How long has the SVA test been in effect? and is it a con??

[Fieldsy]

The reason I ask, a friend of mine looked at an imported MR2 on a private sale at the weekend on a '97 plate and enquired to the seller wether it had been sva'd ok. The car had been owned by the seller for two years and was registered and plated.

The seller looked in disbelief at my m8 " SVA??, whats that then?, never heard of it, I brought the car in to the country 2 years ago, MOT'd it, it needed a fog light,I sent off the registration application and they sent me back my new registration in about 3-4 days". " Is it done by the Ministry???" he asked.

My mate proceeded to tell him that vehicles under 10 years old needed an SVA to maintain EU conformity for this country.I believe my m8, when he says the bloke was genuinely surprised, he had nothing to hide, he could have just said, yep, course it has m8,no problem, but he had seriously NEVER heard of it and didn't even know what it was.

To be honest, if he DID know about SVA, he certainly wouldn't have told my m8 thats its never had one, as my m8 obviously knows about them, and the sale wouldn't have had a chance.

My m8 carried on to tell him, how much it costs, what basically needed to be done etc...., to which he replied, "but it wouldn't be worth bringing it in to the country if I had to pay that, its obviously just a glorified MOT. I have a few friends that have imported cars, as we have meets with the MR2'S and none of them including myself have heard of SVA, I know they haven't, its never ever been mentioned.We've all imported them as personal imports, sent off the documents, thats it. My friend has just imported a 2 year old model, he's got it registered and I know that its never had this SVA thing done".

My m8 was dumbstruck!! and felt a bit stupid.

So, to my questions,

Firstly, has this slipped through the net?, and if when my m8 needed to register it in he's name, could he be caught out if the register shows it hadn't been SVA'd, and would he then be liable to get it done, and what proof is there to say it has or hasn't been done at the dvla?

Secondly, Is the SVA, just a huge !!!!!! government scam to get money, and if you are honest enough to get it done, then its your loss.?To be perfectly honest, if I hadn't been a member on here, I wouldn't know anything about SVA, I would have imported a vehicle, mot'd it and sent of the documents. Only if there had been a query would I have known about SVA. If they had just returned the registration number ok I wouldn't have been any the wiser.

This was a privately owned vehicle on '97 plate with the seller registered as the first owner, and had been for two years, and he genuinely knew nothing about SVA.??


Is it a big con??, or has he just been lucky???

yours confusingly

Fieldsy

[turbotommy]

It may be because it was a personal import of a vehicle, in contrast to a company/individual shipping them as a business. Personal import rules are generally for individuals that have owned and used their vehicles abroad (for at least a year, i think), and then move here with them. I did this with a 1st gen 4runner when i moved back from california, and there was no need for an SVA becuase it was a personal import. Alas, my better half didn't like the fact that it was a left hooker and thus i had to let it go, a tragedy as i had it in superb nick. I still miss it :-(

[Fieldsy]

thnx Turbo,

so if your not classed as a personal importer, which I assume most can't;

****************************** *************************
Type Approval

Non-type approved vehicles less than 10 years old that are personally imported are required to pass a Single Vehicle Approval (SVA) test. To qualify as a Personal Import [PI], the following conditions have to be met.

· If the vehicle has been imported by a person entering the United Kingdom;

· That the person had, at the time the vehicle was imported, been normally resident in a country other than the United Kingdom for a continuous period of at least 12 months;

· That person intends to become normally resident in the United Kingdom;

· That the vehicle has been in the possession of that person and used by him in the country where he has normally resident for a period of at least 6 months before its importation and

· That the vehicle is intended for his personal or household use in the United Kingdom.

Personally imported vehicles over 3 years old, that meet the above criteria, will be subject to the MOT test.

The Vehicle Operator Services Agency will need to be satisfied that the person importing the vehicle complies with the above criteria.
****************************** ****************************


then what are you classed as??

****************************** **************
Commercial and other Non-Personal Imports

If you do not qualify as a personal importer, you will need to submit your vehicle for an SVA inspection. Until 31 July 2001, one level of test "Standard SVA" applied to all vehicles. From the 1 August 2001 a more stringent SVA test was introduced, (Enhanced SVA) that applies to most imports which are neither type approved nor personal.

It is also permissible to obtain an equivalent single approval granted in another EEA State.

Further information on SVA is given in leaflet SVA4 and in the booklet 'How to Import a vehicle into great Britain' PI5.

Vehicles over 10 years old are exempt from type approval and SVA but will require a current MOT certificate.

A vehicle is classed as being 10 years old from the last day of the month of first registration.

