UK car tax date threshold

[alaric]

Hi all. Here in the UK if your car was manufactured before Jan '73, it is exempt from road tax. My chassis number shows the car as manufactured Oct '72, but it was first registered Feb '73. Has anyone had a problem with DVLA over this? I am hoping I won't have a problem but when i recently put the registration number into the enquiry form on their website it came back with the model etc but also stating a road tax amount per year. This has concerned me a little. So has anyone else got a car that was manufactured before Jan '73 but registered after that date, and if so are you paying road tax?

Thanks.

Sean.

[trw99]

Sean

Lotus will give you a letter confirming that your car came off the production line before the tax time limit. Write to the archivist Andy Graham with your full VIN and he should get you the letter. Present that to your local DVL Centre and they will issue you with a tax exempt disc.

Tim

[Robbie693]

Hi Sean,

Yes - mine was built December '72 and sold January '73 and is tax exempt.

Fear not! If you do have a problem, do as Tim says.

Regards

Robbie

[alexblack13]

Mine too. Manufactured 72 & reg' 1973... Free roadtax!! Lovelyjubbley..

Alex......

[alaric]

That's a relief. Thanks guys - just the info I was looking for. I'll get a letter out to the nice man at Lotus.

Sean.

[pereirac]

Mine too, thank goodness for the nice people in Hethel and their records

Carl

[wobblyweb]

Hi Sean
My car too was built 72 and registered beginning of Jan 73. I went armed with Lotus details Chassis number i.e. ending 72 and Club Lotus records of chassis manufacture dates etc.
The lady at the tax desk asked for none of these but did say "it is OK if registered in the first 2 weeks of January".
Now this was years ago when the exemption first started, I hope you are Ok but dont take it for granted.

Rae

[bcmc33]

Hi Sean
My car too was built 72 and registered beginning of Jan 73. I went armed with Lotus details Chassis number i.e. ending 72 and Club Lotus records of chassis manufacture dates etc.
The lady at the tax desk asked for none of these but did say "it is OK if registered in the first 2 weeks of January".
Now this was years ago when the exemption first started, I hope you are Ok but dont take it for granted.

Rae

The only thing the DVLA would accept for my car was a letter on Lotus Cars headed paper stating that the car was produced and sold in Oct 72.
When I presented the letter, the guy without giving it much of a look, stamped it, fiddled for five seconds on his computer, and said -- NEXT PLEASE.
I received a free tax disc in three days.

This was in 2006, so for some years previous owners had been paying VED on the basis that the car was registered in 1973. Even today the DVLA helpline says registered before 1973 - I didn't bother to argue.

[Baggy2]

Hi I had an MGB registered Jan'73 initially refused but I got a letter from British Leyland Heritage (Or whatever they were called) saying it was actually built in '72 and DVLA accpeted this. This was about 16 years ago so I don't know if it still applies.
DVLA used to have a stand at various of the larger Classic Car shows. I have always found the people at the shows to be most helpful and you may even get a name and a direct dial number to deal with!

[elansprint]

It is date of manufacture not date of registration so you should be OK
Ian

[simonknee]

Here's a few extra benefits of the historic vehicle status...

1. No fine for out of date tax! Yes really!! I was stopped for not renewing my tax disc a few years back. It was one of those huge roadside groups of coppers checking every car as it passed. They could see I was out of date by the colour of the disc. On seeing that it was an historic vehicle with a duty of nil a bit of a conflab ensued. This included the DVLA chap they had with them calling Swansea on the phone. Finally a policeman came over and said since there was nothing to pay there was nothing they could fine me. He apologised for the waste of my time and sent me on my way!

2. No worries about SORN. (this may not yet prove to be true only time will tell) The car went off the road in 2006. I forgot to tell the DVLA and register SORN. It was back on the road this year. I went for an MOT and it was put on the new computerised system by the great folks at Clapham North MOT Centre (one of the testers has a baby elan). Then I went to the post office with V5 and MOT and they gave me a new tax disc. DVLA online shows it is now up to date and I have heard nothing for a couple of months regarding the ?1000 fine you get for not going SORN.

3. (not HV related but nice all the same) If you are ever driving through London and cross through the congestion charge zones but forget to pay, well lets just say don't worry unduly. I wonder why the cameras, on high, don't seem to pick up the number plate???

[RichC]

Simon, re Cong charge cameras
Fantastic! I'll try it one day .
for work I pay most days by text (in the company car ) but on rare occasions I forget and it's a b..... expensive mistake. It would be nice to get one back

[69S4]

Here's a few extra benefits of the historic vehicle status...

2. No worries about SORN. (this may not yet prove to be true only time will tell) The car went off the road in 2006. I forgot to tell the DVLA and register SORN. It was back on the road this year. I went for an MOT and it was put on the new computerised system by the great folks at Clapham North MOT Centre (one of the testers has a baby elan). Then I went to the post office with V5 and MOT and they gave me a new tax disc. DVLA online shows it is now up to date and I have heard nothing for a couple of months regarding the ?1000 fine you get for not going SORN.

You may just have been lucky. Usually once you're on the system that's it. I have a 1972 reg Yamaha motorcycle that's been on SORN for the last three years and forgot to renew it in Feb last year. The fine turned up at the end of April.

[simonknee]

Regarding SORN I didn't register in the first place so perhaps this makes a difference. Also there is an argument that if there is no duty to pay then there is no fine to pay. (this works for late returns of income tax forms, the fine can only be proportional to the liability) This is what applied to out of date tax when stopped by the roadside. What's the difference between one week out of date and three years?

Time will tell. I am still expecting a "nice" letter from the DVLA to be honest.

Just in case Boris is reading I hope nobody thinks I am advocating deliberately cheating the C-Charge. I always intend to pay I'm sure. That said when driving the BMW jalopy through I have on occasions paid when I wasn't sure if I was liable. e.g. was it before or after 6pm. If you call them they cannot/won't tell you whether you did or not so the safest thing is to pay. If they clock you in at 5:59:59pm and don't pay they will fine you!

[alaric]

Hi all. Been out of the country again - back online again now. I did phone the DVLA about SORN and was assured that it was fine not to have submitted a form, since it was taken off the road before SORN started.

The nice man from Lotus got back to me. He wants ?25 for a certificate stating when the car rolled off the production line i.e. when it was built. I'm planning to phone on Monday and get it as I don't want to start out the wrong way with this.

I'm a bit concerned that the person at the PO mentioned it was ok if registered in the first 2 weeks of Jan. That's not correct as far as I am aware - the DVLA website says it's when the car was built that's important.

So I'll get my certificate and all the paperwork that I can ready and tackle the nice lady at the PO when the time comes - off to fit the left hand rear light now - the lens was cracked so I've used surface tissue strips and resin on the inside edges to bond it back together - seems to have worked.

All the best.

Sean.