Engine swap registration issues
Discussion
Hello, just after some advice for a friend of mine. This is a tale of woe.
A friend has recently bought a Mk2 Golf with a 1.8T engine swap from another VAG car. He had kept the purchase a secret from us lads at work which perhaps meant I couldn't give him a heads up on this issue, anyway...
He has bought the car from a private seller, who told is a mechanic. The seller had used an engine from a trusted donor car but, I don't think he ever owned the donor. I suspect it was a breaker. The seller told him that he had previously tried to register the engine swap with DVLA who never got back to him. Now, I suspect this was horses
t and I would suspect that the seller knew the DVLA had refused to register the change.
My friend bought the car for quite a tidy sum, and tried to register it with the DVLA. They refused to issue a V5, stating that they needed to confirm the details of the new engine block. He's stuck at the moment with a car that he can't drive on the road, can't insure and can't properly tax.
What steps does he need to take to register the swap and make it legitimate? He reckons he can confirm the identity of the old car with the seller and it should pass engineering scrutiny as the installation is of good quality and the shell wasn't cut or adapted to make the new engine fit. The DVLA has written back to my friend asking for the number of the new engine so I suspect they had updated their system when the last owner attempted to register the change.
I know the DVLA changed the rules on engine swaps a few years so that they weren't as easy to register and the IVA/SVA rules changed resulting in loads of unregistered homebrew conversions sitting in sheds and garages. I don't really know enough about the rules to properly advise him what to do.
A friend has recently bought a Mk2 Golf with a 1.8T engine swap from another VAG car. He had kept the purchase a secret from us lads at work which perhaps meant I couldn't give him a heads up on this issue, anyway...
He has bought the car from a private seller, who told is a mechanic. The seller had used an engine from a trusted donor car but, I don't think he ever owned the donor. I suspect it was a breaker. The seller told him that he had previously tried to register the engine swap with DVLA who never got back to him. Now, I suspect this was horses
t and I would suspect that the seller knew the DVLA had refused to register the change. My friend bought the car for quite a tidy sum, and tried to register it with the DVLA. They refused to issue a V5, stating that they needed to confirm the details of the new engine block. He's stuck at the moment with a car that he can't drive on the road, can't insure and can't properly tax.
What steps does he need to take to register the swap and make it legitimate? He reckons he can confirm the identity of the old car with the seller and it should pass engineering scrutiny as the installation is of good quality and the shell wasn't cut or adapted to make the new engine fit. The DVLA has written back to my friend asking for the number of the new engine so I suspect they had updated their system when the last owner attempted to register the change.
I know the DVLA changed the rules on engine swaps a few years so that they weren't as easy to register and the IVA/SVA rules changed resulting in loads of unregistered homebrew conversions sitting in sheds and garages. I don't really know enough about the rules to properly advise him what to do.
Skodasupercar said:
Should be a relatively easy thing to sort - did the seller have any proof of purchase of the 'new' engine? If so then do as above and that should be fine (in my experience).
I'm not sure what the paper trail is on the 'new' engine but my mate is going to chase it up. The DVLA have only asked him for the new engine number at the moment but I've passed on the advice from this thread and others to see that there is some sort of plan if the DVLA continue to faff on.I really hope he can get this sorted as he's been talking about the purchase of this car for weeks. It was meant to be a bit of a secret where we all tried to guess what it was but if I'd known it was an engine swap job I'd have told him to tread carefully as some reading of the 'still a £€¥)£& on the logbook' thread tells me these sorts of modified cars don't get the free pass they once did.
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