Taxi Driver Online

What makes a 10 year old car safe in one council but not another.Why does guildford where i work ph, insist on cars being under 3 years old at first registration then knackered at 8 years old and fit for the scrapheap.Me and a colleague asked the council if they would licence a prestigious vehicle 4 years old, we were both told even if it cost us £30,000 we would not satisfy the criteria as it would be older than 3 years old at first licencing.The falling with this rule is that a 7 year old toyota or skoda with 400,000 on the clock gets another year if already plated but a 3 year 2 month old BMW 530d that was for sale for £26,950 in my local bmw dealership cant even get a plate on the back for a year.

Any views? They have had this in force since 2004.

PS Hackneys Purpose Built must be under 4 years old at first registration then can be used til 10 years old.The neighbouring council Waverley is under 3 years old purpose built hackney or car then at 7 years its deemed "knackered" and no further licensing will be entertained.

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GuildfordPH

All councils policies must not be set in stone, they should all be prefixed with the words 'in most cases' or 'unless exceptional circumstances' or 'normally'.

Therefore ask your council on what basis would they allow an older vehicle to be licensed, if they say never then they are in breach of EU Law, Treaty of Rome and all that lark.

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IDFIMH

Sussex is right. A council is forbidden by law from "fettering thier own discretion". That means they cannot blindly apply any condition. They usually add a final paragraph to any condition which includes "unless in exceptional condition".

My council regulally use the "exceptional circumstaces" condition to license older vehicles. I was granted a license for a car that was 9 years old at first registration even though the council policy was for vrhicles under 6 years at first registration. My first stretched limousine was actually 10 years old at first registration. The licensing officer called me in with the vehicle for her to look at it and the full council meeting were asked for their approval before I got the license. I think our licensing department are the exception rather than the rule though because most of the time they bend over backwards to help.

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Grandad,

Thanks for the comments.They do have this at the bottom of the conditions-

16. Dispensation/ variation
The Council may in exceptional circumstances by way of special condition dispense with or vary any of the conditions set out herein.

This seems to be reserved for drivers who are private hire licensed "just" for school runs.A lady i work with had a 5 year old Citroen C5 licensed by "dispensation" 2-3 years back.She was just doing school runs at the time.She said they took many weeks to licence it, it was very drawn out & a lot of messing around.She is due to replace it again in july 10 as it is a "52" reg, she works for a private hire company now, just does cover work for school runs.You see the council giving leeway to drivers just doing school run work, cars can be 4-5 years old but they keep it "hushed up".

There is not a driver i know who has got an older vehicle through the council when it is being worked on a company.Who wants to have to go to court and fight it out with them, drivers just get a 2 / 2 1/2 year old mondeo, skoda, peugeot 407, avensis .They make it quite clear that there is NO dispensation available for normal company work.

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GuildfordPH

Age Does'nt make any Vehicle safer or less safe than any other...Its good maintainance and rigourous testing of the vehicle that should be paramount.

I suggest you LA is wrong.

A PH license is a PH license......full stop.

That aside......why dont you tell your council your going to do school run work.....get an older car....license it....and then change your mind

CC

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

I personally don't have a problem with the age of a vehicle having to be under a certain age on 1st registration. Providing it's kept mechanically sound and in execellent condition inside I don't see the point of an age limit. However if you wish to obtain proper advice regarding these things and if you have an association in your area join it. If not join a national association.

It appears to be common knowledge in our area that a taxi has to be under 3 years of age on 1st registration but I can't find it in our conditions for taxis although they do say "Once a vehicle reaches 10 years of age, or earlier at the discretion of the Licensing Authority, it will be required to be tested every six months and a six monthly licence will be issued".

With regard to PH again it appears to be common knowledge that a vehicle has to be under 3 years of age on 1st registration but again I can't find it in our conditions it merely states "vehicles under 8 years of age, unless the Council is satisfied that the vehicle is suitable, having regard to mileage, appearance, condition and safety features, and that the vehicle is exceptionally well maintained.
Once a vehicle reaches 6 years of age it will be required to be tested every six months and a six monthly licence will be issued.
NOTE:
The practical effect of this is that unless the Council is satisfied that a vehicle is suitable as above, a vehicle will cease to be licensed when it reaches 8 years of age. Any application for a licence in respect of a vehicle which is more than 7 years and 6 months old will be issued on the basis that it will expire the day before the vehicle reaches 8 years old. In this event, the fee for any licence running for a period of less than 6 months will be payable prorata for the number of months or part months for which the licence has been issued." and of course we have a right to appeal any conditions within 21 days.

Having spoken with several people with regards to the 3 limit on 1st registration they all seem to think that is right but as I said earlier I can't find it in our conditions. That's not to say it isn't there I could just be having a blonde moment

I have however found in 'Frequently asked questions' section online this:-

"How old does the car need to be?
We will not license any private hire vehicle over 8 years old.
Hackney Carriage vehicles should be no more than 3 years old."

I'm more confused than ever having read up on this subject than I was before and I have to say ignorance was bliss

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Ask them why they are going against government best practise?

Age Limits. It is perfectly possible for an older vehicle to be in good condition. So the setting of an age limit beyond which a local authority will not license vehicles may be arbitrary and inappropriate. But a greater frequency of testing may be appropriate for older vehicles - for example, twice-yearly tests for vehicles more than five years old.

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IDFIMH

All vehicles in guildford pay £341 per annum for the vehicle plate and twice yearly tests WHATEVER the age.I got my vehicle brand new from cab direct and took it down to the testing center with 15-20 miles on the clock.The vehicle was BRAND NEW but STILL had to undergo the full vehicle examination (steering checked, suspension, lights, tyres, brakes,exhaust system) six months later it went in for its 6 monthly check.Cab direct said they do over 100 checks before delivery, the council have to do their own.

Before 2004 they had a unwritten rule that liked all vehicles to be under 13 years old.We still had strict 6 monthly checks but it didnt cost you an arm and a leg to change vehicle.The system worked fine, now its just more expensive.

Space

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GuildfordPH