Am I paying too much road tax? 3850kgs

Phantom

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Hi my 2005 2.7L Geist Phantom motorhome is plated at 3850kgs, though the log book just shows it as PLG with no recorded weights at all so I have been paying about £260 road tax. Should it be recorded as PHGV and £165 road tax? If so I'm not so sure that I have a certificate to show this, so guess I would need to get one? I assume that this change would not affect insurance at all? Could I claim the tax overpayments back?
 
Does it not have the weight on the v5 ? If not then this needs changing with the dvla, though I doubt you will get refunded back payments,
 
The maximum MAM for PLG is 3500 kg. If your V5 says "PLG" then you are not permitted to load it beyond 3500 kg. It seems that you have the same issue that I had when I bought the van -- a previous owner had downplated it to 3500kg but not changed the plates. If you want to get the plated MAM back (and save a bit of money on VED), you'll need to go through someone like SV Tech to get an engineer's report/certificate and send that off with a form to change vehicle category. FWIW, I had to pay the new VED before DVLA would issue my new V5. I assume you're aware that you need licence group C or C1 entitlement to drive a moho over 3500 kg. HTH, Geoff
 
The DVLA normally need the Certificate of Conformity ( CoC ) to change what`s recorded on their data base.

Same thing happened to me with a brand new motorhome but i only found the problem when i came to re-tax it the following year.

The little nob who went to register it at the DVLA office ( still had them then ) registered it as 3,500kg instead of 3,850kg.

Took 6 months of fannying around and me eventually blocking their car park with it to get it sorted.

Good luck.
 
Now you've got me thinking, the log book just shows PLG but no weight. I bought it just over a year ago and thought it had a plate rating it 3850kg gross likely from manufacture. My licence covers C1 but I guess it's possible that a previous owner had it down plated to 3500kgs, but if so wouldn't there be a new plate to replace a 3850kgs plate? I assume that DVLA would have a record of it being down plated if it had? I'll have a look through all the paperwork tomorrow and see what there is. I'm sure there is a certificate of conformity but feel that it is from when built and first registered.
 
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You should always have the original plate and any further plates that change the weight either up or down should be left on. Or so I have been told.
That way, you should be able to check and confirm any changes through the life of the vehicle.

Just to confuse things ( or make things clearer/ logical) my van has three different weight plates from new.
The original VIN plate showing 3650kg. The manufacturers / converters plate ( Burstner) showing 3500kg and the final plate on delivery and entry in the reg document showing 3850 kg.

Thankfully, DVLA aren’t allowed to operate outside the U.K.!
 
I'm sure there is a certificate of conformity but feel that it is from when built and first registered.

My CoC is from new as well and clearly shows it was uprated then to 3,850kg but the little dick ( dealer ) who registered it did it at 3,500kg
 
Don’t expect DVLA to get their arses into gear in a hurry. I’ve been waiting 6 weeks now for a revised V5c when I went up from 3.5t to 4.1t. When I phone them the delay is because of the 2 bank holidays recently..............


And they now have a 2 week delay! Wtf!
 
Is that the Mercedes based Geist Phantom like ours? If so they came originally at 3850kgs, they were never a PLG and should be private HGV at £165.

I suspect it may have been down plated , ours has been updated to 4t but if yours has been taken to 3.5t it’s good to know I may have that option if I can’t keep my C1 in a few years ?
 
It is a bit confusing sometimes - my 4.6t van was recorded as having a weight of 4600kg on the V5C - but was also a PLG on the V5C as well. I requested that changed to PHGV when I requested a change from Minibus to Van/Windows. (the DVLA didn't seem to want to change it without a reason, so changing to a Van seemed to work - didn't need to supply any info regarding weight changes as there were none)
 
You should always have the original plate and any further plates that change the weight either up or down should be left on. Or so I have been told.
That way, you should be able to check and confirm any changes through the life of the vehicle.

Just to confuse things ( or make things clearer/ logical) my van has three different weight plates from new.
The original VIN plate showing 3650kg. The manufacturers / converters plate ( Burstner) showing 3500kg and the final plate on delivery and entry in the reg document showing 3850 kg.

Thankfully, DVLA aren’t allowed to operate outside the U.K.!
How does having multiple plates allow you to check changes through the life of the vehicle? or tell you which is valid? some people up the weight, some people drop the weight - having two (or more) visible plates doesn't tell you which one is current, it just creates a mess of confusion.
 
Is there any particular location on the vehicle where a new weight plate would most likely be attached?
 
I have 3 VIN plates on my motorhome.

2 on the slam panel ( under the bonnet ) i.e. the original Peugeot VIN showing 3,500kg and the ALKO VIN showing it was uprated to 3,850kg.

Then later i uprated it again ( using SvTech ) to improve the payload and stay legal to 4,100kg.

There is no more room on the slam panel so the new SvTech VIN sticker went inside the door on the drivers side wheel arch.
 
Is there any particular location on the vehicle where a new weight plate would most likely be attached?
Both of mine are in the hab door footwell, the original Geist and the updated SVTech
 
Is that the Mercedes based Geist Phantom like ours? If so they came originally at 3850kgs, they were never a PLG and should be private HGV at £165.
Well after a thorough check I found that it only has the Mercedez 3500kg sticker on the drivers seat base. Nothing under the bonnet or on chassis and just the LMC model type plate in the habitation footwell. There is no LMC / Geist weight plate. I thought that they were 3850kg from new but maybe not?
 
If there is only a Mercedes 3.500kg sticker on it and no weight shown on the V5C then how did you come to the 3,850kg ?
 
Does yours have the garage at the back with full bed over it, the rear lounge or the French bed?

As far as I am aware all the Phantoms are Mercedes 2.7 on Sprinter 316 chassis cab and came as 3850kgs
 
Does yours have the garage at the back with full bed over it, the rear lounge or the French bed?

As far as I am aware all the Phantoms are Mercedes 2.7 on Sprinter 316 chassis cab and came as 3850kgs
It is exactly that, bed over full garage, Merc 316 2.7L. model 7205 TI.
 
We have a sprinter based Autosleeper it has the 3500kg plate on the driver’s seat but then on the b pillar it has another plate by Autosleeper up rating it to 3850kg
 
I own an autotrail chieftan, when bought was registered PLG, sent log book to DVLA, reregistered as PHGV, they sent refund and has been £165 since then, had no hassle then or since.
 

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