Changed engine size, what must i do?

lismed

Hi just wonderin what i have to do taxwise?

a couple of weeks ago the engine seized in my focus 05 ( the oil seemed to dissapear ) wel anyway after alot of work to find a 1.4 for it i havent but d mechanic has gotten a 1.6. he says all will fit and i trust him just wonderin what exactly i'll have to do to keep everything to the book?

all help appreciated,

lismed

Reloc8

The physical work aside ?

When your tax is up you need to fill in a form RF111 here http://www.environ.ie/en/LocalGovernment/MotorTax/PublicationsDocuments/FileDownLoad,495,en.pdf

You need to notify your insurer of the modification to the car also to ensure they will still hold cover & to pay any increase in your premium - that needs to be done before you drive it, the tax form is done when your tax on the vehicle is next up.

Edit : for your own sake, get a good invoice from him for the work, get him to fill in your service history properly and keep the receipt with the car documents to preserve as much value as possible in showing the next owner if any that a good job was done. Get him to write up the reason for the change of engine (i.e. engine fecked as opposed to car wrapped around tree & accident repair) as well.

tallaghtmick

...

EPM

@tallaghtmick

Don't suggest doing something illegal.

lismed

thanks Reloc8, wil i have to do anything for the NCT test like let them know that a change has been made?

AugustusMinimus

lismed wrote: »

Hi just wonderin what i have to do taxwise?

a couple of weeks ago the engine seized in my focus 05 ( the oil seemed to dissapear ) wel anyway after alot of work to find a 1.4 for it i havent but d mechanic has gotten a 1.6. he says all will fit and i trust him just wonderin what exactly i'll have to do to keep everything to the book?

all help appreciated,

lismed

It'll be like a new car. You won't know yourself with the extra power.

tallaghtmick

EPM wrote: »

@tallaghtmick

Don't suggest doing something illegal.

yes because i was 100% serious there:rolleyes:

lismed

yeah really lookin forward to that bit but not so much to the more expensive insurance and bigger fuel bill!!! but i'd say i'll survive actually couldnt believe how hard it is to find a 1.4 engine for it

AugustusMinimus

lismed wrote: »

yeah really lookin forward to that bit but not so much to the more expensive insurance and bigger fuel bill!!! but i'd say i'll survive actually couldnt believe how hard it is to find a 1.4 engine for it

Your insurance shouldn't really go up. I know I've often tried it with my own car and the 1.4 engine gives me the same figure for insurance quotes.

MPG shouldn't be too bad either.

Be happy your moving up to a 1.6 though. That 1.4 is very underpowered.

EPM

tallaghtmick wrote: »

yes because i was 100% serious there:rolleyes:

This isnt after hours. If you have a problem complain via PM. Not on thread.

lismed wrote: »

yeah really lookin forward to that bit but not so much to the more expensive insurance and bigger fuel bill!!! but i'd say i'll survive actually couldnt believe how hard it is to find a 1.4 engine for it

You will probably find your mpg increases as the engine doesnt need to work as hard. Make sure you get all the information you need on the new engine. Certified mileage is the main thing so that you don't miss a timing belt change etc.

AugustusMinimus

EPM wrote: »

You will probably find your mpg increases as the engine doesnt need to work as hard. Make sure you get all the information you need on the new engine. Certified mileage is the main thing so that you don't miss a timing belt change etc.

Depends how hard you are driving the car.

The harder you drive, the better of it is having a larger engine as you won't be revving it as hard.

High revs = money burnt.

Plug

lismed wrote: »

yeah really lookin forward to that bit but not so much to the more expensive insurance and bigger fuel bill!!! but i'd say i'll survive actually couldnt believe how hard it is to find a 1.4 engine for it

Im 99% sure the maps in the ECU for the 1.4 and 1.6 engines are slightly different from each other, you may need to have to source a new ecu too for the 1.6 and then get it programmed. The 1.6 will start and run but it might not be A1 the way its supposed to be. Just make sure your mechanic knows what your on about in case you get into a bit of trouble with it. Fingers crossed it will be ok though.

lismed

Augustus and EPM would ye have any idea on what to do regards NCT?
and thanks for your help

Our man in Havana

You shouldn't have to do anything until the NCT is due.

You do have to inform the tax office as soon as it is done.

David09

Our man in Havana wrote: »

You shouldn't have to do anything until the NCT is due.

You do have to inform the tax office as soon as it is done.

Rightly or wrongly, it won't matter to the nct. If it is mechanically correct it will pass. They are not concerned about engine sizes.


I've done it before with a 00 focus. Same as your case, I couldn't locate a good 1.4 so went with a 1.6.
The 1.6 will bolt straight in. Everything is the same. You will however need to have the ecu swapped from a 1.6 car as the fuelling will be all over the place and the engine will run like cr4p with the original ecu.
An ecu secondhand from a breakers yard is acceptable and will plug straight in, but you must swap the key chip over from the scrapyard car onto yours or else the immobiliser will not deactivate.

end a eknny

why would you do anything the insurance will be a balls as this is not a manufactureers modification and you will probably have to get an engineers report 300 euro. if it was me i would be using the old adage what they dont know wont sicken them and nobody would know lookin at the engine what size it is

Our man in Havana

If you increase the engine size you will have to pay more road tax and this is payable immediately.

