scoobymad555

iTrader: (1)

Read an article in Practical Performance Car magazine today about the current SVA test being replaced by a new test called BIVA. Granted it's probably a bit hyped up to make it mag-worthy but it seems to essentially suggest that the new test is going to cover more areas regarding vehicle modifications and may well be stricter to the point of some enthusiast's vehicles failing the tests simply because they don't meet criteria as opposed to them being safe. Oh and peeps, one of the fail points from the horses mouth is coilover suspension - loose two points for that straight away! (not joking!) It's apparently also going to be tied in with the MOT testing such that if your vehicle has a modification that the DVLA database doesn't know about then the MOT tester has a duty to report it.

Briefly digging around the web so far i've come across this site ....

Association of Car Enthusiasts (ACE) : Results of BIVA Consultation Document

which has info on it and a summary / synopsis of it but that also includes suggestion that things like aftermarket ecu's / chips may also be considered as grounds to fail a vehicle on the new test.

Seems a bit sketchy as to what vehicles do or do not have to be tested really but so far i'm forming the impression that it may well be used to target owners of modified vehicles that the motoring regulation authorities deem to be a nuisance and further to that just another means to extract cash from people with motoring passion .... particularly considering the "new" test has seen a price increase from the old one : SVA = £180 .... BIVA = £540!!!

The only plus side i can see at the moment is that vehicles modified prior to 1997 appear to be in a "greyer" or possibly exempt area (according to the magazine article) and also, courtesy of that and the general lack of information usually available on them, imported vehicles may well avoid a lot of it too ..... taking my imported v-ltd as an example : it was imported prior to 1997, i know my V5 doesn't have an engine number listed on it and of course it was a "limited edition" so .... prove what was on it originally or more to the point, prove i've changed anything on it since!

That said, it would appear that my brothers modified s14a 200sx lands well and truly on the borderline of whether it needs testing or not (and indeed whether it would pass or not!) courtesy of the drift-related mods done aswell as the project car we've been working on (an old barnyard recovered covin) which we'd hoped to avoid having to sva since it was essentially already registered but will now probably have to biva courtesy of these new rules it would seem. New rules that may also make it extremely difficult to do some of the things we were planning for it

Anyone got any further info on this lot at all? .... at this point it seems like the whole modified car scene should be looking closely at this cos it's looking dangerously like the authorities are trying to sneak an epic wedgie up on us without us knowing till it's too late! ..... hope i'm wrong and it's just sensationalist media reports as usual though

G-string

iTrader: (1)

This sounds like it could be a nightmare

GC8

From the 29th of April Japanese cars that are under ten years old and which have been registered in Japan for at least six months will be easier to register here, though.

dj219957

am i missing the point here? none of this applies to vehciles already registered.

scoobymad555

iTrader: (1)

the article in PPC suggests otherwise - It's difficult to tell where the line is drawn between what's covered under the potential new rules from the European Commission and what's covered by the Biva rules affecting modified vehicles. Having read a little more, the Biva stuff seems to imply that their rules apply primarily to vehicles that have undergone chassis, shell or model description changes since 1997 (regardless of whether they've been registered) but at the same time they (being dvla) also use the term modified in a far vaguer sense referring to things such as suspension, engines, ecu's etc stating that all these things qualify as different from original and should therefore be declared to them for their database records (which of course then links to insurance and tax etc).
The grey area is whether upon declaring those modifications to the dvla that you are then required to take the new test which in the case of a road going track car as an example, you'd almost certainly fail based on their new scheme. This "grey" area seems to be largely down to whether the person you speak to feels like saying yes or no though. It does also state clearly that the Vosa Mot database is going to be linked to it and if the details entered by the Mot tester differ significantly from the ones the Dvla have, an automatic prompt is sent for "further investigations" to be carried out.

p1doc

mainly for kit cars-my murtaya should scrape through as one of the last ones for sva
martin

kapri

Hi, I'm part of the ACE team that put together all the info on the links .We have regular contact with VOSA and DfT and have had dealings with the regulations relating to modified cars for over 36 years .We are also on the Consultation Lists for VOSA /DfT and DVLA so have input all the proposals.

The fact that DVLA have never made easily available is that the identity of any vehicle is governed by a points system. At the root of this is an orginal unmodified monococque shell. Should this be modified in any way that affects its structure it would be recalled to pass the SVA ( to become BIVA in April 2009 ).

