When it comes to learning the specifics of ‘certified vehicles’, there can often be a lot of misinformation circulating about the term, with many armoring companies in the industry claiming their vehicles are ‘certified’, by providing only steel and glass material certifications used to build their vehicles. This term, however, doesn’t state much about how well or poorly the vehicle has been constructed and can often be misleading.
So how can you determine if a vehicle has been correctly certified?
Vehicles which hold VPAM VR and ERV certifications are amongst the most internationally recognized certified vehicles. The vehicles go through rigorous materials, design and construction testing, along with tests to fully armored vehicles in order to determine the vehicle’s ability to stop bullets and blasts.
The material component of these specific certifications are not easy to obtain and most, if not all, companies do not offer this. On top of this, the design and construction of the vehicle is of equal importance and while using certified materials is great, it does not guarantee that the design will protect against attacks on the vehicle. For example, welding causes stress on ballistic steel. Steel can lose its ballistic properties when welded. So certified steel can become in-effective when welded, this is why it’s important to test a whole vehicle and not just steel samples.
The Armored Group (TAG) is one of the very few armored vehicle manufacturers around the world with multiple VPAM and ERV certifications on multiple different vehicles including the Toyota Landcruiser 76, 200, and 300 series, as well as the Toyota Hilux, Lexus LX-570 and Nissan Patrol, with each vehicle shot with over 350 rounds and six blast tests with zero penetration or armored shell deformation.
When purchasing an armored vehicle, you should always take into consideration whether the company has vehicle certificates and material certificates, along with quality control and assurance processes in place to guarantee that every vehicle coming off the production line matches the certified vehicle. On top of this, we also recommend carrying out an inspection of the manufacturing facility, armoring process and traceability, as well as your own vehicle inspections.
Finally, we recommend asking for references from past clients, along with a list of companies that the facility supplies.