Don't know what make this is !

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Wed 8 Apr 2009 01:08
Don't know what make this is ! - 1400ted
I saw a programme some years ago about traffic wardens in London. One thing has always stuck in my mind.
A lady warden came across a car parked illegally, the car had no badges of identity and she just said, ' I can't ticket this one, I don't know what it is '....it was a BMW 5 series. I don't think she looked at the tax disc.

I have wondered ever since, as I sit in my bath-chair and dribble gently into a tissue, if this would be a good 'get-out' to avoid tickets. I then think a little further, suppose I took the two badges off the Jowett stick a chrome 'Electrolux' script or something similar on and position the tax so the make is obscured, would any offence be committed....likewise, take the badges off the Citroen and replace them with another make.

Just hypothetical, might be fun contesting a ticket got when driving your Hotpoint !!!

Ted
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Wed 8 Apr 2009 01:23
Don't know what make this is ! - stunorthants26
I dont think you can obscure the tax disc, but its quite possible that you can rely on motoring ignorance from a warden - they arent car-people.
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Wed 8 Apr 2009 02:01
Don't know what make this is ! - Rattle
This issue has come up on a Corsa site. Some of the slightly chavier members stick GSI badges on their cars and people have been warned not do this as it is apparantly ilegal to stick a different badge on your car. E.g I have a 1.2 16v badge on my car, if I changed it to 1.6 16v it would be ilegal can anybody confirm that?

If it is ilegal I would suspect it was for the reasons Ted has suggested however I don't think debadging is ilegal.

With reference to the woman in question I bet she got the sack when her bosses watched the programme!

I am only 26 but I can still tell my Morris Monor 1000s to my Minor side valves! I could spot a 105E to a Popular and a Maxi to a 120Y and as a traffic ward that should be an essential part of your job.

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Wed 8 Apr 2009 02:15
Don't know what make this is ! - Lygonos
Putting a different badge on your car is not illegal (neither is taking the badges off your car).

However....... if your 1.2 Corsa got nicked and burnt out, and the insurers found the remains of a 1.6 16v on the back, they'd be well within their rights not to pay out, as the car had been made "more attractive" to thieves.
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Wed 8 Apr 2009 08:12
Don't know what make this is ! - Ian (Cape Town)
they'd be well within their rights not
to pay out as the car had been made "more attractive" to thieves.

Sound advice - our local morons all have "M3" bodykits on their 316s and 318s, and for some reason folk believe that putting Vauxhall badges on an Opel makes it more attractive...
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Wed 8 Apr 2009 11:49
Don't know what make this is ! - bathtub tom
I would've thought it would be quite easy to identify any vehicle from it's number plate.

I did have trouble with an old Fiat 850 that was missing it's front trim. I got the part from a Spanish scrapyard when on holiday over there, unfortunately the badge on the front said SEAT and at the back FIAT. SWMBO wrote it off on another car. The other driver didn't like the fact that he couldn't accurately describe it.
IIRC all FIAT 850s sold in this country were actually made by SEAT.
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Wed 8 Apr 2009 13:42
Don't know what make this is ! - Altea Ego
Its a non-issue now. Wardens take a picture of your car so it doesent matter what its called.

In fact, in london some tickets are issued by fixed cameras anyway
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