Is removing the rear seats illegal?

19th March 2009, 15:03

I know this might sound like a stupid question and ive seen loads of track preped road cars but when i removed my rear seats today my mate said why did you do that for its illegal.
I was sure it wasnt.
Could someone enlighten me please

Cheers
Matt

19th March 2009, 15:04

It's not illegal.

If you leave the seats in and remove the seat belts however. That is illegal.

19th March 2009, 15:04

no it is not illegal mate

19th March 2009, 15:06

Perfectly Legal Buddy

19th March 2009, 15:06

Ok guys thanks for clearing that up

19th March 2009, 15:44

your insurance company may see it different though,if the unlucky happened !

19th March 2009, 16:28

Don't you have to re-do your MOT though as it has gone from a 4 seater to a 2 seater?

19th March 2009, 16:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pieface

Don't you have to re-do your MOT though as it has gone from a 4 seater to a 2 seater?

no. and it wont affect your mot next time round aslong as seats and belts are both removed.

19th March 2009, 16:39

Can actually reduce your insurance premiums.
It is only illegal if you have no seats for the seatbelts, so remove them and everyones happy

19th March 2009, 16:47

it isnt leagal if you carrry pasengers in the back lol

19th March 2009, 16:49

like all of them said mate ^^^^^^ lol go for it and im pritty sure you dont have to go through anorther mot for it, and i think you would have to notify your insurance though mate just to let them no

19th March 2009, 16:58

I removed mine out my old mk1 clio and got an advisory that there were no seats/seatbelts. Guess that was incase i didnt know lol. Not illegal tho

19th March 2009, 17:31

its legal pal, ignore ya mate lol

19th March 2009, 17:45

Your mate needs a clip round the ear hole.... lol. No belts or seats, perfectly legal!

19th March 2009, 17:47

it is legal but i think you are meant to inform dvla and your insurance. i did it to my corsa and got pulled loads of times and they never commented either. so dont think youll get any hassle either.

19th March 2009, 17:50

why would the insurance need to know if youve removed the rear seats?

19th March 2009, 18:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by stu-n-shell

why would the insurance need to know if youve removed the rear seats?

Cos you took out the insurance on a car that carries up to 5 people, it will now carry 2 thus not the vehicle they insured, would be enough for em to refuse to pay on a claim

19th March 2009, 18:01

but im only 3rd party any

way

19th March 2009, 18:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt

but im only 3rd party any

way

doesnt change anything bud

19th March 2009, 18:05

You should tell the insurance about any modifications just to be safe even if you are only 3rd party, will be gutting if they didnt pay out in a crash

19th March 2009, 18:05

ok, letme get this right.

I have my rear seats removed, but the rear belts are still in, would this FAIL the MOT??

I want to remove the rear belts but cant get in to remove the bits of plastic which cover where they are mounted....

19th March 2009, 18:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saxo_89

ok, letme get this right.

I have my rear seats removed, but the rear belts are still in, would this FAIL the MOT??

I want to remove the rear belts but cant get in to remove the bits of plastic which cover where they are mounted....

Yes tis a fail

19th March 2009, 18:06

ye youd get bollocked for them being in

19th March 2009, 18:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bickerton

Yes tis a fail

thanks for that i will get onto geting them removed!

they are still all bolted in, just dont have a long enough torx driver to get the plastics out as the screws are set about 4 inchs back lol

thanks guys

19th March 2009, 18:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saxo_89

thanks for that i will get onto geting them removed!

they are still all bolted in, just dont have a long enough torx driver to get the plastics out as the screws are set about 4 inchs back lol

thanks guys

Can get a set of long torx keys for about 4 quid, may need some grips to get the leverage tho

19th March 2009, 18:20

really i just need a longer universal driver, got all the torx bits, jst nto long enough

Will get it sorted though, honestly didnt realise it would fail on that...

Why is it so?

19th March 2009, 18:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saxo_89

really i just need a longer universal driver, got all the torx bits, jst nto long enough

Will get it sorted though, honestly didnt realise it would fail on that...

Why is it so?

If you have seatbelts you are implying that you carry passengers in the back, having no seats makes it very dangerous thus unfit for the purpose intended

19th March 2009, 18:27

Saxo_89 i used a small flat head to get them torx out.

My torx screw driver was too fat.

19th March 2009, 18:28

Aye flat head drivers will fit most torx screws, can use an electrical one to remove the torx bolts around the steering column

19th March 2009, 18:39

Hmmm i see, i have a cage in the back of mine so obvious i cant get passengers in lol

Ill take them out though just to be 100% sure.

