Low Emission Zone - London

[Crispin]

not sure I can afford that

 

[Andrew Prince]

Glad you got it sorted though - but what a palaver! Anything to make a buck. Perhaps they need to ban people smoking in the stgreet instead - pretty sure that must cause more pollution, along with the ash and stompies, than most commercial vehicles do

4x4s make an easy target being un-PC. The official spin is that the UK has signed up to reduce the country's overall emissions and to meet air quality standards, which seems like a noble ambition.

But the b0llocks start when it gets implemented - more people hired into the public sector to administer this, spending our tax on glitzy signs, marking out maps for zones and no doubt justifying this with the revenues that are going to flow in. I bet the cost of recovering each £100 fine is way more than £100, so that's a loss-maker right there.

Given the £100s of millions spent here, how much will emissions be reduced? Why should central London be singled out for "low emissions"? The emissions formed outside London don't stay outside the borders of the zone.

I guess it's a matter of time before large capacity engined private vehicles come under scrutiny for being big polluters...

 

[Crispin]

Calm down Andrew, going to give yourself a heart attack Might want to edit that last line before you give them any ideas...

I agree with your rant about the cost. I've contracted to public sector in the past and the waste is fantastic. It was a real eye opener and how big their budgets are and how much crap they can spend their money one.

I find the drive for low emissions interesting and, agree with it (to a point). Each time I go back to SA and drive on the hiway or in a city / stuck in traffic etc, the smell of car fumes is interesting. (cant find sick smilie) Granted, that is mostly due to out-of-tune old cars.

It is clearly a cash-cow though and I feel really sorry for so many father and son business who will now have to spend great amounts of cash on fixing their truck (lorry). Maybe a better idea would have been to fund them to have the required changes and stop resale of "problem" vehicles and so weed the problem out over time.
The way the government(s) bash a law into place and force everyone to pay up to now comply seems wrong. When Dad and Son movers bought their lorry 5 years ago, they thought they were doing the right thing...

 

[Chas]

(cant find sick smilie) ...

Gets lot more at Smiley repository;

http://smileys.on-my-web.com/

 

[Dave Docwra]

The LEZ applies to virtually everywhere within the M25 not just central London.

 

[Paul]

The Lez zone eh? Now that might be worth paying for

 

[silvercruiser]

Just had a letter through and my l/c has come out with the same light 4x4 utility so i need to change my car to estate let my battle commence

Joe

 

[Andrew Prince]

Don't forget the Wimbledon branch of the DVLA as your last resort, Joe
I'm sure you'll come right!

 

[silvercruiser]

Thanks Andrew, I phoned the dvla yesterday and explained, they have told me to put the changes down on the log book and send it to them. So I should see if it's that easy in about 4 weeks.

Joe

 

[Andrew Prince]

Sadly it looks like the DVLA and their buddies at the Dept of Transport are going to have the last laugh. 6 weeks after getting the ok from the manager at my local DVLA branch, I received a letter from the DVLA HQ saying that they will not change my V5 after all. Apparently their instructions are that they will only change the body type of the V5 if Toyota GB will confirm that the body type should be an estate.
And guess what the indications from Toyota GB are???
Pretty clear that there is a stitch up here....

Looks like my 80 may be in the classifieds soon

 

[TonyP]

Ah crap

 

[Crispin]

oh bugger. What makes your 80 different to any other 80? Is yours an import or something? Any chance of getting Mr-T to play nice?

 

[adrianr]

Sadly it looks like the DVLA and their buddies at the Dept of Transport are going to have the last laugh. 6 weeks after getting the ok from the manager at my local DVLA branch, I received a letter from the DVLA HQ saying that they will not change my V5 after all. Apparently their instructions are that they will only change the body type of the V5 if Toyota GB will confirm that the body type should be an estate.
And guess what the indications from Toyota GB are???
Pretty clear that there is a stitch up here....

Looks like my 80 may be in the classifieds soon

Its not up to Toyota to decide on the type of vehicle classification for the 80 - its the DVLA, after al its their classification.

Go to another registration office and explain youve noticed an error on the paperwork and want it correcting. Keep at it mate.

 

[silvercruiser]

Sadly it looks like the DVLA and their buddies at the Dept of Transport are going to have the last laugh. 6 weeks after getting the ok from the manager at my local DVLA branch, I received a letter from the DVLA HQ saying that they will not change my V5 after all. Apparently their instructions are that they will only change the body type of the V5 if Toyota GB will confirm that the body type should be an estate.
And guess what the indications from Toyota GB are???
Pretty clear that there is a stitch up here....

Looks like my 80 may be in the classifieds soon

Hello and sorry to rub it in but i recieved my log book back today and they have changed it from 4x4 utility to estate, so it might be worth just sending it off to swansea and bypass the local office.

