Undeclared Engine Swaps

[Jonny1984]

I've been trawling the classifieds, as I do every day, and I came across a few decent looking cars with engine swaps. I'm sure you have all read these ads, thousands spent, mint etc. "Still down as 1.4 on log book, up to the new owner to change".

I was also reading a post on Cliosport.net about everyone slating this lad who had done an engine swap and not declared it. There were a lot of conflicting posts regarding the VED change. Some were saying it goes off the new engine, some were saying it doesn't change.

So what possible reasons do these people have not to change it on the V5? Surely it can't be money, having spent thousands creating these cars? Educate me please

[davepoth]

Tax, and also the possibility of getting a Q-plate.

[TheEnd]

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/DoItOnline/DG_40...

"Form V70 is available for those who have changed the taxation class of their vehicle; made changes to the vehicle that affects the rate of vehicle excise duty (car tax) eg engine size, fuel type or seating plan; or change the use of their vehicle."

[E30Addict]

Usually because it is a pain in the arse to get the DVLA to change the V5, especially with new regs around mods and Q-plated cars.

[wolfie1978]

Insurance being the main reason I guess

[Shaw Tarse]

Insurance?

[Jonny1984]

So, it will affect the VED? It just makes me wonder how many of these engine swaps have been declared. Would be good to hear from someone who has been through the process, just to see if it is as much of a hassle as it's made out to be.

I have a thing about "normal cars" having mad engines

[LawAys]

All the adverts I have seen seem to say something along the lines of "Still a 1.2 on the logbook, so insurance is cheap" etc....

[maniac0796]

I always thought the conclusion with these threads was it was a massive hassle getting the DVLA to change the log book, but most specialist insurance companies are fine with it being declared to them but not on the log book?

[jas xjr]

There is always the possibility that the engine could be stolen

[GrumpyV8]

LawAys said:

All the adverts I have seen seem to say something along the lines of "Still a 1.2 on the logbook, so insurance is cheap" etc....

Would an insurance company need to know if a more powerful engine were the replacement?

Do insurance companies need to know about engine re-maps for the same reason?

[Jimmy No Hands]

GrumpyV8 said:

Would an insurance company need to know if a more powerful engine were the replacement?

Do insurance companies need to know about engine re-maps for the same reason?

Of course they need to know, but the point is they don't inform them so the premium is cheaper.

[Liquid Knight]

jas xjr said:

There is always the possibility that the engine could be stolen

Happened to me. I bought an XR2 with a Zetec conversion undeclared. When I changed the engine number on the log book it turned out it was from a Mondeo that was reported stolen three year before. The guy I bought the car from had it M.O.T'd twice with not only the wrong engine for the car but had unwittingly (allegedly) bought a stolen engine when he did the swap. I lost the car and I'm still waiting to get my money back from the bloke.

The Police were more interested in me recieving stolen goods than the fact I had been ripped off. I was quite annoyed with them about it for a while.

[Magic919]

Any car that pays road tax based on emissions is unaffected. Earlier cars are assessed based on engine size b

[Ozzie Osmond]

"Car with the wrong engine" is hardly big news. As a proportion of total cars on the road they are very few.

However, if you have a serious accident the insurance company can get to the bottom of this very easily indeed and you could be in deep trouble.

Engine swap for a similar unit with a different number - no problem at all. Engine swap for a 300 bhp 2 litre instead of the declared 1.2 litre shopping car - big, big trouble.

[NHK244V]

E30Addict said:

Usually because it is a pain in the arse to get the DVLA to change the V5, especially with new regs around mods and Q-plated cars.

No it's not, just send off a letter you made up on the PC from some garage that may or may not excist saying they did the engine change and you get the V5 back no problem, takes 5 mins.
It's all down to getting cheaper insurance or paying lower road tax.

[soad]

wolfie1978 said:

Insurance being the main reason I guess

Yeah, a lower insurance group.
Probably especially useful to the younger drivers.

Obviously lower vehicle excise duty too.

[Ozzie Osmond]

soad said:

Yeah, a lower insurance group. Obviously lower vehicle excise duty too.

Which is handy when you're in jail and can't drive at all....