London Low Emissions Zone - help me!!!

[MadcapMagician]

Hi guys. I am having major, major problems with the retards at the DVLA.

They have now told me that if I can supply them with number plates of Surfs that have had their body type designation changed so that they can go inside the M25 without paying the £100, they will amend mine to be the same.

Could I please ask (beg!) anyone with a KZN130 who has managed to get their designation changed to email me their registration number (I wouldn't advise posting it on the forum - my first Surf's plate got cloned that way) so I can shove it up the DVLAs backside?

Please email me at jerron.photo@gmail.com

Cheers,

Jerz

[MadcapMagician]

Further to this, I have just spoken to Toyota GB.

They have been told to categorically refuse to provide any information regarding imports and the LEZ.

I mean, seriously, WTF?

[Rustinho]

Have you tried just sending the V5 back to them with the appropriate section corrected?

[MadcapMagician]

Of course. They have had it for 6 weeks now!

[Rustinho]

If you search the forum there were a couple of particularly useful things I remember folks posting.

One of them was a letter from Toyota confirming that the Surf was effectively a 4Runner and should therefore be classed as an estate.

The second was the contact details of Toyota that should be able to help you sort out getting some positive input to give to the DVLA.

I also found this which might be helpful to you.

[MadcapMagician]

One of them was a letter from Toyota confirming that the Surf was effectively a 4Runner and should therefore be classed as an estate.

Yes, I have sent them that letter and I am waiting for one addressed to me personally which I'll also be sending them.

The second was the contact details of the specific department at Toyota that should be able to help you sort out getting some positive input to give to the DVLA.

As I stated, Toyota GB have effectively washed their hands of the matter. They have sent out a letter/email/whatever to their customer support staff telling them, in no uncertain terms, that they cannot and will not provide any information regarding Surfs and the LEZ.

[MadcapMagician]

So, following the example set by someone else on here, I have trawled Autotrader and eBay for KZN130s, stuck their number plates into the LEZ vehicle checker and sent the DVLA details of 6 Surfs that are LEZ exempt.

We'll see what happens.

[Rustinho]

Bugger. I had a quick search and found the links too!

Good idea about using Autotrader too...

[shokenore]

Further to this, I have just spoken to Toyota GB.

They have been told to categorically refuse to provide any information regarding imports and the LEZ.

I mean, seriously, WTF?

I am sorry I thought you was a HWMBO

Just send off your V5 and make sure you change the body style to "estate"
Simples

[MadcapMagician]

Just send off your V5 and make sure you change the body style to "estate"
Simples

So, what part of this did you not understand?

Have you tried just sending the V5 back to them with the appropriate section corrected?

Of course. They have had it for 6 weeks now!

[MadcapMagician]

66 views and no-one's prepared to help?

[shokenore]

So, what part of this did you not understand?

So have you received your V5 back now?

[rikm777]

Hey Jerz,i,ve sent you an e mail with my reg number if that will help.mine was changed recently on the strengh of the letter from customer relations at Toyota GB and a couple of print outs from wikipedia explaining that the surf was marketed as a 4runner when officiallyimported to the UK.I included these because Toyota GB do not hold technical data on grey imports(which personally i find quite difficult to believe!) but do hold data on the officially imported 4runner which as i,m sure you,re well aware was pretty much identical but for different interior trim options and slightly less toys on it.Dealing with both the DVLA and Toyota is a bit of a lottery.i just kept phoning both of them until i found someone who would listen to me and help.good luck

[MadcapMagician]

So have you received your V5 back now?

No; they still have it.

Hey Jerz,i,ve sent you an e mail with my reg number if that will help.mine was changed recently on the strengh of the letter from customer relations at Toyota GB and a couple of print outs from wikipedia explaining that the surf was marketed as a 4runner when officiallyimported to the UK.I included these because Toyota GB do not hold technical data on grey imports(which personally i find quite difficult to believe!) but do hold data on the officially imported 4runner which as i,m sure you,re well aware was pretty much identical but for different interior trim options and slightly less toys on it.Dealing with both the DVLA and Toyota is a bit of a lottery.i just kept phoning both of them until i found someone who would listen to me and help.good luck

Thank you so much.

It's been absolutely hellish. I've sent them photos, including one that shows the Surf badge on the back and another that shows me reaching into the boot from the back seat; I've sent them extracts from Wikipedia; I've sent them 6 number plates I got off Autotrader that are all LEZ exempt; I've sent them the letter from Toyota that was posted on the forum; I've made about a dozen phone calls to them....and now they've passed it to their Policy Dept.


This was the original letter I sent them with the V5 (cobbled together from letters posted elsewhere on this forum):

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please find enclosed the V5C Document for vehicle registration number xxxxxxx. This is an imported vehicle and was registered in the UK on 11/10/2005. There are several errors on this document that need to be rectified immediately.

In section 4(D.3) the model name has been left incomplete. The correct model name is Hilux Surf. This is an important differentiation as the Toyota Hilux is a pick-up-bodied Light 4x4 Utility Vehicle, whereas the Toyota Hilux Surf is an estate-bodied Sports Utility Vehicle.

Carrying on from this, in section 4(D.5) the body type details have been entered as Light 4x4 Utility. This is incorrect; the body type for this vehicle is Estate or Sports Utility Vehicle - the same as a Range Rover, Land Rover Discovery, Vauxhall Frontera, Mitsubishi Shogun, etc.

The vehicle has 5 seats, including the driver’s, and has a carpeted boot space that is contiguous with, and an extension of, the passenger compartment. To reiterate, this body plan is exactly the same as that of the Range Rover, Land Rover Discovery, Vauxhall Frontera, Mitsubishi Shogun, etc. The vehicle is not designed as a pick-up truck.

