Is it illegal to remove the rear seats of a van?
3 Answers
Removing the rear seats of a van is illegal as it violates the Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China. Relevant information is as follows: 1. Dimensions: Taking the Wuling Rongguang V 2019 1.5L Utility Model National V ILAR as an example, it is a microvan under SAIC-GM-Wuling. 2. Power: The vehicle is equipped with a 1.5L engine, paired with a 6-speed manual transmission. In terms of body dimensions, the vehicle measures 4415 mm in length, 1665 mm in width, and 1850 mm in height, with a wheelbase of 2720 mm. For the suspension system, the front suspension is a MacPherson independent suspension, and the rear suspension is a leaf spring non-independent suspension.
I was fined by the traffic police a while ago for removing the rear seats of my minivan. It turns out this is actually illegal. The officer explained that the number of seats registered on the vehicle's license cannot be arbitrarily modified, and removing seats counts as illegal modification. Think about it - with an empty cargo space in the back, unsecured goods could fly out during sudden braking, creating serious hazards. The authorities are conducting strict roadside checks now - if caught, you'll face penalty points and fines. In severe cases, they might even require you to reinstall the seats before releasing your vehicle, causing both delays and extra expenses. My advice is to keep the seats as they are. If you need to transport goods, renting a small truck would be more cost-effective.
Take my advice, don't remove minivan seats. Last year, I removed the third-row seats for convenience to transport building materials, only to fail the annual inspection. The inspector pointed out that unauthorized alteration of the vehicle's structure violates registration regulations and required me to restore it to pass. Later, I learned that even vehicle insurance could be affected, as insurers consider this a risk-increasing modification. Especially when family minivans are converted for cargo transport, claims can become problematic in case of accidents. These vehicles are also prime targets during routine traffic police checks, making the effort not worth the trouble.
