Hi all, newbie here and seeking advice and opinions of the experts.

Looking to start up a part time business in tree work, gardening, landscaping, fencing, etc,(ahem, plug! ); and I need a vehicle on a tight budget that can tow, carry, doesn't mind being worked..............

Thinking of a disco 200/300tdi , ideally a 3 door commercial, though they are rare....................

Then could the standard 3/5 door family/7 seat vehicle be used with the following carried out:
1. Could I remove the rear quarter windows and replace with sheet metal painted to match up with rest of vehicle? (more cosmetic and place for signage).
2. Thinking that the rear passenger windows could be tinted in a very dark shade to allow for some visibility but more importantly prying eyes out.
3. Remove seating and trim, and ply lining the entire rear.
4. Some form of a security grill/mesh for the rear door window, off the shelf or fabrication job?

Any one done this sort of thing before, any issues with the vehicle or legality?

Thank you for your time and welcome your expertise

All the best

Andy

There are a few commercial 300tdis on ebay, was looking the other day.

There was a ply lined one on ebay a few months back, looked quite smart. And I don't see why there would be a problem with any of those mods! Although its just easier to buy a commercial one

The benefit of making your own commercial is the vehicle is still registered as a PLG vehicle, so you don't have to pay commercial insurance, which is usually very dear.

If that doesn't matter to you because you have insurance sorted and/or want to declare that you use the vehicle for work anyway then it might not make a difference but in my opinion it is DEFO worth a shout to the insurance company to ask if there is a premium difference between to two cars.

The commercials were simply blanked side window 3 doors, you could buy a 5 door if you get a normal car and then have the bonus of side loading doors similar to a van for instance.

They had heavy duty floors iirc but again a standard car professionally ply lined would be one hell of a thing, you can fairly easily buy the mesh bulkhead that was behind the drivers seats in the commercial aswell, and that really is it.

The floor in the commercial was extended all the way to the front seats, so again you could get a 5 door and use the footwell space as a handy place to stow a few spades etc.

HTH

Ah yeah, commercials aren't LEZ exempt so if you wanted to go into London for anything you got to pay the charge.

I didn't find there was any difference insurance wise between my commercial and ES model (but then again being 20 it was expensive anyway!)

Yeah when I bought mine the guy said something about a heavy duty floor, although once the carpets were out there was nothing heavy duty about the rusty floor!! I do personally think the ply lined ones look really smart.

And i think the floor is the same length in a commercial and a non commercial.