Need to be able to take out the seats and replace them with the 3 seater

[Mteks]

Good day all, while chatting about the Middle seats can I ask the Question - I have a Caravelle for the family but would like to grow the number of seats during the week.
This is so that I can earn additional income Transporting school Kids to school. My plan is to find the Middle 2- or 3-seater that would be on the Kombi and remove the captain seats before Monday morning. Then put the captain seats back for family weekend. I am not sure if I can also put the 2-seater at the passenger side at the front. It will be work to take out the Captain Seats and mount the Kombi 3-Seater every Sunday Evening but need to do that. I also thing I need to cover the Floor with a big rubber matt. Please advise what the best way.

 

[The Bear78]

The Caravelle uses a rail system and the Kombi uses individual clipping points for the seats.
I'm not sure that it is possible to mix and match and if it was it would be a messy setup that would ruin a Caravelle, in my opinion.

 

[david173]

If you have a caravelle then you will need caravelle seats to fit the rail system. Kombi seats as @The Bear78 says use a different mounting foot and only fit the Kombi floor mounts. You can't have rails and the kombi floor mounts as they would clash.

If you need extra seats you could always get extra Caravelle ones to fit? might be worth posting a picture of your setup so we can see what you have where

 

[TallPaul_S]

Sounds like you have the standard 2 front seats, 2 middle row seats and triple bench in the back.

You can't add extra seats unless you have a LWB.

An extra bench would technically fit in place of the middle row seats but you wouldn't be able to access the rear row, it's not recommended in this configuration.

And as above, the caravelle (and California) have thier own mounting system, kombi or other seats do not fit.

 

[sdlnet]

Worth a mention, the triple Caravelle bench is pretty heavy and not something you will be installing on your own

 

[TallPaul_S]

Worth a mention, the triple Caravelle bench is pretty heavy and not something you will be installing on your own

Yeah that too, it's about 100kg. A 2 or 3 person jobbie!

Oh and they're rare as hell, expect to pay 4 figures if you can find one.

Sorry, OP - unless you have a LWB and currently have 7 seats there's no way to increase your seats.

 

[roadtripper]

It's also worth noting that if you increase the seats over the number recorded by DVLA you might need to double check insurance.

I don't think you can in a SWB but if you go over 8 then you are in a different license category.

Theoretically you might be able to change the single front passenger seat to a twin bench, but you will be disturbing a lot of electrics to do so and that will be a permanent change.

Frankly you'd be better off finding a cheap Shuttle variant and running 2 vans

 

[Corncopia]

It's also worth noting that if you increase the seats over the number recorded by DVLA you might need to double check insurance.

I don't think you can in a SWB but if you go over 8 then you are in a different license category.

Theoretically you might be able to change the single front passenger seat to a twin bench, but you will be disturbing a lot of electrics to do so and that will be a permanent change.

Frankly you'd be better off finding a cheap Shuttle variant and running 2 vans

Shuttles are usually 9 seats - I've had 3 of them now - and you definitely don't need a special licence.

 

[roadtripper]

Shuttles are usually 9 seats - I've had 3 of them now - and you definitely don't need a special licence.

Yes so you have 8 seats + driver.

If you had 9 seats + driver you need a category D1 license entitlement not the B you are driving a Shuttle on.

The confusion in this area comes because a V5 lists total seats but license categories list passenger seats.

Driving licence categories

Driving licence categories - entitlements on your licence and what vehicles you can drive - cars, motorcycles, mopeds, medium and large lorries, minibuses and buses.

www.gov.uk

 

[Corncopia]

Yes so you have 8 seats + driver.

If you had 9 seats + driver you need a category D1 license entitlement not the B you are driving a Shuttle on.

The confusion in this area comes because a V5 lists total seats but license categories list passenger seats.

Driving licence categories

Driving licence categories - entitlements on your licence and what vehicles you can drive - cars, motorcycles, mopeds, medium and large lorries, minibuses and buses.

www.gov.uk

Ah I see what you mean - thank you for explaining!