Commercial seats

911s

Apologies if I seem to be asking same type of question on forum, but maybe somebody here (Slidey ?) might have answer.
Recently purchased Mercedes G-Wagen, full VRT paid on import, but later declared as a commercial with commercial tax etc. When I
received reg. document back it said own goods (commercial) but also listed no.of seats as 5.
Can I leave in seats for DOE test or do they have to be removed and mountings welded. I must add that I have a vat registered business so no problem leaving as 2 seats, but the extra seats wouls be a
bonus and would help maintain the originality of car.
Maybe because of age ('89) the car qualified similar to
thy way Landcruser Amazon qualified?

Slidey

Nah, wouldn't think so.

The log books are well known for being wrong, often times if they don't know the answer they will just put in a handful of 5's instead of finding out the right details. :rolleyes:

Personally, I wouldn't bother welding the seat belt holes, I would be surprised if any tester went looking.

911s

Thanks Slidey. I thought that whatever was recorded in the 'Official' reg. was fact. Lets just say that the seats may 'fall' back into car after test!
Am willing to argue my point with any Revenue official I meet at checkpoint, as full VRT has been paid and reg. says 5 seats, as long as I am using it for work purposes (remember to bring tool box etc. to kid's football match on Saturday!)

101sean

Keep us posted on how you get on. Not too many G-wagons here but there's at least one that is heavily off-roaded. They also hold their value, even makes a Defender look cheap!

911s

Hi Sean, been looking for a 'G' for some time, although learned how to drive in a Landrever in the late 60's by taking the cushion off centre seat and putting on drivers seat to help see out.The G seems to have a substantial chassis and running gear but underside of body seems to rust like a seventies British car!The original underseal is cracking on mine and letting in moisture, leading to rusty spots. Previous owner also re-sprayed so God known what is hiding under paint. Good points are spotless original interior and sweet 300d engine, although being used to modern diesels I have forgotten how slow this one is, even though we thought family Merc 240d was a rocket in 1978.
I think I've spotted the one you mentioned, Wicklow based?. The one I bought is too clean for extreme off road but may be up to some light use,ie. Dartfield as opposed to Flower Hill.
It has been estimated there are between 60 and 70 in Ireland, and at the moment the price is increasing (in Europe)

101sean

Couple of east european lads had a G-wagon last time at Dartfield, they'd only just bought it. It was on half bald road tyres and they had real problems in the swampy camping field, the difflocks meant it could sit there with all 4 wheels spinning! They were good sports and tried to get it round the course, with decent tyres it would be unstoppable.

The off road one I saw belonged to a tyre dealer in Ennis, I think he's sold it on though.

Look forward to seeing yours sometime during the year at an off roading event.

beretta686s

there is 4 gwagons in my village alone id say there must be more than 60 70 in he whole of ireland and i know another few around

aujopimur

You won't get any hassle from customs as vrt has been payed.
You will have to remove the back seats and belts, plastic metal will do to plug the bolt holes.

tony.aspergers

I think you have managed to import this as a "Utility", there are new rules in force at present that allow this to be done, it's like the Land Rover Discovery 5 seat Utility currently on sale.

911s

Aware of the 'Utility' classification, and have previously posted about it, and received some helpful answers. Utility class is mostly a business tax dodge when purchasing vehicle, and indeed Discovery price looked very attractive, but I was inforned that the full private tax would have to be paid, and Utility Discovery rated in top band, was 2,258.00 euro but may
have increased.
My car imported approx 6 years ago and re-classified as commercial
one year ago. May have been a clerical mistake like Slidey mentioned, but
my reg. document says 5 seats, so I'll have 5 seats!

tony.aspergers

Utility Discovery (N1 class) attracts road tax based on engine size so is in fact just over €1,300 or so.... also the full 7 seater 2012 Discovery 4 has dropped a tax band due to a new engine emission rate

happybob

tony.aspergers wrote: »

Utility Discovery (N1 class) attracts road tax based on engine size so is in fact just over €1,300 or so.... also the full 7 seater 2012 Discovery 4 has dropped a tax band due to a new engine emission rate

I'm interested in where it is documented that N1 is based on engine size when being -privately- taxed?

Eric Cartman

Slidey wrote: »

The log books are well known for being wrong, often times if they don't know the answer they will just put in a handful of 5's instead of finding out the right details. :rolleyes:

+1 , apparantly my 7 series has a gvw of 5555kg and an engine number of 555555555