Matt Simis

end a eknny wrote: »

why would you do anything the insurance will be a balls as this is not a manufactureers modification and you will probably have to get an engineers report 300 euro. if it was me i would be using the old adage what they dont know wont sicken them and nobody would know lookin at the engine what size it is

He needs a signed engineers report of sorts for the tax office along with the engine block number of the new engine to change the Vehicle Registration book does he not? Before worrying about the piece of paper showing tax I would be on to my Insurance cos that actually matters out in the real world though.

Or be like everyone else and run to Donedeal and advertise it to the world as "1.4 on de books". <- Dont do this.

lismed

WOW! this is all of a sudden getting more complicated! Matt when you say "a signed engineers report of sorts" whats the story on that who would qualify to give it?

David09

end a eknny wrote: »

why would you do anything the insurance will be a balls as this is not a manufactureers modification and you will probably have to get an engineers report 300 euro. if it was me i would be using the old adage what they dont know wont sicken them and nobody would know lookin at the engine what size it is

Not a good move as if the OP was unfortunate enough to be in a collision, lots of arkward questions could arise and insurance policy could be invalidated.

In my case, what I did was to get a quote for a standard 1.6 focus and ask to go with it.

Reloc8

Our man in Havana wrote: »

If you increase the engine size you will have to pay more road tax and this is payable immediately.

Nope. You register changes in vehicle particulars next time tax is due. As per the instructions for filling in the form linked to in my first reply, motor tax will assess whether the change in particulars gave rise to a higher payable rate and charge you the arrears calculated from the date of change. Its not payable immediately.

Matt Simis

lismed wrote: »

WOW! this is all of a sudden getting more complicated! Matt when you say "a signed engineers report of sorts" whats the story on that who would qualify to give it?

I have never done this but my understanding is a professional/recognized mechanic needs to sign off on the paperwork which is presented to the Tax office. Your insurance company may ask for something more than a signature though. Ring and ask them, if you are doing this all above board then I wouldnt worry about just asking the Revenue and Insurance people.

Our man in Havana

lismed wrote: »

WOW! this is all of a sudden getting more complicated! Matt when you say "a signed engineers report of sorts" whats the story on that who would qualify to give it?

Ask the tax office for a list of approved engineers.

lismed

thanks Matt and our man. that isnt so bad after all the work is being done by my uncle who is a mechanic and in the business for up on 40 years but if he isnt registered i'm sure he'lbe able to find someone who is. can the insurance company be more strict?

Del2005

lismed wrote: »

thanks Matt and our man. that isnt so bad after all the work is being done by my uncle who is a mechanic and in the business for up on 40 years but if he isnt registered i'm sure he'lbe able to find someone who is. can the insurance company be more strict?

The insurance company can be as strict as they want. If you want them to pay out you need to get them to send on in writing what you need to do to be legit with them. When you've meet their criteria get it in writing that you're covered with the new engine.

Senna

I had a 1.6 golf that was down on the tax book as "golf 1.4 cl", but the cc was correct. The tax office told me i would need to get an engineers report from Volkswagen just to change the description.
I didn't bother changing it in the end, it was taxed and insured correctly, i wasn't going to extra expense just cause the tax office made a mistake.

-Chris-

EPM wrote: »

Don't suggest doing something illegal.

end a eknny wrote: »

why would you do anything the insurance will be a balls as this is not a manufactureers modification and you will probably have to get an engineers report 300 euro. if it was me i would be using the old adage what they dont know wont sicken them and nobody would know lookin at the engine what size it is

Please don't post this advice again.

end a eknny

David09 wrote: »

Not a good move as if the OP was unfortunate enough to be in a collision, lots of arkward questions could arise and insurance policy could be invalidated.

In my case, what I did was to get a quote for a standard 1.6 focus and ask to go with it.

but the car isnt a standard 1.6 this would definetly invalidate insurance sure they would take the money off you but you might as well have a photocopied peice of paper. the engineers report isnt from a mechanic it will have to be from an auto engineer

Leonard Hofstadter

OP - this could be a blessing in disguise - you'll soon have a car with the engine it deserves!

Unless you only drive around town, the 1.6 will probably work out to be cheaper to fuel as well - that 1.4 is dangerously underpowered.

W.Shakes-Beer

+1 regarding better mpg.

There is this crazy outlook in Ireland that if you buy a small engine in a mid/large car that you will be saving money. Not only would it be worse to drive it'll guzzle fuel getting itself moving.

I drove a 1.4 Astra hatch up to a few months ago, bought a 1.8 Astra coupe and the coupe is much easier on the juice ( as long as you don't welly it ) and has much better performance to boot!

Best of luck OP.