Member Since: 22 Dec 2009
Location: Maidstone
Posts: 7274
Discovery 3/4 vin chassis/body
Do you reckon the chassis of the D3/4 is the car or the body is the car in the eye of the law?
I know the vin is in the windscreen so on the body but is there one on the chassis itself?
25th Nov 2017 8:45 am
Discoveringcomfort
Member Since: 16 Sep 2015
Location: Berkshire
Posts: 637
Hi,
In the past if the vehicle has a separate chassis then this is the vehicle in law. The body can be changed and does not affect its legal status unless the chassis is modified to suit.
The builder of my LR Series 2 bodied / RRC chassis'ed hybrid stupidly and illegally used the Series 2 reg for it! When I bought it I took it off the road permenantly.
However now that the body also has the VIN number on it as well I am not sure if it is permanently fixed?Series 1 V8
Series 2 Hibrid V8
Discovery 3 HSE V8
25th Nov 2017 9:32 am
Farmer Chalk
Member Since: 07 Mar 2013
Location: Independent Republic of Kentishshire.
Posts: 4156
The primary identifier of the vehicle is the stamped in /laser etched VIN on the chassis...all others are repeats....
The windscreen one I.e. visible VIN was only mandated in the late eighties to facilitate Police inspections. Historically most VINS were stamped under the bonnet. For the police, opening the bonnet constituted a search for which they had to have reasonable suspicion of wrong doing....hard to justify when the car was in the hands of an innocent purchaser...
Hence Police lobbied for change and the Visible Vin was mandated. It allows an officer at roadside to verify the identity of a vehicle without an invasive search....unfortunately from experience it is also the easiest one to forge.....
Never buy a car without inspecting the stamped in VIN... and then checking that against all the repeat VINS throughout the car....
Member Since: 15 Jan 2016
Location: GL
Posts: 10365
interesting history for the windscreen one.
The vin is stamped on the chassis gurder.
If you get on the ground under the drivers door, you should be able to see it.
25th Nov 2017 10:38 am
lynalldiscovery
Member Since: 22 Dec 2009
Location: Maidstone
Posts: 7274
Thanks for the replies I did think it was the chassis but after seeing a post on landyzone where some yank has stuck a 109 body on a d4 chassis I was curious
25th Nov 2017 1:10 pm
Farmer Chalk
Member Since: 07 Mar 2013
Location: Independent Republic of Kentishshire.
Posts: 4156
What you are asking is somewhat different....
There are strict rules regarding registering a radically altered vehicle... your can change a variety of components but each have a specific points score that DVLA consider before maintaining the original registration plate or before deciding to reregister it with a Q plate...
Have a look at this site for further info....https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-registration/radically-altered-vehicles.
25th Nov 2017 6:49 pm
L319
Member Since: 14 Dec 2013
Location: Herefordshire
Posts: 2080
lynalldiscovery wrote:
Thanks for the replies I did think it was the chassis but after seeing a post on landyzone where some yank has stuck a 109 body on a d4 chassis I was curious
If its in the US, totally different rules apply to those in UK
25th Nov 2017 7:14 pm
Erea
Member Since: 19 Mar 2012
Location: Munster
Posts: 1509
Different rules apply here in Ireland as well. There are a few D2’s around here on Classic Range Rover chassis’s so that they can pay vintage road tax I think €50 instead of €1200 a year and no annual MOT either. If the chassis was from an Irish car it holds its number, if imported it gets a ZV (vintage) plate.
25th Nov 2017 7:47 pm
Discoveringcomfort
Member Since: 16 Sep 2015
Location: Berkshire
Posts: 637
In the UK you can change the body for whatever you want BUT you cannot modify the chassis to do it.
Mainly this means that if you shorten the chassis to suit a shorter or longer wheelbase then you need to have it tested and change to a Q plate reg.Series 1 V8
Series 2 Hibrid V8
Discovery 3 HSE V8
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