Club 80-90 Forums

Owned my t25 for 17 years converted to day van shortly after purchasing and used ever since
On the logbook it still has minibus and when you go dvla says 12 seater
I would like to change logbook to 5 seats as that’s all it’s got
But what do I put under body type
It’s a 84 twin slider caravelle
Cheers

Why change it? My Merc was still down as a 19 seater ( and most probably still is ) but is a camper. So long as your insurers know the number of seats I can't see why you need to change it. The body type will not change as that is what it was registered with, same as the van with windows saga.

Am i right in thinking that there is no difference in speed limits etc between "van with windows" and minibus?
Whilst i absolutely don't see me needing to worry about speed limits, it was the only thing that would make me consider changing mine (which is also registered as a minibus).
I have left it, as like mentioned previously, it won't get registered as a camper, so i see no reason to change it.

What do you think that you could change to achieve a change in speed limits. If it is a camper it is subject to those speed limits - it does not matter what is on the V5. This subject has been done to death.

My V5 says minibus as it's a Caravelle. Removed all rear seats to fit a R& R bed years ago. Only 4 seats with belts for MOT, never been an issue.

Thanks for the comments so far.

 I avoided mentioning the reason(s) for asking the Body Type change question because so many aspects have indeed been gone over many times and I didn’t want to go down that route again.

That said, if anyone is new to the why-would-you-want-to-do-it question, this April 2021 article is the best I’ve seen to summarize the reasons/benefits to seek a Body Type change and issues that you may come across. Its long’ish, and majors on the change to Motor Caravan (although a lot of it applies to the Minibus question),  but covers the topic from the DVLA, DoT  and Police viewpoints.
Please keep in mind it is 3 years old and I can't vouch for its accuracy or currency.
https://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/motor ... body-types

Re the question of Van With Windows and car speed limits, I've not come across anything definitive, but this HMRC VAT(!) related link below suggests that van+windows=car. Whether the DVLA and/or police will agree with that in relation to speed limits is "interesting".
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manual ... x/vit51800

And back to the original question, which is still - has anyone had the Body Type on the V5 changed e.g. from Van or Minibus to anything else other than Motorhome. Or tried and failed?

 Thanks.

Edited as per OBG's comment below - changed "Motorhome" to "Motor Caravan"

Motorhome is not a body type - presumably you mean the DVLA term Motor Caravan?
You still have not said why you are wanting to change the body type. What are you hoping to achieve?

MPV can be used as a type, and that is not subject to the lower speed restrictions, it's the same as a car; Edna was classified as an MPV when I brought her in from Germany back in the day when you went to local DVLA office to deal with the specialist manning the import window who knew what was what and was helpful, he translated the German description (it was a Caravelle CL, big sunroof, seats already reduced to 5 from 9) as MPV, I explained the rear seat could be converted to a bed, but that it didn't qualify as a motorhome or camper as it was.
I'd like to get the SA vans description changed from Minibus as it only has 2 seats and a permanent bed (that can be a seat when camping but the van has no seatbelts (didn't have them fitted in SA in 1990 [wasn't required] and won't be used to carry passengers) and some locker space and that's as it was when it was imported last year but the vehicle wasn't inspected, so the person at DVLA who processed the paperwork took the 8 seat Caravelle SA description and made it a minibus
How I'd go about getting it changed I don't know - does anybody on here work for DVLA ?

Much of the confusion comes from dvla and computers not recognising that “Caravelle” is a trim level pre 1992 and model post 1992 , which is a major issue with insurance companies , and is almost impossible to explain to them ….
Mini bus is incorrect but they won’t agree . Mpv is the way to go ……..