Changing Tax Disc

[turnipsock]

My new tax disc arrived today, anybody know how to change this. Will I have to take it to the dealers or can I fit this myself? Do I need any special tools?

 

[BarryG]

My new tax disc arrived today, anybody know how to change this. Will I have to take it to the dealers or can I fit this myself? Do I need any special tools?

Assuming you want to keep your present tax disc holder.
Get a hold of a small diamond bladed rotary cutting tool. ( I know some people prefer the old Stihl saw used for cutting paving slabs but you can be much neater with the smaller cutter.)
Other tools required
A hammer
Sellotape
A felt tip pen
Now please follow these instructions carefully as I will not be held responsible if you do not!
From the outside of your windscreen draw around your tax disc holder tracing its shape.
Then enter the car from the passenger side, (theres a handle high up near the back edge of the door just below the window) and carefully peel off the holder. ( We dont want to damage the actual tax disc holder as they can be expensive to replace, so removing it prevents damage during the process to follow)
On exiting the car you will now see a perfect outline of your holder drawn in felt pen. ( Colour is optional)
With the diamond cutting blade very carefully start to cut thru your windscreen following the pen marks exactly. (If using a Stihl saw you may need to stand on your bonnet as they can be a bit unwieldy)
On finishing the cutting you may find that the glass is still connected in places. This is where the hammer comes in, very carefully lift the hammer above your head and bring it down hard on the cut portion of windscreen glass. (Be very careful here as we dont want to damage the uncut part of the windsreen do we.)
IF you have followed the instructions to the letter you should now have a tax disc holder shaped piece of windscreen on top of your dashboard. If it is not there try looking on the floor or under the seats. I have heard of it even being found on the parcel shelf.
Now for the fiddly bit.
Looking at your tax disc holder which you removed earlier, I hope, you will notice that one side is open enough for you to force your new tax disc into. Carefully remove the old disc by lifting the plastic flaps being careful not to bend or crease them as they tend to no longer want to adhere to anything if you do. The insertion of the new tax disc is a reversal of the removal once again being careful with the flaps.
Place the removed portion of windscreen onto your bonnet, making sure that the slightly concave side is facing up. (we dont want any mistakes here as putting it in the wrong way round would just make your whole windscreen look silly) Place your tax disc holder face down onto the cutout glass and carefully align the edges, some people have been known to breath on the plastic holder at this point to increase adhesion. When you are satisfied with its position you are ready for the next step.
Get your wife or someone else that doesnt have a lot to do to come and help you. Get them to sit in the passenger seat and place there hand over the hole in the windscreen as you carefully place the cutout with the tax disc in place into the aforementioned hole. Then with the sellotape carefully tape over the cutout piece of glass making sure to overlap slightly onto the windscreen, do this all round the edges making sure no gaps are left. ( I have managed to do this on my own on occasion by winding down the passenger side window and reaching in with my right hand and taping with my left. Be warned you do need to precut the sellotape before hand !)
And there you have it your nice new tax disc sitting proud for all the nice policemen to see. Estimated time for the job is 1 to 2 hours.
Apart from having to replace the sellotape in a years time you are sorted.
Makes you want to dash out early and just get another tax disc even though you still had 3 months to run on your present one. ( I know I did )

PS. for extra security you could also sellotape the inside of the windscreen.

PPS. Please Please do use transparent sellotape, I know there is a lot of christmassy sellotape available at this time of year but you will find it can obscure your tax disc which would rather defeat the object.

Good luck I know its tricky. But it will give you great satisfaction doing it yourself, rather than a stealer.

Barry

 

[davidsl500]

Ah, a tricky one but it is well documented in the Haynes manual - make sure you have the correct manual for your car and pay attention to your VIN number as the the procedure is different from a certain VIN/year.

I have tried various methods to cirumvent the strict replacement procedure and have found the best method is to call out Autoglass to remove the windscreen prior to attempting the job.

I have also found out - by trial and error - that it is best to unstick the holder completely from the windscreen rather than trying to thread the tax disc through a tiny gap you can create by slightly peeling the holder from the screen.

It is also imperative that you completely remove the old tax disc from the holder before attempting the fittment of the new one. If you do not follow this procedure then the extra weight and thickness of multiple discs in the holder can cause the famous "tax disc vacuum stiction failure" which will invalid your warranty - and if you have a window open whilst driving the possible loss of your tax disc.

Full safety gear should be worn and it is advised that you carry warm clothing, a thermos and a shovel just in case, not forgetting to chock the wheels.

Personally, I would rather leave this job to a professional rather than attempt it myself - especially the bit where you try an tear round the ****** perforations.

 

[SLinKyjoe]

Tax disk?

 

[slim_boy_fat]

To be honest i wanted to find a car with nearly a full years tax on it. That way i could get a year out the car then sell it before i had to change the tax disk.

I hear its nearly 10 hrs labour at the MB dealer, at £100/h thats going to hurt. But i guess that if you want it done right you have to pay for it.

