"legal" side of building a buggy

[Chaz200]

Hi guys,

I am about to start my freestyle buggy project and just wanted some advice about where to start with the legal stuff for a buggy, it's not registered and I don't have any paperwork with it so I will have to start from the beginning.

IVA test?
how to get a log book?
Taxing it?
Chassis and engine number needed?

And anything else I need to make it UK road legal.

Thanks
Charlie

 

[250buggys]

Hi Charlie

There Is lots of good info on this forum for what you are after. You can search and ask questions and be sure to add lots of photos.

Dvla website is quite informative and will post you all the forms out.

There have been a few classic mini log books go on ebay this week, just type in v5c into ebay and run a saved search to get notified when they are listed.

You can get a chassis no from dvla, Rich did a good post and shared his experience on that, address to write to etc.

Get a build diary going so we can keep an eye on your progress, not too many being built at the moment.

Download the iva manual and print it off so you can take it out to the buggy. Haynes manual is worth getting also.

Chris :-D

 

[wagon_1.0]

Go through the IVA manual line by line - this is how you will be tested.

Re log books, I think that if you have one u could get an age related plate, but without youre looking at a Q

 

[ChaosMS]

Hi Charlie,

Glad to see another buggy builder on the forum welcome!!

Chris has covered a lot in his post but one thing I would say is dont worry about the v5c for the donor car - as long as you dont mind a Q plate (Personally I didnt care just wanted it on the road!!)

I didnt have a v5c / log book as my donor was an insurance write off so the logbook had already been sent back to the DVLA - when you come to send the paperwork in for the test (IVA) you just fill in all the details on the submission docs, there are good instructions on the DVLA website and I can share what I did for mine, so dont worry about it!!

Chris is spot on about the IVA manual you should read it many many times, ask lots of questions and we can help you out - once you get into the mindset that your building your buggy to pass the test you will find it pretty straight forward - then print out each section that applies to your buggy, as there are lots of sections you can ignore take windscreens etc!! and take it into the garage and go over your buggy to ensure everything meets the regs in the docs.

There will always be something you've missed - but remember to work with the tester not against him or her (as that really rubs them up the wrong way when you argue with them ;D ) and hopefully you'll either pass or have just minor stuff to sort!

Post loads of pictures and if anyone spots anything that could be a problem they will let you know

Happy building and I look forward to seeing the progress

Cheers

Rich

 

[Danny]

You will be fine

 

[Phaeton]

Is this a part built one you've taken on, or one that was just used for off-road?

EIther way if you're going down IVA route just keep asking questions along with plenty of pictures & we'll help where we can. Most buggies on here went via SVA not IVA but the process is the same thing. As Rich says when you eventually get to the testing stage work with the tester, ask him/her exactly what they want to see, the ones I have come across feel it's as silly as we think on all the 4mm radius stuff, but they have a job to do.

If you take it & it fails, you come away with a list of jobs, which once done means you have your certificate, they don't go back through the whole buggy again, unless of course you do something silly like add a windscreen or change the mirrors to some non compliant ones. There was a guy over on the Locost forum a couple of years ago who was fuming that he took his car back for a retest & it failed on more things the 2nd time than the 1st. Turns out he'd fitted wind deflectors, changed the mirrors to tiny ones, removed the front indicators & replaced them with tiny LED's ones & a couple of other things which others had done post IVA.

 

[250buggys]

If you go for a Q plate you wont be able to put a private plate on later.

 

[owelly]

Please don't buy a V5!! The V5 must stay with the original vehicle, or the chassis (or monocoque) it belongs to. If you get caught with a V5 and no vehicle to go with it, you'll find yourself in a whole world of aggro. There is no legitimate reason to buy a V5 and your buggy can be made road legal without one.
Good luck.

 

[Lilspeed]

I agree with Owelly, buying a V5 is risky and probably illegal.

But . . . I had to prove the age of my engine, and the only evidence DVSA/DVLA would accept was a V5 with matching engine number. :-\

 

[Phaeton]

I agree with Owelly, buying a V5 is risky and probably illegal.

But . . . I had to prove the age of my engine, and the only evidence DVSA/DVLA would accept was a V5 with matching engine number. :-\

No probable about it, as to age of engine, IF you have the engine number you can use one of many sites to get the year, they should &
I say should accept that.