Tax status of Discovery/Landcruiser Commercials?

[Big J]

3 minutes ago, Craig. said:

Have you looked at a MAN TGE 4x4?

Not one I even knew about - I shall go investigate

[Big J]

Only tows 3000kg in 4wd form. Which is annoying because it tows 3500kg with rear wheel drive.

[Craig.]

I noticed that myself, seeing the rwd was 3500kg and assumed the 4x4 would be the same.

[monkeybusiness]

They are a VW (which used to be the same as a Sprinter and probably still is), so I wouldn’t be surprised if SV Tech can do a paperwork exercise on the tow weight... 

[Ratman]

Ring a lease company, see whats coming back in [emoji106]

[Big J]

5 minutes ago, monkeybusiness said:

They are a VW (which used to be the same as a Sprinter and probably still is), so I wouldn’t be surprised if SV Tech can do a paperwork exercise on the tow weight... 

They did the paperwork on my Sprinter to take it from 2000kg to 3000kg but with the 3000kg weight on the MAN TGE 4x4 being lower than that of the RWD I wonder whether that is because of the drive ratio on the differentials? I couldn't take the Sprinter to 3500kg without changing difs.

[wicklamulla]

ya seen the Land Cruiser Pickup that Milner Off Road are selling?  

 

[Big J]

5 hours ago, wicklamulla said:

ya seen the Land Cruiser Pickup that Milner Off Road are selling?  

 

I hadn't, but I need 4 seats minimum unfortunately. 

[Big J]

As far as I can tell it's a bit of a grey area. You're relying on the HMRC description of a van being: 

 

a goods vehicle of a construction primarily suited to the conveyance of goods or burden of any description

 

 

But the addition of rear seats, even if they are removable is where you can unstuck. I saw one thread online where an owner of a Disco Commercial with removable seats in the rear had HMRC insisting it was a car (from a tax POV) as he'd altered the fabric of the vehicle for the carriage of passengers. 

 

Tricky. 

 

[monkeybusiness]

I thought they’d changed the Disco commercials - originally they were supplied with the seat mounts in situ (so you could buy it through the books as a van, claim the vat back, then if you so wished could buy a set of rear seats and simply bolt them in to use as a 4/5 seater). I was led to understand that the rear seat mounts are no longer there on the later commercials to prevent this practice. I’m fairly confident that a Disco with more than 2 seats would struggle to satisfy hmrc in terms of commercial vehicle status - it’s no different to a car.