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New Vehicle Tax and 'Camper Van' Classification - HELP!

DPS20K

Member
The government did a u-turn on including motor caravans in the passenger vehicle tax bracket in 2020. From April 2017 until then, they were taxed the same as cars and so attracted the higher first year road fund charge based on emissions, and the additional £355 per year road fund licence for vehicles over £40k, for the next 5 years. After lobbying from the industry they accepted it was unfair as you couldn’t purchase a motor caravan for less than £40k. So from April 2020 they allowed motor caravans to be taxed as light goods vehicles.
 
Perfect, wish I knew all this before now, perhaps could have pre-empted the issues at MBRG! Hopefully having three of us with the same problem will force a change of process or better communication for future customers
 

Marc o Polo

Active Member
Perfect, wish I knew all this before now, perhaps could have pre-empted the issues at MBRG! Hopefully having three of us with the same problem will force a change of process or better communication for future customers

MP Owners Club - my go-to for info every time, OP! :)
 
Samebutdifferent

Samebutdifferent

Active Member
VIP Member
I had a VW panel van converted to a camper in 2013 and reclassified it as a Motor Caravan for insurance purposes. At the time there was the same discussion amongst Cali owners regarding MPV/ Motor Caravan, VW seemed to go back and forth with what they registered the cali as.

This has been going on for years so I really don't know why MB didn't get it right when they first introduced the MP, not only to reduce tax for customers but to simplify insurance as well.
 

Grand Tourismo

Active Member
My MP is classed as an MPV on the V5C and I think I have found an upside....we get charged as a class 2 vehicle (standard car) by the ANPR cameras on the M6 Toll road, instead of being charged as a motor caravan at nearly twice the rate!...I can only think they get the charge rate from DVLA V5C files :Thumbs up:
 
Samebutdifferent

Samebutdifferent

Active Member
VIP Member
My MP is classed as an MPV on the V5C and I think I have found an upside....we get charged as a class 2 vehicle (standard car) by the ANPR cameras on the M6 Toll road, instead of being charged as a motor caravan at nearly twice the rate!...I can only think they get the charge rate from DVLA V5C files :Thumbs up:

But what about a car with a trailer or caravan?

I think they have sensors that count how many axles and maybe the length of vehicle to calculate the charge.

I used the M6 Toll with my T5 and was charged two different rates and couldn't work out why. One was with a tow bar mounted bike carrier and one without;)
 
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Grand Tourismo

Active Member
But what about a car with a trailer or caravan?

I think they have sensors that count how many axles and maybe the length of vehicle to calculate the charge.

I used the M6 Toll with my T5 and was charged two different rates and couldn't work out why. One was with a tow bar mounted bike carrier and one without;)
Different times of day and different days of the week attract different charges...will be towing on the M6 toll soon and will let you know ;)

What I found interesting is that they charge a motorhome/van only about 70p less than an artic HGV!
 

Steve B

Active Member
One small benefit for those of us who paid the full amount a couple of years ago, many private (no height restrictions) car parks have a cost for a car and a cost for a van, so you can get away with the car fee as its an MPV when the low-lives that run them check your reg number. Just a few more thousand uses p,a and I'll break even :)
 

ANR

New Member
Has anyone heard anything back yet? I've been told they are trialling the registration of another customers vehicle online and this should have been done by lunchtime yesterday. I'm still chasing and the latest is there is no update from their admin department. Not sure how quickly/seriously they taking this.
 

ANR

New Member
Very poor comms from Mercedes Benz Retail, my vehicle was re-booked in for delivery on Monday which after chasing today I was told that won't happen. I have a week holiday planned in it from Tuesday which I made them aware of early on but not even an apology from the main manager, no acceptance of any delays from their part, despite having my delivery booked and cancelled twice, the vehicle being in the UK for 2 weeks before they discovered the issue with registration and missing the dealer memo for April advising of the process to register.

I made them aware earlier this week that a new vehicle has successfully been registered. @pumpsmynads would you mind sending me your reg number, they said they might be able to check the registration types on their system? Thanks
 
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