How do you register your new vehicle?

Now that you have the Ministers Approval Certificate from the SVA test you can proceed to getting your vehicle registered. As you have built a vehicle from a kit or kit conversion, it will need to meet certain criteria before the vehicle can be registered. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) local office will assign the original or an appropriate registration mark on the evidence provided.

 

Where there are insufficient parts from a donor vehicle or in cases where the original registration mark is unknown, an ESVA, SVA or MSVA certificate will be required to register the vehicle and a 'Q' prefix registration number will be allocated.

 

If you want a "new" (current) registration number, you will have to ensure that your car is built from entirely new components OR has only ONE major component from the DVLA’s list that has been reconditioned to an AS NEW standard. You will need to be able to show all the receipts to prove this. Assuming you’ve got these, you will then need to fill in a "V55/4" form available from your local Vehicle Registry Office. They also produce a booklet (a "V355/4") on how to complete the V55/4.

 

Besides these, you will also need:
- The First Registration fee (£25)
- Money for Road Tax (6 or 12 months)
- Your Minister’s Approval (SVA) Certificate
- A valid Certificate of Insurance
- Either a "Declaration of Newness" (form V267) Or a declaration of newness from your kit supplier.
- A declaration or receipt from the reconditioner if you have used one major reconditioned component.

 

If you want an "age related" registration number and the car is "donor-built" (which the DVLA call a "kit conversion") the procedure is similar but not quite as difficult. This is where a kit of new parts is added to an existing vehicle or old parts are added to a kit comprising a manufactured body, chassis or monocoque body shell. The general appearance of the vehicle will change and result in a revised description on the registration certificate.

 

A vehicle will retain its donor registration mark if either the original unmodified chassis or unaltered monocoque body shell and two other major components are used. If a new monocoque body shell or chassis from a specialist kit manufacturer is used (or an altered chassis or body shell from an existing vehicle) together with two major components from a donor vehicle, an age related mark will be assigned. The mark will be based on the age of the donor vehicle.

 

You will need to complete a "V55/5" form (as opposed to the V55/4 form for a new registration) and you will also need:
- Money for Road Tax (6 or 12 months)
- Your Minister’s Approval (SVA) Certificate
- A valid Certificate of Insurance
- MoT test.

 

You will also be asked to fill in a form in which you state where each of the major components (i.e. body, chassis, engine, transmission, axles, suspension, steering) came from. You get three choices – either "bought new", "from donor" or "other". If you claim a particular major component was bought new, you will need to show a receipt. If you claim it was from the donor, they might want to see a copy of the old logbook or, in the case of a non-identifiable component, inspect the vehicle and if you claim that enough major components were "other", you will probably get a "Q" plate.


Useful link to registration: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/BuyingAndSellingAVehicle/RegisteringAVehicle/index.htm

 

 

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