It doesn't answer the question but... my 2013 140BHP SWB Kombi (Euro5) gives the same result - ULEZ compliant, nothing to pay.

 

Have you tried entering the ULEZ (twilight) zone yet?

 

Sorry - no. That's why I said it didn't really answer the question! I'm waiting with bated breath to find out whether you get back out alive (and without being charged)...

 

If youve looked on the official.website and its says nothing to pay then screenshot it as evidence - job done 👍
If at a later date they try to sting you then you can prove youve taken the right steps and THEIR website is at fault not you .

 

If youve looked on the official.website and its says nothing to pay then screenshot it as evidence - job done 👍
If at a later date they try to sting you then you can prove youve taken the right steps and THEIR website is at fault not you .

That's the plan. Find out on monday...

 

Am I right in saying there are 2 separate charges for going into London? Ulez and Lez and congestion charge maybe on top of that? As B&T says get screen grab as evidence as pretty sure our type of van is what they have been going after to charge!

 

Just out of interest I put mine in which is a 2015 kombi euro 5 engine and I get the charge for Ulez

Live 10 miles away from the edge of the zone and not checked before.. as I thought...

 

Here's a result for a 2014 Caravelle. 100% a glitch on their system. You could risk it but I would screenshot it for proof.

 

I looked at taking our 04' diesel pick-up truck into bristol emissions zone today and to my surprise it comes up -

So thats

• Bath
• Birmingham
• Bradford
• Bristol
• Greater Manchester (under review)
• Portsmouth
• Sheffield
• Tyneside - Newcastle and Gateshead

But not london apparently. 🙃 still happy with that 👍

 

This stuff is hilarious. Only not in a good way.

My mates 1998 T4 1.9 has been hammered for a charge when his Mrs got lost on the way home, and inadvertently drove through a bit of Bath.

He also went camping with his mate, inside the M25, in order to attend some kind of festival, possibly in Crystal Palace area. They'd factored in ULEZ... But hadn't realised they'd be nailed for for the original LEZ on top

Transport For London have a website where you can enter your reg, from which I have learned I've got no chance of ever going there, in my 2011 Passat, or my 2012 T5.1, both of which are well maintained, and pass MoT test emissions without problems. The van even picked up the most bizarre advisory note I've ever seen: 'Emissions: Too Low To Measure'.

Which, as B&T has pointed out, isn't going to lose me much sleep, as I can use it to avoid visiting annoying friends and relatives that live in a city that could give Sodom & Gamorrah from the Bible a run for it's money...

Meanwhile, the rich friend, who accompanied my T4 friend to the festival, has a new sports Jag, with a V12, from memory. Fair play to him, he worked hard for it... Allowed into all zones, as far as I know...

Ever get the feeling that we're being conned, and farmed? I've never had much time for conspiracy theories... But even I'm noticing massive amounts of road tax being extracted... While the roads look like they've been shelled by a malevolent foreign power.

 

Checked both mine (140 bhp, 2011 - originally panel van & 2012 kombi) and no surprise they are both liable for charges! 🤬

 

I think you are correct Pat , we are shafted in all sorts of ways here ..... but nowts likely to change in a hurry i'm afraid 😖.
Choices as i see it - wait for things to change , wait for hell to freeze over or clear off to another country .

 

I think you are correct Pat , we are shafted in all sorts of ways here ..... but nowts likely to change in a hurry i'm afraid 😖.
Choices as i see it - wait for things to change , wait for hell to freeze over or clear off to another country .

You're right, friend. Choices are between Bad, and Worse than Bad

A long time ago, someone told me, about life here:

'I could stand the weather, if it weren't for the politics, and I could stand the politics, if it weren't for the weather.'

Although I have heard that the UK still has an agreement with Eire: Go and live there for 5 years, apply for citizenship, get passport, forget about the 90 day flap-doodle

Weather, politics, and property prices are still a problem, according to mates over there... But if Mrs Zgz leaves me, I might well give it a try, for my remaining lifespan... And I'm called Pat, which may help

 

I'm tempted to just clear off and 'forget' about time . 🤷‍♂️ just lose myself in the experience.
The only thing that stops me is the thought of buying a property in france, sleeping with the mayor , and applying for residency.

 

Have you got a dream about buying some land? Giving up the booze, and the one night stands? Settling down in a crazy little town? And forgetting about everything?

Then, as the attorney for G. Rafferty & Associates, I can offer a great deal: Give us your bank details, and all your money... Then I'll send you a picture of a yacht, in the Cayman Islands.

Actually, I think someone has already done that, providing fraudulent PPE, while my wife was was dressing herself in bin bags to work in early COVID....

I'll stop ranting there. I'm getting bored. Probably by myself, happens a lot 🙃

 

I just want some place so i can live 'the good life' . Self sufficient and not get f..cked over, have annoying neighbours or be pis sed on continually by rain .

 

I wish you well.

