Import Engine Swap Nightmare

[S1ben]

Hi Guys,

Hope all is well!

I'd appreciate a little bit of advice as an ex-member if possible!

I bought my year 2000 S1 Elise in 2005 (3rd owner) and had happily ran it/ MOT'd it in England for 4 years with no issues, I also HPI'd* it when i bought it,

I shipped it to my house in Hong Kong last week and whilst it passed it's MOT from a road worthiness perspective it appears that it has had an engine swap prior to my ownership and whoever did this had not advised the DVLA,

So whilst the V5 codes match for the chassis they don't for the engine,

Now, I'm presuming that this may have been a Lotus swap in the first couple of years if it had blown it's headgasket - what do you reckon?!

Anyway, the HK authorities have requested a certificate from Lotus confirming the engine swap,

My questions are...

- Would Lotus actually have the records of this?
- Who would i contact at Lotus?! (i'm guessing [email protected] from this webpage http://www.lotuscars.com/gb/about-us/contact-us" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)
- Has anyone else had an engine swap under warranty and did you get a certificate?!

I'm mega worried it's cost me 4 grand to get it to Hong Kong and i'll have to send it back!

Thanks in advance,

Ben

*i'm aware that this is largely irrelevant

[Doug]

Hi Ben,

This may or may not help you

I have had cause in the not too distant past to contact this guy at Lotus... Andy [email protected] he deals with the history

I do know that a lot of people have contacted him wanting info again for Elans and the like. (From an Elan forum).

Just thought it might help

Regards,

Doug

[Si_F]

When I did the Honda engine conversion on my elise it was just a case of writing to the DVLA to advise on the capacity change and also the change in engine number. The difficulty you have now is if you've advised the DVLA that you've exported it? if you haven't, just get the details changed, its not hard or difficult.

Failing this if you have the service history of the car, I would start by ringing these people how looked after it with the details to ask if they have any knowledge of the engine change.

The engine is more likely to have been changed later in its life then earlier i.e. you can pick up a complete K series engine and gearbox for less than the price than what some people charge for fixing HGF.

Oh and a HPI is only good if you actually check the numbers it gives you with the V5, MOT and those on the car.

I hope some of this helps?

[Dennis]

I agree best.easiest to simply send the V5 back (via a friend in the UK) with the correct info on, make sure you also change the address to your friends house or you won't get the replacement v5 back

[S1ben]

Thanks for your help Doug; Andy's been most helpful... not all sorted yet though as i still haven't been able to find the garage that's done the swap, hopefully will solve the issues in the next few days!

I've owned it 7 years so chasing garages from 7 - 10 years ago is proving a nightmare. Especially when the car lived in York and was serviced by an MG/ ROVER dealer! (between Lotus in Edinburgh and F1 in Newcastle)

Changing the V5 now will almost certainly, in the eyes of the bureaucratic bar stewards at the HK version of the DVLA, mean that my ownership has just began and i will be liable to full tax; the only reason i imported was because the amount of time i have owned it has reduced the tax to next-to-nothing,

Cheers for everyone's comments though! I'm trying to work things back from the new engine code...

[Dennis]

Thanks for your help Doug; Andy's been most helpful... not all sorted yet though as i still haven't been able to find the garage that's done the swap, hopefully will solve the issues in the next few days!

I've owned it 7 years so chasing garages from 7 - 10 years ago is proving a nightmare. Especially when the car lived in York and was serviced by an MG/ ROVER dealer! (between Lotus in Edinburgh and F1 in Newcastle)

Changing the V5 now will almost certainly, in the eyes of the bureaucratic bar stewards at the HK version of the DVLA, mean that my ownership has just began and i will be liable to full tax; the only reason i imported was because the amount of time i have owned it has reduced the tax to next-to-nothing,

Cheers for everyone's comments though! I'm trying to work things back from the new engine code...

But the last change of keeper woudl remain constant showing you have owned the car 7 years (although if they are all that bad that will just mean it is all bent and charge you even more etc)

[S1ben]

They're so annoyingly bureaucratic over here that when i first applied to bring it over I had to provide a bank statement from 2005 (along with countless other things) that had the same address on as the car's V5. I had the finance agreement, all insurance certificates and correspondence, utility bills, service invoices everything matched the same address as the cars V5. My mum even did a statutory declaration at a solicitors to state i lived at that particular address in 2005 when i bought the car.

They still rejected the application as the rules say it needs to be a bank statement.

Anyway, I'm delighted to say the good people in Hethel supplied a certificate yesterday and I've submitted it for approval! Fingers and toes crossed!

Cheers, Ben

[Doug]

Anyway, I'm delighted to say the good people in Hethel supplied a certificate yesterday and I've submitted it for approval! Fingers and toes crossed!

Cheers, Ben

Hope it goes your way Ben

Doug