Incorrect emissions on V5 - check now!

bilkusg

I discovered today that the 'check your car' website to see if you will be affected by the forthcoming Ultra Low Emissions zone in London that my 2016 registered Mercedes Diesel is down as not qualifying, even though all cars that new must meet the necessary standard.
(I can't post the link as I'm a new user, but search online for it and you'll find it easily enough - it's an official tfl website )
So I checked my V5 and discovered that the particulate emissions were entered as 1.05g/Km instead of 1.05 mg/Km or 0.00105 g/Km ( an error of a factor of 1000! )

Apparently the DVLA currently think my car is the most polluting vehicle in the country! Don't know if this is a one-off or affects all cars like mine...

Called them up and they say they will correct the error if I send them the V5 and the relevant data which was supplied when I bought the car, so all should be fine well before the new charge comes in.
But you'd have thought the system they enter the data into would have some basic sanity checks - producing 1g of particulate for each Km travelled isn't a credible figure for a car!

Anyway, it's probably worth recommending to others living in most of London to check their own cars now - you don't want to have to fix a mistake after you get wrongly charged!

AnotherJoe

bilkusg wrote: »

But you'd have thought the system they enter the data into would have some basic sanity checks - producing 1g of particulate for each Km travelled isn't a credible figure for a car!

It is for some of the diesels Ive been behind :mad:
Unfortunately AFAIK there's no way to report cars that drive along emitting smoke like one of those ludicrous US "rollers"

forgotmyname

Cynical people may say 1g is probably the true figure before they manipulate them.

DavidT67

Apparently according to various motoring forums, there is / was a systemic error with how Mercedes report particulate value (PM) to DVLA the value in mg/km gets shown as g/km so out by a factor of 1000.

TfL, DVLA and Mercedes dealerships will be getting a lot of enquiries very shortly...

Iceweasel

As well as being printed on the V5C there is a label giving the emissions on the driver's door post.

That is the figure that the MOT tester uses as that's what the manufacturer fitted when the car left the factory, and is the definitive figure required.

Take a picture of that as the VIN Nr. will be on the label too.

The V5C in produced from info supplied by the dealership who registers the car and can easily have human errors.

ukmike

https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/check-your-vehicle-35896

DavidT67

Yes, the TfL checker, like most other internet emissions checkers gives the wrong answer, as it seems to reference the incorrect DVLA V5 entries.

To correct their database TfL insist on a letter from Mercedes Homologation team.

Fortunately Mercedes website has an online form for that. https://homologation.mercedes-benz.co.uk/ and will also request a corrected V5 from DVLA for the owner.

AdrianC

DavidT67 wrote: »

Yes, the TfL checker, like most other internet emissions checkers gives the wrong answer, as it seems to reference the incorrect DVLA V5 entries.

Of course it does - where else would it get that info from?

Remember, emissions vary by precise spec. Weight and tyre rolling resistance both play a part. Different size alloys/tyres, heavy options such as pano roof, any external body options (roof rails etc) will vary the emissions. When the car was built, the precise emissions for the precise spec were part of the paperwork used to register it - and that's all automated now, so the DVLA V5C figure is the one Merc Germany gave Merc UK who gave the dealer who gave DVLA. Which is why there's a consistent error gone on... because Merc dropped a hairy one. And it's why Merc need to correct the error.

The Certificate of Compliance that Merc can supply for export purposes is an official restatement of those, but they've clearly corrected the error.

forgotmyname

Speed reading the above post i had to wonder why you would want a piano on the roof and yes thats bound to affect the emissions

Had to have a re-read Not a piano then.. awww

AdrianC wrote: »

Remember, emissions vary by precise spec. Weight and tyre rolling resistance both play a part. Different size alloys/tyres, heavy options such as pano roof, any external body options (roof rails etc) will vary the emissions. .

I vote for emissions testing with a piano on the roof

agrinnall

AdrianC

forgotmyname wrote: »

Speed reading the above post i had to wonder why you would want a piano on the roof and yes thats bound to affect the emissions

Had to have a re-read Not a piano then.. awww

I vote for emissions testing with a piano on the roof

Obviously, the optional tyres are tuba-less...