I thought I'd found that, living on a narrow boat for five years, 1999-2004. Sometimes I wish I'd stayed... But the guys on the canal near me say the latest adminstration are wringing even more for for a waterways license, so that freedom probably is getting unobtainable, too

It still rained a lot though...

The Ancient Greeks had the same problem: They dteamed of 'utopia'. It was a mistranslation: It means a state that doesn't exist.

 

Well, tri into London yesterday completed. So far, not seen any charge on my TFL account and their vehicle check still shows the van is ULEZ compliant.
Actually it's rather sad. We said farewell to our Ukrainian guests who have been with us for close to 2 years. They now have a lovely flat near Wimbledon much closer to work and university. The landlord also runs a T6 so can't be that bad. The house is going to seem very empty without them.

 

I bought a house in Spain 5 years ago. I spend about 10 weeks a year there either on holiday or working remotely. The only thing keeping me here is my family (my sons and my parents all here somewhere). Council tax is cheap, other bills modest, the people are friendly and the weather is beautiful. If I go out early in the morning for a pedal up the lanes into the woods and you just stop for a breather I almost cry its so nice. The key thing is that you need to integrate with the community. I get on with my neighbours and chat to them. I go in the local cafes not the tourist sea front bars (they're 5 miles away anyway) and try to chat to folks. As I get closer to retirement age I puzzle how I'll manage to increase my stays... maybe I'll never get to 90 days? My best is 22 so far... after 10 days you really start to adapt... I absolutely hate getting on the plane to come back...

The only annoying thing about Spain.... 2 two stroke mopeds everywhere!! I wish they had a ULEZ in my town

 

There would probably be more scooters in Britain if the weather wasn’t so shitty! It’s the same in South of France when we’re there, need eyes everywhere to avoid hitting them 👀

 

We're the same only without the house! We rent a villa and are always on the look out for long stay deals. We are are retired now so we can stay for the full time in one go if we want. Just got back to all this rain from 9 weeks there. It's a temptation for us to go for a non-lucrative visa and buy a small place. Before my Mum died, she lived in South London so even though I've been in Cornwall for the last 20 years I used to visit when I could. I was brought up there I don't have the slightest reason or inclination to go to London. Give me fresh air (slight whiff of hypocrisy!) not too many people and sunshine!

My van is hated everywhere, I even had to buy a 'Crit Air' just to pass through France even though I wasn't going anywhere near the low emission zone.

 

As if i didn’t already know that I’m driving a “leper”, did a rush job in Brum on a Sunday last month, forgot to pay Nazi tax and now I’ve just got a £60 fine (if I pay within 14 days!🤬)

 

My 20 year old van could have been thrown away 3 times but I've kept it going, so no new environmental damage from manufacturing the new vans. And mine isn't a smokey 60's taxi, and it has a CAT but no DPF. DPF's break up the particles to even smaller particles which (arguably) cause worse lung problems. And who knows what all the gallons of add-blue do when burnt?

 

Ah, you may have saved my bacon there... I've got a table and sideboard which need to go out to Spain. I have all the import paperwork (older than 6 months and going to an address owned by me = vat free) but I didn't know about "Crit Air". My Window Van (which is a M1 car) is 2008MY cat+ DPF is Cat 3... so I'm good this year but I'll have to dodge Paris from 2025... €4.76 worse off but now wiser!!

 

If you can work from home in Spain you could qualify for a digital visa then you wouldn't be stuck with the 90 day thing. The visas are a bit of a minefield, if we want to get one it would have to be a 'non-lucrative' type. I'm happy to avoid Paris. I once got sucked into Marseille in the rush hour driving a great big German coachbuilt camper.

I was surprised how cheap the Crit Air sticker was. Plus it arrived within a week and they kept emailing me about the progress of my application and even thanking me. Very un-French!

 

I know that sometimes imported vehicles are ULEZ “compliant” despite their emissions being way above what is required to not be charged. I have also heard of people being charged at a later date, despite the site telling them their vehicle is compliant. best to keep a screen grab for evidence incase

 

ULEZ is funny. You need to pass EU4 levels of "HC" and "NOx" and many UK petrols are capable of doing it but because the V5 declares combined "HC+NOx" its not possible to prove easily. If you bring your car up to Northampton I can get it tested for you and issue a VCA approved certificate with separate HC and NOx levels which tick all the boxes for TFL...

... only problems are A: will your old car still pass the original test, B: I'd need £2000 to do the test.

I bet imported cars have no emissions cert as they've never been tested on NEDC standard... so the empty boxes on the V5 are treated as zeros...

 

Oh to have those problems 🙄

 

I think we all have different problems...its called life unfortunately.

 

 

Nice joke/image Orion!

Though, as I have said in the past, to people who have accused me of having 'first world problems':

'What other sort could I have? Living, as I do, in the first world?'

But don't worry: Local and National government are hard at work, ensuring that the roads will soon be in a worse state than those in Guatemala or Vietnam. If they're not already. While they still cost a fortune to use.

(See also: school and hospital buildings being built from this fashionable rubber concrete stuff that's been in the news )

I call it Levelling Down. Seems to be catching on...