I have to pay ULEZ but other cars don't?
Discussion
OK so a bit of an odd one. My daily driver is a 2004 Mk1 Ford Focus Ghia 1.8 petrol estate. When I check online I have to (and have on the occasions I've entered) pay the £8 fee. I didn't really question it until a colleague who owns a 2002 Mk1 Focus 1.8 zetec hatch mentioned he didn't have to pay the fee.
This got me thinking, so I hopped on auto trader etc and collected several different VRN's all from Mk1 Ford Focus Ghia 1.8 petrol estates. Some the same year as mine some slightly older but other than that and the colour they were all the exact same car, lo and behold all the cars I checked aren't subject to the £8 a day Birmingham LEZ fee.
So why is my car subject to the fee but the numerous others that are essentially the exact same car as mine not? Outside of a potential data base c**k up with my private reg number I'm stumped? I didn't enter the LEZ prior to putting the private plate on so I don't know if that's the case.
I do plan on phoning up the council and asking them about when I've got time but I figured this may be an interesting one to ask on here.
This got me thinking, so I hopped on auto trader etc and collected several different VRN's all from Mk1 Ford Focus Ghia 1.8 petrol estates. Some the same year as mine some slightly older but other than that and the colour they were all the exact same car, lo and behold all the cars I checked aren't subject to the £8 a day Birmingham LEZ fee.
So why is my car subject to the fee but the numerous others that are essentially the exact same car as mine not? Outside of a potential data base c**k up with my private reg number I'm stumped? I didn't enter the LEZ prior to putting the private plate on so I don't know if that's the case.
I do plan on phoning up the council and asking them about when I've got time but I figured this may be an interesting one to ask on here.
I'm not advocating refusing to pay, I'm saying they are inept at enforcing the zone, and 45000 fines have been written off, so to expect them to sort the discrepancy in why one model is compliant, and another car of the same model isn't, isn't hopeful.
https://www.itv.com/news/central/2022-12-02/why-is...
https://www.itv.com/news/central/2022-12-02/why-is...
twing said:
Don't bother phoning. Email TFL a copy of your V5 and they'll sort it pretty quickly. Have done a few here and been surprised how easy it's been.
Really! I've found they just don't reply! I've given up going into London, can't be bothered, not worth the time any more, if they don't want me in London because they don't like my car it's fine, I'll do business elsewhere!So I phoned up the help line after work yesterday and explained the situation to the surprisingly helpful bloke on the phone. I explained the situation and I was told it should be compliant but that he would pass it on to someone who could fully check the DVLA database. I was a bit bamboozled to be honest, I wasn't expecting a phone call with the DVLA to be answered so quickly and the person on the other end of the phone to be so helpful so I didn't ask why it wasn't compliant before the call was over. I expected the whole process to take a while but half an hour after the call ended I received this email.
.
Result! I can only assume it was an issue with my private plate but my cars now compliant with all CAZ in the UK including London surprisingly. I've sent off my refund request so we'll see how I get on with that.
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Result! I can only assume it was an issue with my private plate but my cars now compliant with all CAZ in the UK including London surprisingly. I've sent off my refund request so we'll see how I get on with that.
Biker 1 said:
Off topic, but my 2.4 litre 2007 Volvo gas guzzler is ULEZ compliant, yet a family friend's 1 litre Micra is not. Not sure what the methodology they use is, but it doesn't make sense to me.....
It's not the carbon emissions which affects the compliance, but the other particulates.I had the same issue when I bought my 2001 Accord - as a 2001 it is compliant to all ULEZ/CAZ zones in the U.K. However after putting my personal plate on it all went Pete Tong and was only compliant in a few zones. That was checking on the .gov clean air zone checker as well as TFL.
A quick phone call to DVLA, and they realised some data hadn’t transferred when the reg change happened and it was fixed over the phone while I waited. TFL required a pdf of my new V5c and they corrected their (rather inaccurate) database.
Worth a call to DVLA I’d say
A quick phone call to DVLA, and they realised some data hadn’t transferred when the reg change happened and it was fixed over the phone while I waited. TFL required a pdf of my new V5c and they corrected their (rather inaccurate) database.
Worth a call to DVLA I’d say
Biker 1 said:
Off topic, but my 2.4 litre 2007 Volvo gas guzzler is ULEZ compliant, yet a family friend's 1 litre Micra is not. Not sure what the methodology they use is, but it doesn't make sense to me.....
Sense ? Don't expect sense. Expect lies ,deceit, and highway robbery. Your volvo already pays the high band road tax, so you get left alone.
Well I'm now locked in an email conversation going back and forth with BCC. I've provided sufficient evidence (bank statements, emails stating my car was showing as non compliant and that the DVLA's records have been updated etc) but according to who ever I'm speaking to this isn't sufficient. Who would've guessed that trying to get money back off the council would be a tia? 
I have just changed a car. New car is a Morgan with a BMW 2l turbo, B48 engine. Euro6 emissions.
Out of curiosity I checked it on the TFL site for ULEZ status.
Put the reg in and it came back as not recognised. Ticked the box to confirm correct reg and it updated to show compliant.
Why it didn’t do that first time I don’t know. A quirk in their system?
