SVA issues

[RED PRED]

Has anyone on here had any issues with buying a quad that has been SVA examined or put a quad through the SVA process themselves .

[RED PRED]

This letter is in this months edition of Quad magazine .

"Legal lookout"

"Within the last few issues of Quad magazine you have been trying to get the message across about road legal quads. A road legal quad is a quad that has been TYPE APPROVED or S.V.A TESTED (single vehicle approval) for the road.
This is fine, the quad purchaser can ask the dealer to see the SVA certificate or a certfifcate of conformity for the quad they are interested in .
Ok, now you have seen a quad you are interested in, it is a road legal quad , its a superb price, it says ROAD LEGAL PLG in the advert .
What do you do ?, how do you know if it really is road legal and not an agricultural quad with the taxation class changed ?, are you bothered because the price is too good to be true ?
Well you should be bothered. In the last few issues of Quad magazine, Ian Kerr has looked into the matter in some detail and we hope that now people are going to be more aware .
There are two really easy checks you can do;

1. Check the log book for any text realting to an agricultural vehicle .

2. Inside the first page of the V5C registration document, check section K for a type approval number. If that section is blank then the quad has not been SVA tested and has not been approved for road use, regardless of any work that has been carried out on the quad to meet road traffic regulations .

If the quad has no approval number it is illegal to use it on the public highway as explained by Ian Kerr in the May issue of Quad magazine ."

This letter was sent in by Exeter Quads and Ian Kerr is a well respected expert in this field .

[yellow peril]

As has been said about a dealer selling a road legal quad with tyres that are not rated for road use and hence making it illegal to use on the road.
I have come across quads that have had an SVA certificate which is all above board, but found the quad not to be road legal due to when tested they have had the correct rear caliper for the parking brake, but once tested they have removed it and fitted the original one back on so the dealer could make more profit.
We need to let everyone know what to look out for when buying a quad especially the guys and gals that are new to quadding and have never had a road legal quad before.

[catmandoes]

I want to put together a feature for the main web page about road legal quading. What is and isnt legal. If anyone has anything they want to contribute please send it to me. There is clearly a load of confusion still.

[RED PRED]

I have looked at my V5C log book and there is a type approval number, it is homologated so there should be, it would take a minute to do this when a potential buyer looks at a quads log book .
It does appear that some dealers are ripping buyers off as Dave states correctly, a solution would be to buy a non SVA quad second hand at a low price and put it through an SVA test to see what needs doing and only modifying what needs to be done to satisfy that particular tester .
What happens after the test is a matter for the owner but I would guess that getting a quad SVA approved and then modifying it is also wrong as it would be making the quad sub-standard .

[RED PRED]

Danny, if this letter is correct (which I believe to be the case as the Quad magazine is hardly likely to print a statement of this kind in the knowledge it is incorrect) then there is no confusion as to the legal requirement for quads .
It takes a minute to confirm whether a quad has been SVA tested or has type approval (homologated certificate of conformity), look at your log book .