****************************** ******************

The reason I ask, I imported my surf no problem, but didn't comply to any of the PI specs, so what would I be classed as......(no comments).......I just filled out the form for a pseudo turn number as a personal importer and that was it??

[turbotommy]

Erm, i think 'errant' would be your classification.

It sounds like you might have been lucky that no-one was checking (?).

I can't remember what proof i needed that i was using the vehicle and had owned it long enough (it was back in '99). I seem to recall visiting a local DVLA office, and i remember that they took the US/california registration/title documents, but didn't do anything else... (though all these were in my name) That would mean that you might get away with a personal import even if it wasn't. I'm not sure i'd risk it though...

I'd keep schtoom...

[Fieldsy]

so how does a trader import as many as he likes,as he doesn't conform to any of the rules???

Commercial and other Non-Personal Imports

If you do not qualify as a personal importer, you will need to submit your vehicle for an SVA inspection.

so if you're not a personal importer and it needs to SVA'D then what are you classed as???

[da SLUG man]

also could have slipped through if it's a MR2 and not a eunos (is that what they're called?) they could have mistaken it for a european model?

[Rob]

so how does a trader import as many as he likes,as he doesn't conform to any of the rules???




so if you're not a personal importer and it needs to SVA'D then what are you classed as???

Commercial or non Personal, like your post says....
A Personal Import is just a special term so they can waive the normal rules for someone that has lived and owned a vehicle abroad.

[Gizmo]

also could have slipped through if it's a MR2 and not a eunos (is that what they're called?) they could have mistaken it for a european model?

The Eunos is the import version of the MX-5....

[kitesurf_phil]

I thought that the SVA was originally bought in for kit cars and self build projects like the Locost 7 etc.

I would have thought :naieve head on: that once one example of a 2nd Gen 2.4 had been approved all others of the same year and spec would meet with the approval standards. Otherwise, why would I be able to go and buy a Blitz kit, mount it on a Suzuki SJ chassis and take it for an MOT. The reason I can do this is because the manufacturer of the Blitz kit satisfied the Ministry that his design was safe.

I might be talking complete bollox of course but it does seem to be a bit of a money spinner for a Government Department. How unusual.

[kevinse9]

After living in Germany for 12 years, when I recieved my posting back to UK, I bought a new Volvo, knowing that as long as I lived in Germany with the car for 6 months I could then import the car as a personal import, tax free and not requiring SVA.
SVA s are required when you import to sell.

[turbotommy]

so how does a trader import as many as he likes,as he doesn't conform to any of the rules???




so if you're not a personal importer and it needs to SVA'D then what are you classed as???

IMO, the reasons for SVA testing are that the govt has lots of rules about the specifications of new cars on the road in the UK. SO, if there was easy mass importing then it would be easy to import 'lower quality' (and probably cheaper) cars from abroad. This would undermine any saftey rules etc., so they ensure that they have an SVA test to make sure tht everything conforms (and ensures a level playing field for manufacturers of new cars for the UK market).

Why dealers can import but not SVA test; IMO (again), the rules make an SVA test a requirement for registration and use on UK roads, thus if the dealers sell 'as seen' it's up to the customer to get it done if they want to use it on UK roads. I'd agree that it might be seen as a total con...and i may be totally wrong. But i doubt it !

[Bryan]

When I brought my one back from Japan, I bought it brand spanking new and used it in Japan for over a year before coming back, I was informed that it required an SVA even though I was personally importing for my own use. HAve I been conned?

rgds

Bryan

[Fieldsy]

Why dealers can import but not SVA test; IMO (again), the rules make an SVA test a requirement for registration and use on UK roads, thus if the dealers sell 'as seen' it's up to the customer to get it done if they want to use it on UK roads.

but most dealers I know are willing to get the SVA and registration done for you.When I was looking, 3-4 dealers informed me the SVA had been done on the vehicles and they would register it and tax it in my name??

Which means they are not under personal import criteria, yet they seem to import as many as they like??

[da SLUG man]

Otherwise, why would I be able to go and buy a Blitz kit, mount it on a Suzuki SJ chassis and take it for an MOT. The reason I can do this is because the manufacturer of the Blitz kit satisfied the Ministry that his design was safe.

nah, it's cos you're keeping a certain amount of the original car and modifying it... the blitz2 (mini based) must be sva'd cos it's more than just modified...
although if you build a car from scratch yourself and not from a kit then you don't need to sva it.

[Fieldsy]

thanks for the replies ppl, so given that information, if you can't import as a personal import, what would you need to tick on this page to apply for the SVA??