This is regardless of whether it has already passed an SVA in stock form as the identity given after that SVA was based on the sum of parts inspected.. If they have changed to fall below the 8 points then the vehicle is no longer entitled to the current registration.

This is but one of the issues that ACE monitors on behalf of all car enthusiasts . We are not concerned about what car you drive , we ALL have to band together to have enough strength to prevent restrictive legislation being passed. It's no good saying " that's not an issue with 'our' cars so we won't bother giving support" because one day 'your' style of car will be affected and they will be no one left to support 'your' battle.

If you are on the subscribers list you will receive an update everytime something fresh is added and a synopsis of how thing are all tied together .

I've recently been on Retrorides helping them see how it all ties together so ,if I am allowed (?) ,I'll add a link to that thread that may help all here see where issues with BIVA MAY lie for you .

Retro Rides - SVA Questions

Just remember this is only one of the things happening, please take the time to visit Association of Car Enthusiasts (ACE) : Welcome to ACE and sign up.


Many thanks for your time in reading

Kev Rooney ( ACE Admin Team )

EddScott

Sorry to be thick but this doesn't affect cars already registered does it?

GC8

In theory yes, if youve retained the original registered number but shouldnt have due to coming up short on points.

scoobymad555

iTrader: (1)

hey kev thanks for the post! .... just to clarify then ....

therefore vehicles modified with suspension, engines, ecu's etc are not subject to a BIVA test? What about things like cages that are welded or bolted into place?


Personally i'm more than happy to support the cause against potential restrictions imposed, i suspect many others on here will be too

Would seem that the article i read was hyped up after all then .... curious as to why everything is sooooo d4mn unclear though?! Surely all of this could be made far more straightforward?!

kapri

Thanks for the PM. Yup,, it is all pretty unclear but we have spent years dealing with this sort of stuff and (generally) understand what's going on. The system is pretty clear but the applications is often wrong .Cages shouldn't be a problem but major suspension and steering components carry points in the vehicles identity.

The vehicle identity system uses parts which are often service items and not on the list of Notifiable changes ( a legal requirement ) on your V5C but ARE part of the points sytem. Stupid I know but that's the way it is. We try to help those who are having problems by giving them unbiased advice and info that you may need to fight your corner.

You cannot get the same answer from 2 out of 3 people you talk to at DVLA hence you need to know your rights yourself ( with ACES help ) and be prepared to fight for them.

With regard to BIVA the biggest thing to lose your vehicles identity would be modifications to your cars suspension that required any structural changes to the vehicle , say changed Mac strut mounts ON THE BODY or altering the monococque to take a 4 bar and panhard set up etc.

How would you be found ? There has been talk for over 4 years since a DVLA Consultation document on inspection procedures( into which ACE had input ) showed that the Police wanted any cars modified from original looked for at MOT time and then sent for SVA .

This was not actioned at that time but the Consultation on BIVA asked for Consultees to show any concerns they may have about mods to vehicles done after registration. Exhausts, tuning that produced more Co2 and wide bodykits were all brought up !

Check the links on the ACE that show excerpts containing these quotes and we also have links direct to the full report.We do NOT scaremongers on ACE we only try to keep everyone abreast of proposed legislation with links to the truth of the matter not conjecture.

The curent thinking is that it would fall to MOT testers to flag any vehicle they consider may have been modified and then it would be down to DVLA to sort it from there. We cannot find any proposals to that effect yet though, if we do then it will appear on the site.

This isn't the only concern... just one that may affect a lot of unsuspecting people.

the point of out site is once you sign up you'll get updates as we do. We aren't yet a campaigning site ,more a one stop resource to get info to alot of concerned parties quickly. However when there is something that needs fighting by all when prior Consultation hasn't done the job we'll be there !!

EDIT . Just to clarify why the rules aren't 100% ( hell 50% !!) clear is that they are designed as catch all rather than to suit specifics needs. My favourite quote is " Definition of a camel ? A horse designed by a Committee!"

Gary C

In the end, some sort of enhanced testing for modifed cars would be a good idea when you see the state of some of the dangerous Sh**** on the roads.

Problem is, I bet the honest, decent owners will be the ones forking out for it all.