Last tim3 I drove to London was a month before Covid restrictions started. Stayed in Hounslow outside the ULEZ and used tube/bus for getting about. Oyster card for fares. Why stay there? To avoid the myriad of driving restrictions and congestion. Basically utilising public transport where it is suitable being an urban area. No good back home in West Wales! Even my commute to Cardiff was impossible as a too convoluted mix of drive to station, park. Catch train, get to place of work from Cardiff Central Station, then repeat for home journey. Train timetable totally unmatched to even daytime work hours. Bus timetable/ routes to factory from the station similarly unmatched. Folding bike? Possible but again a PIA due to distance to cover in Cardiff.
Out of curiosity I checked it on the TFL site for ULEZ status.
Put the reg in and it came back as not recognised. Ticked the box to confirm correct reg and it updated to show compliant.
Why it didn’t do that first time I don’t know. A quirk in their system?
Last tim3 I drove to London was a month before Covid restrictions started. Stayed in Hounslow outside the ULEZ and used tube/bus for getting about. Oyster card for fares. Why stay there? To avoid the myriad of driving restrictions and congestion. Basically utilising public transport where it is suitable being an urban area. No good back home in West Wales! Even my commute to Cardiff was impossible as a too convoluted mix of drive to station, park. Catch train, get to place of work from Cardiff Central Station, then repeat for home journey. Train timetable totally unmatched to even daytime work hours. Bus timetable/ routes to factory from the station similarly unmatched. Folding bike? Possible but again a PIA due to distance to cover in Cardiff.
sospan said:
I have just changed a car. New car is a Morgan with a BMW 2l turbo, B48 engine. Euro6 emissions.
Out of curiosity I checked it on the TFL site for ULEZ status.
Put the reg in and it came back as not recognised. Ticked the box to confirm correct reg and it updated to show compliant.
Why it didn’t do that first time I don’t know. A quirk in their system?
Last tim3 I drove to London was a month before Covid restrictions started. Stayed in Hounslow outside the ULEZ and used tube/bus for getting about. Oyster card for fares. Why stay there? To avoid the myriad of driving restrictions and congestion. Basically utilising public transport where it is suitable being an urban area. No good back home in West Wales! Even my commute to Cardiff was impossible as a too convoluted mix of drive to station, park. Catch train, get to place of work from Cardiff Central Station, then repeat for home journey. Train timetable totally unmatched to even daytime work hours. Bus timetable/ routes to factory from the station similarly unmatched. Folding bike? Possible but again a PIA due to distance to cover in Cardiff.
It probably didn't say exactly that - you need to read it carefully.Out of curiosity I checked it on the TFL site for ULEZ status.
Put the reg in and it came back as not recognised. Ticked the box to confirm correct reg and it updated to show compliant.
Why it didn’t do that first time I don’t know. A quirk in their system?
Last tim3 I drove to London was a month before Covid restrictions started. Stayed in Hounslow outside the ULEZ and used tube/bus for getting about. Oyster card for fares. Why stay there? To avoid the myriad of driving restrictions and congestion. Basically utilising public transport where it is suitable being an urban area. No good back home in West Wales! Even my commute to Cardiff was impossible as a too convoluted mix of drive to station, park. Catch train, get to place of work from Cardiff Central Station, then repeat for home journey. Train timetable totally unmatched to even daytime work hours. Bus timetable/ routes to factory from the station similarly unmatched. Folding bike? Possible but again a PIA due to distance to cover in Cardiff.
TfL website likely said:
We do not hold details for this vehicle
Check your number plate is correct. We're not sure this vehicle meets emissions standards. This could be because:
And the important piece:Check your number plate is correct. We're not sure this vehicle meets emissions standards. This could be because:
- It's a new vehicle - these tend to meet emissions standards. However, older vehicles manufactured before 2006 (petrol) and 2017 (diesel) generally do not meet emissions standards
- There's a recent change of number plate
- It's been registered off the road (SORN)
TfL said:
If your vehicle is not new you may get different results - without notice - when our records are updated. You should check what you need to pay each time you travel
When you ticked the box it then probably said:TfL ULEZ Checker for unknown vehicle said:
Vehicle results
Based on the data we hold today, here is the information for your vehicle.
rather than:Based on the data we hold today, here is the information for your vehicle.
TfL for known vehicle said:
Vehicle results
Here is the information for your vehicle.
I'm just going through this with a vehicle that has recently changed registration: the new registration is not recognised, but the old one (which is no longer on a vehicle) is recognised and compliant. There is a lag between DVLA records being updated and the TfL database reflecting the changes ... Here is the information for your vehicle.
My car is brand new, first registered 3 weeks ago. I think it is this newly registered timescale that might be a problem but, initial no recognition and then ticking the box for a recheck resulted in a different result. Basically I ticked the “ confirm vehicle details” box and got a result. Why did it take this second option/ update with no changes to what I originally put in?
First check negative reply but recheck within seconds with no changes gave a result? What difference caused this? If this recheck worked why didn’t the initial one? The car details are on the DVLA correctly. Is it a quirk of the TFL software that links to the DVLA? Is it a timing issue and in the seconds it took to recheck a link was established to get correct info?
First check negative reply but recheck within seconds with no changes gave a result? What difference caused this? If this recheck worked why didn’t the initial one? The car details are on the DVLA correctly. Is it a quirk of the TFL software that links to the DVLA? Is it a timing issue and in the seconds it took to recheck a link was established to get correct info?
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