Passenger Seats in VW Conversions: Legal/Safe?

Anonymous · Jul 3, 2012

We have been looking at purchasing a used VW camper van and have noticed the considerable price differences comparing a VW California to a VW conversion of the same year (we’ve seen £15,000 differences in costs)

A lot of the pros and cons of this price difference can be rationalised but what cannot be compromised is the safety of our passengers, how can I know if the seats installed have the correct safety accreditation/meet legal requirements (from DVLA?)?

Thanks in advance for any feedback given

calikev · Jul 3, 2012

Hi and welcome
If you go down the route of a converted van the best way to be sure your passengers are safe
Is make sure the bed is crash tested. The Cali ones are :thumb

sebking · Jul 3, 2012

Tricky subject this and covered over on the t4 forum a lot. Quality varies massively as does fit. Reimo will set you back 3k for a seat and runners for example others a few hundred quid for some iffy welding and foam. There's no dvla approval or type approval in the uk, it comes down to the MOT, and that does not really cover the safety in terms of crash testing etc.

Once you start to take this into account we ended up with a cali... There are some shocking seats out there.

Anonymous · Jul 3, 2012

Thanks Calikev & Sebking for your rapid feedback.

Calikev: how do I know if they've been crash-tested?

Sebking: Reimo - these seats must surely have some safety certification? Even if they do, I suppose it comes down ultimately how they are 'fixed' into the van.

Thanks again

sebking · Jul 4, 2012

Reimo are german so TUV approved etc, and pretty much in my view the best aftermarket you can get. But yes it comes down to the fitter at the end of the day.