You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I'm looking at swapping my car for a small van (swb transit, vito or Transporter etc) and have seen that they can be M1 or N1 which affects speed limits, insurance and toll charges etc, but does it really make much difference and will I regret going for one or the other? At the moment I'm leaning towards M1 for the higher speed limits (which I'm used to), but there are fewer available and they tend to be more expensive, are there any other negatives to consider? Thanks.
M1 isn't strictly a van, it's a people carrier. It'll have 3 rows of seats and windows all round. Seats will be removable of course and you'd likely want to block up the windows internally from a visual security viewpoint.
I doubt most van drivers even realise there's different speed limits for vans, they certainly don't stick to them. IME, if you largely drive within the limits in a car you're very unlikely to get busted in a small/medium van at the same speeds. Maybe ANPR fixed cameras are more of a risk, but I've had vans for close on 10 years now and not had any tickets. I only ever got charged car tolls on the M6 and Dartford crossings in my Expert, despite it being N1. Same for the more recent Transit Connect, which is smaller but still N1.
ASCs can be set to trigger on lower speed limits and will refer to V5 classification. A number of van drivers have been prosecuted for ignoring the relevant speed limits on the A9 as a result.
Our new Transporter is N1 and I was advised of lower limits than our previous M1 Caravelle when I bought it. In reality it makes little difference as it's rare that I'm driving above the N1 limits anyway on anything other than motorways where there's no difference. And especially when towing as the lower limits apply anyway.
I went for a LWB Trafic bus to gain the M1 speed limits, certainly helps on the A9
I've a Ford tourneo custom - Transit with seats and toys and thats an M1 category.
All the seats come out to give maximum space...
ASCs can be set to trigger on lower speed limits and will refer to V5 classification. A number of van drivers have been prosecuted for ignoring the relevant speed limits on the A9 as a result.
Also the A543 Denbigh moors road (aka Evo Triangle).
The speed camera vans know what you are driving! Bimbling along with the traffic last year near Wrexham. Ticket for doing 70 on dual carriage way,
Other thing to consider is that they are taxation classes. N1 will be van tax regardless of engine (roughly £240/year). M1 will be emissions based and may be quite high due to relative high fuel consumption. If going used and you find a tidy van from 2009-2010 they are only £140 to tax due to a small anomaly when they first introduced Euro 5 classification.
[strong]notsospeedydaz[/strong] wrote:
The speed camera vans know what you are driving! Bimbling along with the traffic last year near Wrexham. Ticket for doing 70 on dual carriage way,
I went under that bridge the other day and saw the van. I braked pretty sharpish so will be interesting to see if he caught me. Not looking forward to the ensuing arguement if he did zap me as my van is 4x4 and under 2040 kg unladen so fulfils the "Dual Purpose" requirements from the DoT own website so theoretically car speeds apply.
It’s too late to argue after you get your ticket. They just go on what the classification is in the logbook.
under 2040 kg unladen
It’s 2t GVW not unladen, so you’ve had it
No 2000kg gvw is N1 car derived van.
2040kg unladen is N1 dual purpose vehicle. The headache is dpv does not exist on the V5c so you have to argue if wrongly accused.
Our T5 is M1 and it regularly gets driven at the car speed limits, it would be a bit annoying having to stick to the lower limits but as it's not a daily would be fine.
If driving it daily I'd aim for an M1.
Downside is our tax is £520+ Vs under £200 for the equivalent van with same engine.
If you're looking at T5/6 then shuttles should all be M1 and some older Kombis
It’s too late to argue after you get your ticket. They just go on what the classification is in the logbook.
People have managed to appeal and get it dropped so it's worth a try if it ever happens.