Joe

 

[Scott]

Ah, so they're being awkward about it That's a shame. As the others say, keep at it, most of them don't know what their trying to explain.

Out of interest, what tax are you paying on the 80? £215? The reason I ask is that if they're saying your 80 is a commercial, then surely they would be charging you commercial rate tax, which I believe is currently £210. It could be another area where you could argue their miss classification of your car.

Could you not get a helpfull Toyota dealer to do you a letter stating that it's a car and not a commercial?

Good luck, and keep us posted.

 

[Ecoman]

There have been quite a few Surf owners stitched up in the same way. Some are LEZ compliant as they are classed as estate cars and others are not LEZ compliant as they are classed as 4x4 light utility. DVLA want a letter from the manufacturer (not the local dealers) but ToyotaGB don't want anything to do with any enquiries regarding imported vehicles.

Another thing that concerns me is its only just over a month to go before the LEZ restrictions are introduced and it has not been advertised on TV, there is no BBC or Sky news coverage and when you search for it on their web sites it brings up information from 2008. The only information is on the TFL website, a few motoring organisations, Wiki and online forums. This is scandalous and truly shocking. This is happening in Britain's capital city and will effect even some of us up here in Scotland at some time or other.

When this is introduced I won't be able to drive either my Hilux or my LC into London to visit friends or carry out business without receiving a huge fine. I was talking to a few people up here about it and most of them didn't have a clue what I was on about. The few folk I spoke to had heard about it but thought it was something to do with the congestion charge zone and didn't reaslise its basically anything within the M25. One guy goes to London on a regular basis in his van. His Van is a T plate transit and he can't afford to replace it just to do the trip every 4 to 6 weeks, especially as he has had no notifications telling him about the pending LEZ restrictions. He said if he had been told last year he could have probably done something about it but as the only details he had been given were a bit vague and was told that it was within the congestion zone only so that it ddn't effect him at all. This is poor publicity for something that will essentially effect millions of motorists.

 

[Crispin]

The coverage on it has been so-so on the radio but the point is not really made and it does sound like it will only affect Cockney speaking guys with vans. I suspect when the fines start rolling in people will start chatting about it.

Any one know about the black cabs. Are they exempt because they are not commercial vehicles over a certain weight? Surely the older million mile old ones would fail?

 

[Dave Docwra]

I have heard that some older Black cabs have had a reprieve for now, any surf or LC or any other make with a commercial load carrying section are not exempt,

All the signs (and cameras) to show drivers from outside London that they are now entering the zone have been in place for quiet some time,

Send a picture of your vehicle attached to your V5 to Swansea, this will probably help the computer tapper do their job

If you get really desperate send the V5 off declaring it has been converted to petrol, obviously after the conversion but do change back before MOT, could cause confusion

Has anyone who has entered the zone with a non compliant vehicle recently received a letter advising on future entry?

 

[Andrew Prince]

Any chance of getting Mr-T to play nice?

Nope, apparently not - hence my suspicions of a stitch-up... In turn I am not playing nice with them as I have nothing (more) to lose at this point.

Its not up to Toyota to decide on the type of vehicle classification for the 80 - its the DVLA, after al its their classification.

The DVLA HQ in Swansea have made it crystal clear that their directive (from who? Dept of Transport? Big Brother?) is not to change the classification unless the manufacturer, not the dealer, confirms the body type. Apparently the fact that the vast majority of 80s are classified as estates is irrelevant as far as the DVLA are concerned.

Out of interest, what tax are you paying on the 80? £215? The reason I ask is that if they're saying your 80 is a commercial, then surely they would be charging you commercial rate tax, which I believe is currently £210. It could be another area where you could argue their miss classification of your car.

Could you not get a helpfull Toyota dealer to do you a letter stating that it's a car and not a commercial?

Will need to check what my tax is... DVLA say they want a letter from Toyota GB - I might try my local dealer but do not have high hopes that DVLA will play ball

Hello and sorry to rub it in but i recieved my log book back today and they have changed it from 4x4 utility to estate, so it might be worth just sending it off to swansea and bypass the local office.

Glad you came right, Joe My problem is the opposite - the local office said all ok to change but their bosses in Swansea overturned them and said no Very thoughtfully, they took 6 weeks to respond so I spent 6 weeks believing that all was ok, only to find out a month before the deadline that actually it's not.

This is scandalous and truly shocking. This is happening in Britain's capital city and will effect even some of us up here in Scotland at some time or other.

Indeed! How long before this scheme is rolled out in other UK cities It's not if, it's when...

 

[Chas]

Does the LEZ only affect diesels, or is it for all vehicles?