WesBrooks
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| posted on 6/7/25 at 08:06 PM |
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Implications of M1 vs N1 vehicle?
Evening all,
As a two seater 4x4 pickup my project could fall under N1 or M1 testing. So, what are the implications of testing as a N1 rather than M1 aside from
speed limits: 50mph on single carriageway, 60mph on dual, but normal 70mph on motorways.
Thanks.
http://doctrucker.wordpress.com
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Mr Whippy
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| posted on 6/7/25 at 08:19 PM |
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why? are you building a van?
I did know someone at work who took out their back seats from their 4x4 to claim it was a work van and dodge some tax but that seemed a bit extreme
considering the loss of practicality. below is a link to some more info -
linky
[Edited on 6/7/25 by Mr Whippy]
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WesBrooks
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| posted on 6/7/25 at 08:41 PM |
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Not far off. A pickup cab with a permanent frame over the rear bay that is likely to be canvas covered.
http://doctrucker.wordpress.com
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Mr Whippy
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| posted on 6/7/25 at 09:15 PM |
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yeah just like thousands of old Land Rovers, they weren't vans either. My last Landy had two seats up front and a roll cage in the back, could
have taken that off in the future and fitted four seats. It never changed class.
 
Description
Irc yours is a rebodied disco to look like a modified Defender, I can't see why you are not using the Disco's V5 and forgetting the IVA as
it's just a body swap -
"Registration of the Sahara is simple as it retains the original unmodified Discovery chassis and running gear. It is important that an
appointment is made with your Local Vehicle Licensing office (LVLO) to arrange an inspection of your completed Sahara to ensure your chassis and
engine number correspond to your Logbook. Following inspection, the LVLO will then change your vehicle identity, but you will retain your original
registration plate and you will receive a new logbook from DVLA. The Sahara can then be taken for a standard MOT. Insurance is best obtained from a
specialist broker for converted vehicles and often the Sahara will be less to insure than the donor."
If you have lost the V5 use the reg and get a copy (hopefully know what it was)
If it's a van it's meant to be one for business use and not for just tax evasion, not that I'm saying that's what you are doing
but I have seen that.
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WesBrooks
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| posted on 7/7/25 at 05:52 AM |
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Lets not get off topic. I've asked what are the implications of having a vehicle tested as N1 rather than M1. If you don't know, please move
on.
Regards my project the chassis is being modified, and so requires an IVA. The vehicle is not a carbon copy of other Sarahas, has modifications to suit
the IVA (eg rear tail gate not full width), and has been designed to suit occasional commercial use to support my company. In otherwords it takes a
standard size pallet and will sport a tow bar.
Back on topic, as far as I can see the only differences in use is speed limits and VED class/cost. I guess N1 maybe less straight forward to insure,
but I have heard (decade ago, no contact with them now or I would ask direct!) of people going through the N1 test for private, two seater, pickup/van
vehicles.
[Edited on 7/7/25 by WesBrooks]
http://doctrucker.wordpress.com
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Ugg10
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| posted on 7/7/25 at 07:38 AM |
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This might help. Looks like a pretty good explanation
https://www.van-conversion.co.uk/news/what-are-m1-n1-n2-vehicle-categories
The only other thing I can think of is to check out congestion charges and if the category made a difference. I have a friend that had a 110 landy
that was probably originally classed as a van and then back seats put in and he had issues with congestion zones.
---------------------------------------------------------------
1968 Ford Anglia 105e, 1.7 Zetec SE, Mk2 Escort Workd Cup front end, 5 link rear
Build Blog - http://Anglia1968.weebly.com
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WesBrooks
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| posted on 7/7/25 at 08:10 AM |
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I hadn't considered the congestion/emissions charging, and had thought that N1 was more likely to be an issue. I'll look into that more for
local areas (think Manchester may have one) but if I needed to go a reasonable distance for my work (rare) it'd soon make sense to hire rather
than drive the 3.9 rover V8! I did look at an electric setup at one point, but funds will never stretch that far now!
http://doctrucker.wordpress.com
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DAN@ADRIAN FLUX
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| posted on 7/7/25 at 07:52 PM |
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Hi.
If you need any help with insurance at all then please feel free to drop me a line.
Regards,
Dan.
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WesBrooks
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| posted on 8/7/25 at 09:07 AM |
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Adding some detail that I have found, or gathered from other forums.
Land Rover themselves went through a period of registering all 110 and 90 defenders as Light Goods Vehicles, N1. It was suggested that this was in
order to get the defenders onto the road when they did not meet the requirements for the M1 vehicles. Guess that could have been passenger safety,
crash test, or emissions issues.
Technically the speed limits should be van speed limits for N1 registered vehicles, but there is some confusion over whether anyone does get speeding
tickets for lower than car speeds in vans, and people have suggested that the automatic cameras are not smart enough to distinguish between N1 and M1
registered vehicles. That said if registered as N1 I would stick to N1 limits. It's a dual live axle vehicle after all, not exactly a tarmac
warrior! To complicate matters further some think that if the vehicle could be described as dual purpose after registration the police would treat it
as such and treat it with car limits. All clear as mud.
Emissions zones I've not looked into much. I've no intention of driving to London in it and Manchester's zone is still up in the air
and seems to be moving more towards a system that helps taxis and similar business vehicles change vehicles for lower emitters.
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r1_pete
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| posted on 8/7/25 at 03:42 PM |
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I've been running N1 Mitusbishi L200s as private cars for about 15 years, had 5 or 6 of them so far.
Other than a few insurance companies being awkward about an N1 as a private vehicle, I've had no issues, LV have always been reasonable for
insurance.
I generally keep up with traffic, never had a ticket doing car speeds on national limit roads, and I doubt the police would know the difference
between N and M.
Oh, it does need a permit at our local dumpit site, they don't recognise it as being private use without.
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coyoteboy
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| posted on 9/7/25 at 11:34 AM |
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That's a fair point, you'd need to consider the likes of toll bridge crossings if you use them often, the commercial rates are often
offensive, but if you never use it - who cares.
The ANPR systems recognise registrations and link the reg to the vehicle size/type - they can catch wagons doing over wagon limits, and
non-car-derived vans doing 70, so I suspect it's tied to the V5 database in the back end.
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