.2 HDI with manual gearbox costs less than the wee Fiesta van, 

So the VED class will and surely does make a difference ? 

You are right. A commercial vehicle unless its a Car derived van has lower speed limits. There is much and huge argument over what constitutes a Car derived van and owners of these vehicles have often been fined.

Charliefarlie wrote:
So the VED class will and surely does make a difference ? 

I'm not sure we are talking about the same thing here. "Motor Caravan" is a Body Type - as is "Panel Van". There is no such Taxation Class as "Motor Caravan" or "Panel Van".

If a vehicle has a Body Type of "Motor Caravan" then (as shown in the .gov.uk link above) it has special status in terms of speed limits.

As far as I'm aware, the VED (i.e. the road tax you pay) is not dependent on Body Type. As many on the VWT4forums have found, converting to a camper interior and changing the Body Type on their V5 does not result in cheaper road tax! My current van was registered from new with a Body Type of "Motor Caravan", but I pay exactly the same VED as the owner of any other T5 - camper van or not - with a Taxation Class of PLG.

Unfortunately, it's a complex situation (not helped by the fact that they created special Taxation Classes for specific years of Euro4 and Euro5 engined LGVs) and the anecdotal evidence from other forums is that not all DVLA employees understand the rules, and if you phone them up you seem to stand a fair chance of getting the wrong advice...

My FIAT Ducato Harmony is listed as  body type Motor caravan and Private/light goods. When I converted the LDV Convoy from a people carrier I didnt have a problem changing registration over to Motor Caravan......

redturner37 wrote:When I converted the LDV Convoy from a people carrier I didnt have a problem changing registration over to Motor Caravan......

But the Taxation Class for the Convoy stayed as it was?

-mojo- wrote:

redturner37 wrote:When I converted the LDV Convoy from a people carrier I didnt have a problem changing registration over to Motor Caravan......

But the Taxation Class for the Convoy stayed as it was?

Correct.....

-mojo- wrote:

Charliefarlie wrote:
So the VED class will and surely does make a difference ? 

I'm not sure we are talking about the same thing here. "Motor Caravan" is a Body Type - as is "Panel Van". There is no such Taxation Class as "Motor Caravan" or "Panel Van".

If a vehicle has a Body Type of "Motor Caravan" then (as shown in the .gov.uk link above) it has special status in terms of speed limits.

As far as I'm aware, the VED (i.e. the road tax you pay) is not dependent on Body Type. As many on the VWT4forums have found, converting to a camper interior and changing the Body Type on their V5 does not result in cheaper road tax! My current van was registered from new with a Body Type of "Motor Caravan", but I pay exactly the same VED as the owner of any other T5 - camper van or not - with a Taxation Class of PLG.

Unfortunately, it's a complex situation (not helped by the fact that they created special Taxation Classes for specific years of Euro4 and Euro5 engined LGVs) and the anecdotal evidence from other forums is that not all DVLA employees understand the rules, and if you phone them up you seem to stand a fair chance of getting the wrong advice...

Our van is a Panel Van Conversion. On the V5 it says " Motor Caravan" So Im confused ..................

The registration certificate (V5C) for our 2014 registered A-S Warwick Duo, states the following:

Body type ... Motor caravan

Taxation class ... Private/light goods (PLG)

Auto Sleepers refer to them as Van Conversions, others seem to call them PVCs (Panel Van Conversions)

Charliefarlie wrote:
Our van is a Panel Van Conversion. On the V5 it says " Motor Caravan" So Im confused ..................

It started life as a Panel Van (but was probably never registered as such, because AS convert them "before they are registered"). Once converted, a Panel Van Conversion is given a body type of "Motor Caravan" because it is then no longer a Panel Van.

Sideways wrote:YI'm looking at a Duetto tomorrow but when I did a HPi check it says panel van Not Motorhome on the DVLA information. I've had one before so I will know If it's not genuine.....

If you have owned a professionally converted PVC such as the Duetto then you should already know the V5 states "Motor Caravan" as the Body Type. 
PLG (Private Light Goods is the taxation class.