DIY is very tricky, only ONLY to be attempted by a confident machanic. Probably time served with at least 10 years working with M-Benz products.

I have heard some whispers that other cars have easier procedure for this but i can substantiate them.

Good luck, might be better just trading the can in for a new one with 12 month on it.

p.s. i think the Sthil saw approach is a bit much, you can buy a diamond core cutter for less than £200 attached to a decent drill and will probably do a better job.

Good luck!!

 

[television]

Excellent advice above, I tried it that worked well, but my new one has slipped down into the demister opening as i used second hand Sello tape.

Malcolm

 

[Micman]

Mmmmm!!!!

Under no circumstances attempt to change it yourself, we are talking about a major job here. Have you attempted changing tax discs yourself before? Tut Tut.

Take it to the Main Dealer (not an independent). They will charge you approx 10 pence for a new sticky holder and £5,000 labour to fit it.

lol

 

[mioba]

can someone post a pic of this new tax disk

cant really get my head around what i am reading here

 

[Micman]

with reference to 'mioba' post

Mate, with respect, if he can't change the tax disc, how do you expect him to use a digital camera and then upload the picture online??????


lol

 

[davidsl500]

I am sure someone will do a comprehensive "how to" when they have mastered the art. I'm not going to risk it on mine though.

 

[television]

Problem solved.
Someone gave me a Tesco tax disc holder for Xmas, never used the thing as it is screwed together, once fitted by your MB dealer you would have to smash it to remove,

it just so happens that this thing is silver,finnished in MB 044 paint (brilliant silver) and is a nice wedge fit to the screen,you will notice that the "Sekurit" glass marking,completely obscure the words on the disc.
the fines are only £75 a month, for failing to display a legible tax disc.
I am now thinking of having a non MB windscreen now, to overcome the probem.

Malcolm

 

[Silver Arrow]

the fines are only £75 a month, for failing to display a legible tax disc.

I found that I had my L200 disc on the Merc and vice versa.
So I had a valid and legible disc on each so that's OK then.!

 

[BarryG]

A couple of failures, the first one may have been caused by too many cooks and not working in the right area of the windscreen for a left hand drive vehicle.
The second one over exhuberance with the hammer I think.
But so what it was only a Ford

 

[nickdub]

Hi All,
I was reading some old messages just to keep my spirits up, and came across this thread by chance. I'm surprised at some of the stone-age advice (hammers indeed!) given here.
I know new technology is constantly moving on but surely people realise that there is a very simple solution to this Tax disk conundrum these days ?
A new nano-injection gun is available from a very reliable Ebay company for only £199.99. This wonder is capable of injecting dye molecules through the windscreen and so any tax disk is able to be updated rather than replaced. Just think of the waste paper recycling problem that is also being circumvented. Ofcourse the ink powder is priced at £2.50 per nanogram which does add up to a tidy sum (approx £2000 per A4 page) but no cutting edge technology is ever going to be done on the cheap.
Ofcourse we still have to wait for the dinosaurs in Westminster to respond positively to my people's petition on their website - nano-update-for-rfl.pettition.gov.uk - but I'm sure the politicians will wake up in the end when they realise the power of the people on this issue.

Nick @ nano-injection.com

 

[rf065]

Mercedes have been left at the starting blocks again.

Another German manufacturer, BMW or something, has perfected a head up display for the passenger side of the car that projects an image of a valid tax disc (reversed so as you can read it from outside the car) on to the windscreen.

In future the post office will supply your new tax disc on an XD Picture Card which is inserted in a special tax disc reader on the dash.

About time someone came up with an answer to this awkward problem that has blighted the motorist for years now.

Russ

 

[Old Hat Shop]

I can recollect a time when i fitted a tax disc all by myself.


1983 if i remember rightly.


Ghastly experience and have avoided doing so ever since.

 

[grpar]

When you look at tax discs and TV licences, they really are rather miserable looking bits of paper, aren't they ?

Why they can't allow them to be customised is beyond me. The prospect of a picture of Nell McAndrew emblazoned across the front of the disc would certainly make me stand in the PO queue without complaint ....

 

[poppypiesdad]

Does this work with a 108 cdi vito or do i need to go to the commercial stealers for help

Think the diamond core would work better anyone know the correct size

popps

 

[oldcro]

Do as I do. Remove the windscreen and take it along to the tax office. There they have a special machine which removes the old tax disc and fits the new one. Cost is a reasonable £179.99 plus VAT on top of the charge for the new tax disc.

 

[Mercutio]

I really don't think any of you is taking this genuine cri de coeur seriously. If someone comes on to the forum with a problem it's simply not good enough to fob them off with jocular and insulting responses.

I myself went on to a well-known engineering forum to obtain information on establishing or eliminating the flow of water from the taps in our kitchen and was subjected to no end of abuse. So I know exactly what it must be like.