Historic Vehicle Tax application.

Steven Smith

Steven Smith

CCCUK Member
Relaying my attempts to obtain history vehicle status for my C4.

The following criteria from the DVLA website must be met:
Vehicles exempt from vehicle tax:
If your vehicle was built before 1 January 1986, you can stop paying vehicle tax from 1 April 2026.

My C4 is an 86 model but was built in November 1985 so it should be easy !!
So in February I contacted the club and obtained a dating letter which was posted off to the DVLA with the V5 document and photos of the car including the data plate showing the month and year of manufacturer as November 1985.
About 6 weeks later I received the unchanged V5 back, then the following week a letter stating the application for historic tax has been declined as I had provided insufficient evidence and they wanted an official letter or receipt from GM.

I left it for a few weeks pondering how to obtain the "evidence" they want.
I emailed the National Corvette Museum who put me in touch with The Vehicle Invoice team at the GM Archives (vehicleinvoice@alliedvaughn.com).
They claim to have every vehicle receipt since 1977, so for the sum of $50 they will send me what they have for my C4.
Twenty four hours later I was in receipt of the original sales invoice for my C4 from Chevrolet Motor Division to Pop Taylor Chevrolet Inc which shows it left the factory on the 13th November 1985.
This was printed out along with a copy of the receipt for the information and posted back to the DVLA with their letter asking for this information and the clubs dating letter again.
It was sent back to the DVLA on the 17th April, so far I have received nothing back but I am hopeful because at the MOT on Friday the year of manufacturer was showing as 1985 on the testers computer and the app I use to manage the family vehicle fleet, which gets information from the DVLA, now shows the manufacturer date as November 1985 🤞🏻
 
CaptainK

CaptainK

Administrator
I need to do something similar for my FTO. I am the original UK owner from import from Japan, and have some "unofficial" (aka not Mitsubishi themselves) paperwork that states it was built in the 3rd week of December 1994. But the DVLA have my FTO down as end of 1995 I think. Urgh. Issue is if I have to spend "X" amount of money getting official paperwork and so forth to prove it, then it may get up to the cost of a year's tax so may as well tax it and then Historic Vehicle it the year after :ROFLMAO:
 
Steven Smith

Steven Smith

CCCUK Member
CaptainK said:
I need to do something similar for my FTO. I am the original UK owner from import from Japan, and have some "unofficial" (aka not Mitsubishi themselves) paperwork that states it was built in the 3rd week of December 1994. But the DVLA have my FTO down as end of 1995 I think. Urgh. Issue is if I have to spend "X" amount of money getting official paperwork and so forth to prove it, then it may get up to the cost of a year's tax so may as well tax it and then Historic Vehicle it the year after :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
It was the principal for me rather than the money
 
Steven Smith

Steven Smith

CCCUK Member
Just as an update, DVLA returned all my documents today and accepted the car was built in 1985, just back from taxing it for free at the post office.
What a nice feeling that was 😀
 
Nassau65

Nassau65

CCCUK Member
Glad you got it all sorted.
It is strange to many that a car produced in say 1985 can be a 1986 as on a US title. I’ve had problems with the registration of a few cars that were nearly new on importation, classed as say 1986 but we were still in 1985 when trying to register them as 1986 cars.
At least back in the day the DVLA had regional offices that you could actually go to and see/speak to someone to sort things out. Unfortunately they are all long gone.
 
Redlevel

Redlevel

Well-known user
My Corvette was registered in 10/88 in the UK, but according to Brian Klein at the NCM, it rolled off the assembly line on June 16th 1987. On my V5 it states 'Declared manufactured 1987'.

1. Tax exemption aside, does this mean its MOT exempt in 2027? The V5 date on page 1 only states the year, not the month.
2. Does MOT exemption have to be applied for, or will it show automatically next time I tax it?

"If the vehicle was originally first registered overseas, your V5C will show a 'manufactured' date in the notes section on page one. If this is more than 40 years ago, it will be accepted, even if the date of 'first registration' is later - as this relates to its date of registration in the UK"
 
Steven Smith

Steven Smith

CCCUK Member
Redlevel said:
My Corvette was registered in 10/88 in the UK, but according to Brian Klein at the NCM, it rolled off the assembly line on June 16th 1987. On my V5 it states 'Declared manufactured 1987'.

1. Tax exemption aside, does this mean its MOT exempt in 2027? The V5 date on page 1 only states the year, not the month.
2. Does MOT exemption have to be applied for, or will it show automatically next time I tax it?

"If the vehicle was originally first registered overseas, your V5C will show a 'manufactured' date in the notes section on page one. If this is more than 40 years ago, it will be accepted, even if the date of 'first registration' is later - as this relates to its date of registration in the UK"
Click to expand...
From what I understand, to be tax exempt in 2027 your car must have been built before the 8th January 1987 but it would be worth applying just after the anniversary date and see what they say.
The 40 years is from date of manufacture, I had to obtain proof of this from GM as the DVLA wouldn't accept pictures of the data plate clearly showing the build year and a dating letter from the club.
You can obtain and original GM receipt from here: vehicleinvoice@alliedvaughn.com
It cost $50, and is well worth it as it proves date of manufacture along with some other interesting information like who the supplying dealer was in the US, build date, shipping date etc.
They just need the chassis number.
I believe the MOT exemption is automatic, but just remember you have to be able to prove the vehicle is roadworthy for insurance incase of an accident or getting stopped by the police.
I will still get my C4 MOT'd for peace of mind.
 
Redlevel

Redlevel

Well-known user
Steven Smith said:
From what I understand, to be tax exempt in 2027 your car must have been built before the 8th January 1987 but it would be worth applying just after the anniversary date and see what they say.
The 40 years is from date of manufacture, I had to obtain proof of this from GM as the DVLA wouldn't accept pictures of the data plate clearly showing the build year and a dating letter from the club.
You can obtain and original GM receipt from here: vehicleinvoice@alliedvaughn.com
It cost $50, and is well worth it as it proves date of manufacture along with some other interesting information like who the supplying dealer was in the US, build date, shipping date etc.
They just need the chassis number.
I believe the MOT exemption is automatic, but just remember you have to be able to prove the vehicle is roadworthy for insurance incase of an accident or getting stopped by the police.
I will still get my C4 MOT'd for peace of mind.
Click to expand...
Its only the MOT exemption I'm keen on as I don't do the miles used to, have good access to the underside etc and I'd rather MOT it when I want to, rather than be told I need to do it.
In 22 years of ownership, I know practically every nut and bolt on it..
 
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