It may help to know that my vehicle was imported into the UK from Japan where it was marketed and sold as the Toyota Hilux Surf. In the UK, Europe and the USA, this exact model was marketed and sold by Toyota as the Toyota 4Runner. The Toyota 4Runner was sold by Toyota in the UK between 1993 and 1996 and was marketed as an SUV with an Estate body type, not a Light 4x4 Utility.

The fact that my vehicle was imported into the UK as a Toyota Hilux Surf may be the cause of some confusion but the Toyota Hilux Surf and the Toyota 4Runner are exactly the same model in every way; they just have different names for marketing purposes in different regions.

Please be aware that Toyota also manufacture a Light 4x4 Utility vehicle that is marketed as the Toyota Hilux. This has a pick-up body type and is not the same as the Toyota Hilux Surf or 4Runner.

Furthermore, in section 4(E) the VIN number has been incorrectly entered. The correct number is KZN130xxxxxx.

Please amend the V5C accordingly and return it to me.

Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Regards,



Then I sent them this:

Dear Ms Jones and Mrs. Cameron,

Further to your letter of 7/10/11, please find attached several photographs of my car.

As you can see, the boot is contiguous with, and accessible from, the passenger compartment of the car, exactly the same as it is in the Range Rover, Shogun, Pajero, etc.

There is a clear and obvious difference between the Hilux Surf and the Hilux. The Toyota Hilux is a pick-up truck (and thus a commercial vehicle), whilst the Toyota Hilux Surf is not a commercial vehicle, it is a 4x4 Estate or SUV and my photographs show this clearly.

Regards,



Then this:

Dear Ms Jones and Mrs. Cameron,

Further to my email of earlier this morning, please find attached a letter from Toyota to another Hilux Surf owner that confirms that the Toyota 4 Runner (the UK version, which you do not class as a Light Utility Vehicle) and Toyota Hilux Surf are similar models.

Toyota will be sending me a letter that I shall forward on to you but in the meantime, to expedite matters, please see the attached letter.

Regards,



Then this:

Dear Ms Jones and Mrs. Cameron,

Further to my previous emails, please be advised thus:

The Toyota 4Runner is a mid-size SUV manufactured by Toyota and sold throughout the world from 1984 to the present. In Japan it was known as the Toyota Hilux Surf. The original 4Runner was a compact SUV and little more than a Toyota pickup truck with a fiberglass shell over the bed, but the model has since undergone significant independent development into a cross between a mid-size and a full-size SUV. All 4Runners have been built at Toyota's Tahara plant in Tahara, Aichi, Japan or at Hino Motors' Hamura, Japan plant, and in Brazil. Its mid-size crossover SUV counterpart is the Kluger/Highlander.

This information can be found on Wikipedia, here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_4Runner

Regards,



And finally this:

Dear Ms Jones and Mrs. Cameron,

Further to my previous emails, and your request for me to provide you with number plates of similar vehicles that you would appear to have classified correctly, please see the list below:

Lxxxxxx
Lxxxxxx
Nxxxxxx
Mxxxxxx
Pxxxxxx
Lxxxxxx

All of these vehicles are Toyota Hilux Surfs. All of them have been classified by you so that they are exempt from the LEZ. My vehicle is the same as them.

Regards,

And then, after the last phone call, I sent this to the lady mentioned on the Roughtrax site (she works for TFL, not the DVLA) because I am sick of dealing with c*nts who can't a) see what's in front of them, b) think for themselves and c) use some common effing sense:

Dear Eva,

I am the owner of a Toytota Hilux Surf, registration number Lxxxxxx.

The DVLA have my car's details recorded incorrectly as a Toyota Hilux, not a Hilux Surf. Whilst the Hilux is a 4x4 LUV, the Hilux Surf is a 4x4 SUV with an estate body.

There is a distinct and obvious difference between the Hilux Surf and the Hilux. The Toyota Hilux is a pick-up truck (and thus a commercial LUV), whilst the Toyota Hilux Surf is not a commercial vehicle, it is a 4x4 SUV and my photographs show this clearly.

My logbook is currently with the DVLA, and has been for approximately 6 or 7 weeks. Despite numerous phone calls and emails, and regardless of the fact that thay have amended many other Surf's logbooks, they are taking an inordinate amount of time to investigate and amend my logbook, and I am extremely concerned that they will not have this done in time for January.

To this end, then, please find attached several photos of my vehicle that show its body type and registration number, as well as the Surf badge on the rear of the vehicle.

As you can see, the boot is contiguous with, and accessible from, the passenger compartment of the car, exactly the same as it is in the Range Rover, Shogun, Pajero, etc, all of which are exempt from the LEZ charge.

In the list below I have provided you with the registration details of six other Toyota Hilux Surfs that are registered correctly and that are exempt:

Lxxxxxx
Lxxxxxx
Nxxxxxx
Mxxxxxx
Pxxxxxx
Lxxxxxx

Could you please amend your details accordingly and provide me with the LEZ exemption that you have given to these other Hilux Surfs.

Regards,

Basically, the whole thing is an effing shambles.

[rikm777]

wow i thought i spent a lot of time annoying people at the DVLA but you have sent even more letters than me.there really is no rhyme or reason to their policy regarding changing the vehicle type on the log book.Some people seem to just send their log book in with body type changed to estate and the DVLA ammend it accordingly.Other people the DVLA want them to fly to Japan and get a letter from the CEO of Toyota written in the blood of his first born child before they will even think about changing vehicle type on the log book.i can offer no explanation.I havent seen the last letter you got from the DVLA but mine basically said obtain a letter from Toyota stating that the surf/4runner was a passenger carrying vehicle.Once i had obtained that i had fulfilled their criteria and they couldnt refuse to change my log book.Well they probably could have refusd me if they felt like it!