Sale of 3.5+ ton van by dealer.

[Robmac]

How many over weight vans are being driven on the roads without the driver knowing he is breaking the law on many counts.

I got pulled once in my previous motorhome and was a little bit over the limit+5% which some officers used to allow.

I didn't know whether to leave Julie or the dog there but eventually settled for emptying the water tank and they let me on my way with a warning.

 

[barryd]

I weighed mine with the bike on, us in it and all our gear before this trip and I think we were still three or four hundred kilos under. 1050kg under when it was weighed empty before we bought it.

 

[Robmac]

I weighed mine with the bike on, us in it and all our gear before this trip and I think we were still three or four hundred kilos under. 1050kg under when it was weighed empty before we bought it.

I should be similar in mine Barry, last time I weighed the van I had 700kg spare and that included me being in it and I think half water and fuel.

 

[TeamRienza]

How many over weight vans are being driven on the roads without the driver knowing he is breaking the law on many counts.

And I'll bet a brave few vans are driving about overloaded with the driver knowing full well.

Davy

 

[TeamRienza]

I got pulled once in my previous motorhome and was a little bit over the limit+5% which some officers used to allow.

I didn't know whether to leave Julie or the dog there but eventually settled for emptying the water tank and they let me on my way with a warning.

Very similar to my own plans Rob. Drop water which could save up to 140 kg, get bike out of garage (29kg) place wife on bike (X kg) and put full rucksack on wife (30 kg?)

Only problem is that in the final days of our french trips each year, I let the fresh tank run down as I replace the water with wine.

I stopped at a free weighbridge in Loughbrickland on our way home. 3880 kg. Van is rated for 3850 kg, so nobody got hurt. I think it was 60 bottles on that trip. I count a bottle as 1 kg, but god knows what the weight of all the tins and bottles of french and Spanish foods weighed.that my wife buys.

Davy

 

[Nabsim]

And I'll bet a brave few vans are driving about overloaded with the driver knowing full well.

Davy

It all seems a bit of nonsense to me as a lot of the payload/overloading is because of the 3.5t driving license and nothing to do with safety. As an example my van left the factory plated at 3850Kgs. A previous owner had it up rated to 4000Kgs as it remained for most of its life. Because I was unable to take a medical when I reached 70 I got it re-plated to 3500Kgs but its tight and wouldn't work if Caz wanted to come with me.

Do I have any safety concerns if I happen to run a bit overweight, absolutely not. It's al bureaucracy. That's not to say I would encourage overloading but I think it should work on safe loading more than license. You may gather I don't agree with the losing C1 at 70 as well lol

 

[barryd]

It all seems a bit of nonsense to me as a lot of the payload/overloading is because of the 3.5t driving license and nothing to do with safety. As an example my van left the factory plated at 3850Kgs. A previous owner had it up rated to 4000Kgs as it remained for most of its life. Because I was unable to take a medical when I reached 70 I got it re-plated to 3500Kgs but its tight and wouldn't work if Caz wanted to come with me.

Do I have any safety concerns if I happen to run a bit overweight, absolutely not. It's al bureaucracy. That's not to say I would encourage overloading but I think it should work on safe loading more than license. You may gather I don't agree with the losing C1 at 70 as well lol

My old 1996 Kontiki 640 was an odd one. I think it was rated to 3400kg not 3500kg but I could have changed it to 3650 apparently without any changes. How we managed to keep it legal with a scooter on the back and all our stuff for six months away in it I don't know. We did once get weighed at the border in Switzerland with a Luton full of German beer and it was 3460kg. 2009 and I still have the border weighbridge print out.

You felt the weight in that van though. It would wallow about a bit especially on motorways if over taking a lorry. This one you don't notice anything but its rated to 4250kg

 

[mariesnowgoose]

All a bit ridiculous really, reading the daily mail that is.

 

[alcam]

And I'll bet a brave few vans are driving about overloaded with the driver knowing full well.

Davy

If you never weigh the van you'll never know .
Ignorance is bliss

 

[mark61]

It all seems a bit of nonsense to me as a lot of the payload/overloading is because of the 3.5t driving license and nothing to do with safety. As an example my van left the factory plated at 3850Kgs. A previous owner had it up rated to 4000Kgs as it remained for most of its life. Because I was unable to take a medical when I reached 70 I got it re-plated to 3500Kgs but its tight and wouldn't work if Caz wanted to come with me.

Do I have any safety concerns if I happen to run a bit overweight, absolutely not. It's al bureaucracy. That's not to say I would encourage overloading but I think it should work on safe loading more than license. You may gather I don't agree with the losing C1 at 70 as well lol

It is partly nonsense, party safety. They have to make the rules reasonably workable.

I guess if it was all about safety we could have the GVW of a vehicle decreased by say 5% each year, until suspension parts are replaced as original

I mean breaking the law aside I’d rather drive a new vehicle 10% overloaded than a 15 year old one 10 % under max.

 

[korky]

This does not surprise me. They never know anything about weights or payloads either. One of the key things anyone should want to know when buying a motorhome is what its available user payload is. I don't think I have ever come across any that have or had the information readily available. I've even had dealers and brokers just send me a photo of the axle weight plate.

It always used to make me smile when the Swiss Tony shiny suite salesman came bouncing across all smiles and as soon as I started asking about payload, weighbridges etc the smile just dropped.

I well remember the Bra Men, Pat Wright and Dave Arrowsmith (Vic and Bob), buying a car off Swiss Toni.
"We want winders that gan aal the way oop an aal the way doon."
"Wipers"
"Not now man, not in front of Swiss Toni."
Priceless.

 

[trevskoda]

It is partly nonsense, party safety. They have to make the rules reasonably workable.

I guess if it was all about safety we could have the GVW of a vehicle decreased by say 5% each year, until suspension parts are replaced as original

I mean breaking the law aside I’d rather drive a new vehicle 10% overloaded than a 15 year old one 10 % under max.

Mine is now 25 years old and still a spring chicken.

 

[Thistle]

And I'll bet a brave few vans are driving about overloaded

Absolutely definitely yes

How many over weight vans are being driven on the roads without the driver knowing he is breaking the law on many counts.

It’s actually staggering how lazy or stupid some people are when it comes to doing something as simple as checking for errors and omissions on the simple V5 document

It’s extremely common for emmisions info vehicle type and revenue weight to be blank, a massive red flag.
It’s also quite common to see dishonest traders and commercial operators attaching fake SVtech stickers to fool drivers into thinking a vehicle has been up or down plated.

I deal with those issues all the time.

What most people with only a B license driving vehicles plated over 3500kg don’t realise is their insurance contract is invalid as well, that’s because they’ve made a false declaration on the application.

I’ve had a handful of people go home from my workshop on a flatbed because they’ve found out once here they aren’t licensed for the van they turned up in!

In this instance the dealers been pretty negligent but then who in their right mind ever trusts or believes anything a car salesman says!

The onus is always 100% on the buyer to have done his due diligence before purchase