IVA Application

[AlastairA]

Hi,

I'm in the process of navigating the VOSA / DVLA application forms for an IVA Application. I plan to have Caterham handhold my car through the IVA test after the PBC. However, the Technical Application form asks for which test center is preferred.

Does anyone know which one Caterham use?

Thanks in advance,

Alastair

[blueyedbiker]

Gillingham I believe still.  I took my car there back in 2018 and the inspectors there were very helpful and fair.

[AlastairA]

Appreciated - thanks for the reply.

[Graham Hutton]

You're probably right to do that Alastair as it'll certainly remove the stress. I took mine to IVA myself down here in Exeter and to be honest I loved pretty much all of it. It was great to see the fruits of your labour and (despite being a jobsworth) the tester had me fully involved in the whole thing including operating the brake pressure testing etc. He had me take the pedal box cover off but nothing else destructive. I may be a bit nerdy but I found it pretty interesting to get under the car on a decent ramp, understand the weights and braking efforts. 3 hour test which at times felt like longer but in the end my car was born! Anyhow, I only say that for balance as I know many people on here bemoan the IVA process as pedantry and unnecessarily stressful. For me it was a good one largely because the test centre gets about 1 caterham per decade down here and they were interested in it. I suspect it is different at Gillingham!

[Geoff Brown]

In 2013 I personally put my car through at Gillingham & experienced no problems whatsoever. Straight from the PBC it sailed through in just over an hour. 

Allegedly at the time there was some form of disconnect (animosity?) between CC & the test centre with factory built cars failing on a regular basis. There were rumours about inspectors inventing grey areas outside of the test schedule to trip the factory up.

Individual cars were failing several times before a pass. 

Hence taking the car myself removed the CC element which may have been a factor in driving home a happy bear. 

 

[Handwheels]

I took my 420r to Gillingham in 2021. It was a bit stressful but also hugely satisfying - getting the certificate at the end was much more enjoyable than any academic award I've ever achieved! I wouldn't have wanted to miss the best bit of the build process. 

The guys there were very friendly and helpful- giving me time to adjust the Speedo tyre  size setting and headlight alignment (both of which had been incorrectly set by Caterham!).

Don't forget the added bonus of going to the IVA yourself is that you get the chance to drive it on the road. While heading down the A12 I discovered that the Speedo cut out at 70mph - but I had enough time in the Gillingham Screwfix car park to jack up the car and adjust the sensor, before going to the test centre. Going across the Dartford crossing for free (because didn't have registration plates) was the icing on the cake.

 

[John Vine]

I took my R400D to Avonmouth in 2008.  My preferred centre was Exeter but the inspector was unwell.  My earlier 1.8K (1999) I took to Botley (Southampton) -- it was SVA in those days.

Both inspectors were very thorough, but also friendly and accommodating.  They involved me in the test and allowed (encouraged) me to make small adjustments. 

JV

[Geoff Brown]

The Inspector at Gillingham calibrated the speedo while on the rolling road!

I must admit that he was ex REME so we got on like a house on fire, sort of, as I was ex RAF having flown REME to all sorts of destinations world wide.

I remember his very words at the start of the test - 'what outcome would you want from this test?' - answer - 'to pass of course!'

[Nigel Blandin]

As I have to register my car in the UK, ex Jersey, I assume I will need and IVA.

However, as it is a 1990 Cosworth HPC, aka Trigger's broom, will they test against the 1990 standard (and if so, where can Ifind that)

 

[simon_h]

If you have to pass an iva then it's to today's standards apart from the emissions which is done to the age of engine with proof.

As it's a pre registered car of more than 10 years old then once all the nova paperwork is done, shouldn't be any taxes as it's your own vehicle moving with you I assume, you just need an mot and send off for registration. You must have the registration docs from the country it was in before though to do this. I have done this with an imported vehicle myself and didn't need anything more. Look it up on the dvla site for registrations and vehicle approvals. I just followed the instructions and paperwork and it was easy enough. 

[Nigel Blandin]

Thanks Simon,

your reading is what I thought too...But the DVLA website is a bit contradictory.

my plan is to go with the " obvious" method and see if they throw it back at me.