Will giv it a shot with a flat head, if i fail i wil just go and buy a longer universal driver and use the torx bits i have.

thanks for the help

19th March 2009, 21:55

its illegal if you remove one or the other (seats or seat belts) but fine if you remove both i did it in my C2 never had a problem, even in MOT but if your worried bout it when it come to MOT time just put them back in its only a 10min job if that

19th March 2009, 22:22

as long as there are the correct number of belts/harnesses (1 per seat in the car obviously) then its perfectly legal

19th March 2009, 22:24

wen i had bucket seats and harness's, according to the cop who pulled me, he said if i aint told my insurance about it, its illegal, and i obvo said yes, yes i hav!!

erm, ye

14th March 2011, 19:52

I was just googling and came across this thread. i know its a bit old but It has had me thinking. I have removed only the sitting part of my rear seat so that i can fold down the back of the seats flatter. to put my dog in the back.
is this ok to do. I never thought about if it was legal or not. dose the MOT and inshorance get affected .I have only removed hafe of the back seating so i dont know?

14th March 2011, 20:14

Jac, i'm guessing in a pedantic world then yes it is illegal.

However in real life... you would have to find the most pedantic, stressed, hungry fat policeman in the world to try and actually do you for it.

I've been pulled a hundred and one times, i've found if you're sound with the police and talk to them with a little respect then they're alright with you..
Apart from one or two stereotyping power hungry stuck up bell end coppers that are out to save the world from us highly dangerous criminals driving around with no backseats.

Disclaimer, i'm not a solicitor and neither are (from what i know of) the members of saxperience, we dont know the law inside and out, if you want to know the correct answers to any legal questions you're best off asking at your local police station.

Could you not get the dog in the back with the seats just folded down as normal without the bottom half removed? They only tilt like 20 degrees. Or how about taking the bottom half out, folding the back seat down, then put the bottom half in the boot for the dog to sit on?

Just food for thought, my neighbour has a people carrier, with removable seats. His wife is disabled and they carry the wheel chair in the back. To do this he removes his removable seats... Does he have to phone his insurance company everytime he takes a seat or two out or put them back in?

Just something to ponder on.

14th March 2011, 20:21

thanks. the bit you sit on folds up and sits behind the front seats but it was making the back of the seats not fold down properly so i just removed it. i have left the backs of the seats in but folded down. i hope to keep the car this way all the time as i dont have kids but take the dog everywhere.

14th March 2011, 20:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul

Jac, i'm guessing in a pedantic world then yes it is illegal.

However in real life... you would have to find the most pedantic, stressed, hungry fat policeman in the world to try and actually do you for it.

I've been pulled a hundred and one times, i've found if you're sound with the police and talk to them with a little respect then they're alright with you..
Apart from one or two stereotyping power hungry stuck up bell end coppers that are out to save the world from us highly dangerous criminals driving around with no backseats.

Disclaimer, i'm not a solicitor and neither are (from what i know of) the members of saxperience, we dont know the law inside and out, if you want to know the correct answers to any legal questions you're best off asking at your local police station.

Could you not get the dog in the back with the seats just folded down as normal without the bottom half removed? They only tilt like 20 degrees. Or how about taking the bottom half out, folding the back seat down, then put the bottom half in the boot for the dog to sit on?

Just food for thought, my neighbour has a people carrier, with removable seats. His wife is disabled and they carry the wheel chair in the back. To do this he removes his removable seats... Does he have to phone his insurance company everytime he takes a seat or two out or put them back in?

Just something to ponder on.

The answer to that question is no, the above vehicle was designed so that the seats can be removed without the aid of tools. This is a standard feature of the car and not a modification.

The fact of people been worried about their insurance not paying out in the event of a claim would only be half the problem, more than likely the insurance would void your policy, therefore refusing you insurance. Then trying to get insurance again would be very difficult and expensive.

14th March 2011, 20:32

When you have the mot i thaught they class it as a two seater??

14th March 2011, 21:04

My 106 went through several mot's with no rear seats and belts, no bother, not even an advisory.

Told the insurance company and they just went "meh, we'll make a note" and that was that. Your mileage may vary but you should tell them, just in case.

14th March 2011, 21:07

My MOT has "car tested with no rear seats" on it, and the policy says its a two seated and also ticked the box for interior changed just to be safe

14th March 2011, 22:33

My car had MOT a couple week ago.

I've got 2 full a4 pages of advisorys of everything it hasn't got hahaha.

To make it funnier he had to fail it first time on some rust, which i got done, then he had to spend ages writing all the advisories out again. Told me it took him longer doing the paperwork

17th March 2011, 20:34

trust me its not illegal, mine is street legal and it doesn't have any in the back and the front one has been moved into the middle, just been mot'd too!

9th April 2011, 21:17

Its not illegal, but if your planning on doing it I would just tell your insurance it wont cost anything. I think if you have an accident a tight insurer could void the policy saying you were driving a 2 seater and this doesnt meet your cars insured specifactions