Devious Lying Venal A**s's (DVLA)

[gerbil]

After recieving a stiff letter of complaint from the CAB the DVLA have written to my parents thanking them for the updated info and informing them they have now updated their records.

It would be churlish to point out that they never actually said sorry or acknowledged the compliant, but then i'm churlish.

[John N]

Anyone have any thoughts on the following theoretical scenario?

Someone owns a classic vehicle which has been off the road for nearly 10 years. It has been languishing in their garage (completely reduced to it's component parts) as a project for a long time. So, it's kind of temporarily scrapped.

They would like to get the vehicle back on the road but would not like a £1000+ fine for not having a SORN for the past 10 years when it was not compulsory.
Proof of alternative taxed vehicles would be available for the past ten years.

What is the best option to put the vehicle back on the road?

1. Rebuild, notify DVLA for tax and risk a massive fine.
2. Rebuild, re-register and test as a 'new' vehicle.
3. Sell the bits and forget the whole thing.

Also, does anyone know what constitutes a 'vehicle'. Surely a pile of parts doesn't fit the definition?

[machiavelli]

Part of the value of a classic vehicle will be its right to its original registration number, which it will only have by being the original vehicle. In some cases DVLA count the bits used to make sure that it is the original vehicle, not just a new vehicle with a few bits from the original.

As the original it will also qualify for a zero rate tax disk, which a new build won't.

You'll have to find out if the vehicle is still on the register or has been scrapped. If noone is getting SORN demands for it then it is either 'no current keeper' or no longer on the register. Either way you might have to prove your ownership of the vehicle and your right to the registration number.