Hi, just wondering whether I can get some advice here about rear seats in Transit vans or ANY other panel van eg transporter, sprinter etc circa 8 years old. (not new ones as in the topic header)
I need to have a twin seat in the back of a van to accomodate my 2 kids. I know there are the factory conversions around but theres also a number of seemingly DIY conversions as well.
What are the pro's and con's of having passengers in the back of vans and what should I be bearing mind as the kids safety is paramount obviously!? Whats involved in me putting a seat in? can I just do it? do I get it tested? how does all this work?
Thanks in advance............
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Things I can immediately think about are: (1) Insurance - your insureres may insist on certain standards being met before they will accept carrying more passengers in a vehicle than it was registered to (2) You will need to modify the licensing conditions (possibly need to have a Vospa inspection) (3) seats must be of a suitable design & strength - as must the floor anchorages (4) seat belts and anchorage point s musct be to a strict standard (5) you would need tobe aware that unless you replace a side panel with a window, your kids are going to be very bored looking at a plain wall and, in the event of an accident, the emergency services may not be aware (as it won't be obvious) that there are seats inside.
You may also have to change the front passenger seat to make it tip or put in a side door to allow entry / exit to certification standards.
Edited by grumpyscot on 23/07/2008 at 08:02
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Travelling instrument engineer I know showed me the rear seat arrangement in his Mercedes Van. 3 seats at front and 3 at back, 2 of these holding child seats.
The panel between the load area and the seating area seemed to be reinforced with a frame and windows had been fitted to the sliding side doors (door either side).
I think he said he bought the van from new with this set up. You'd probably need to get a VOSA inspection if you did it yourself and there could be issues with crash protection features etc. (airbags, door reinforcement). The safest method maybe to get another van where all this has been fitted by the manufacturer. Not sure how far back these mercedes vans go, the one I saw I think was an 07 plate.
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Reading the above replies makes me think you might do better to buy a transit minibus and take out the extra seats, but that would leave you with windows over the load area, and you would still have to consider some kind of bulkhead between the kids and load area.
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The taxi driver in our village uses a Transit and he was telling me it's cheaper to buy the van (new) and get in converted than it is to buy it as a minibus in the first place. So it must be a pretty routine thing to do.
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thanks all, some good food for thought there. I can't help thinking there are many vans out there with non legit rear seats. I also can't help thinking that in the event of a shunt, in the back of a metal clad van, my kids ain't going to be as safe as they could be.
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Old settee, 4 big bolts and a bit of rope for a seat belt ;-)
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I know its not clever or PC or legal any more but I was just reflecting that my cousins when kids and older used to get a lift from my uncle if he was going into town by sitting on the back of his flatbed truck. Legs dangling over the back and holding on to whatever he was shifting. Waving at the cars following. If he was doing a removal and there was a sofa on there so much the better. I guess there were so many accidents which "could" have happened but surprise surprise they didn't. Not the dark ages either, or in rural South America but the late '60s early '70s in Edinburgh.
At around the same time my friend's mum used to transport about ten of us to various childrens activities in the back of her Mini van whose only concession to comfort and safety was a foam rubber mat on the floor. The more safety concious of us used to brace themselves against a fat kid.
How the world has changed. Maybe for the better.....or not.
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Sounds like a customer of the pub I used to work in. He used to appear every other Tuesday at about 10.30pm. Have a pint of Shandy - Websters Mild and Lemonade (93p!). He would drink it over last orders. By 11.30pm the 'going for a curry' crowd would be left in the bar.
Back of his Transit for the journey - seats were scaffold planks attached down the full length of each side of the van and fitted on hinges so they could be flipped out of the way when not required!
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I think the van I was referring to maybe a Mercedes VITO Dualiner.
Not sure when they came out but possibly 2003 - 2004.
One on E-bay on 04 plate with 72K for £8k.
However maybe worth checking to see if Merc did other 5 - 6 seater vans with load areas before this.
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I wouldnt touch an aftermarket conversion personally. I'm sure there are good and safe ones but there are certainly plenty of poor and dangerous ones.
The key issues are the seatbelt anchor points - floor and side and the seat anchor points. You need to be sure that the anchors are sufficiently strong to handle the forces involved in a laden vehicle having a smash. I've seen seats bolted down to the floorpan with simple bolts - frightening.
The Transit, Vito and Transporter have all been available from the factory with seats in the rear. I would start with the vwt4 forum.
There used to be a good market for ex-AA transporters - they had rear seats, windows and sliding door. They came from the factory like that and you know that the various mounts are good. Also not too expensive. There used to be a specialist dealer called beeston /beston or something. The 2.5tdi engine most desirable.
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thanks again for all the replies. The T4 seems sought after in 2.5 102bhp form. Lots of them are being customized and yes, a fair few are yellow!!
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If you are VAT registered and have recovered VAT on the van, be careful as it is possible that adding seats or windows can convert a van into a car, which has big implications.
preview.tinyurl.com/56ftqp
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