Seat capacity limit? Possibly getting a land rover defender but......

[squidge]

I read somewhere that the seating capacity of a 4x4 has to, by law, be limited to something like 10 seats, above which one needs a commercial vehicle driving licence to legally drive the vehicle.  I am considering buying a Land Rover Defender, which would typically have 11-12 seats, but this news has made me question whether I should pursue the idea.  Can anyone confirm that this is indeed the law in France, and if so whether it is easy enough to customise a Defender so that it can legally be driven on a standard driving licence.

 

Thanks.

[Richard-R]

Not sure about in France but if you paased your test in the U.K. when they introduced the written part than you are not covered to drive a LWB landrover if it is a county.

[andyh4]

Not just 4x4.  The maximum number of passengers that can be carried without a commercial licence is 9.  Seems to be a standard European limit - except in the UK.

[Colette]

Which model Defender are you getting, are you sure it seats that many?  Wouldn't even the long wheelbase (we drive a short) only be insured to carry 2+3+4? 

[The Riff-Raff Element]

My French driving licence seems to entitle me to drive minibusses with

up to 17 seats. I didn't take a special test in the UK (though the

examiner the second time around indicated in a non-verbal way that it

had been a very "special" test for him and that he thought he owed it

to his collegues to let at least one more person experience my

unconventional approach to the conduction of a motor vehicle. The bloke

who finally passed me was on his last day and no longer gave a bugger),

so I can only assume that this is standard in the UK and carries over

to French licences upon exchange. I appear also to be able to drive a

12 tonne truck, and I can just imagine how much fun that would be. I

notice that the rights to drive these catagories of vehicle have very

limited lifespans, at least on my licence, and will expire in a couple

of years.

[squidge]

Hi

I think the newer models (2002 onwards) of the 110 defender (lwb) have this 2+3+4 seat formation.... but we were initially looking for an older one (budget probs!) which seem to mostly have a 3 + 8 formation (3 in the front and then 2 benches seating 4 each in the back). From what we've heard, it sounds as if you couldn't legally register an older defender in France without probs, as the maximum limit of 9 seats would have been breached. We've been told that they're quite strict and look at the number of seats that the vehicle was manufactured to seat rather than how many seats it currently has (scuppering plans to remove some of the bench seats to create a vehicle that seats 9 or less before we move over!!). How many seats does your 90 have? I think that we're going to have to look at a smaller swb instead to get around this issue.....

Does anyone else know/had any probs with this maximum seat issue?!

Thanks

Squidge