[Brits in Saumur area]

Not exactly Saumur but I live along the Loire towards Angers. There are quite a few brits settled locally however the housing market here can be expensive depending on what you are planning to do here (work/retire). Feel free to drop me a message if you need a chat. We are a couple (late 20s) and have been here for the last 7 years.

[Leaving France - social security refund]

You probably wont be entitled to anything really - the employer has to pay the taxes on what they are paying you and hence you are "impossable".

[BEWARE selling cars - SCAM that cost me dearly]

Well its considered an "escroquerie" and not a theft - even if they put your car on the stolen cars register...

There is an option that costs €15 a year extra but you have to respect certain conditions and all sorts to make sure that it works!

[LYCEES AND POINT SYSTEM]

as in points system as when you become a teacher or the school grades?

[fish & chip van]

[quote user="WendyG"]

Please anyone know of fish and chip van near Saumur?

Wendy

[/quote]

 

even anywhere in the maine et loire as far as i'm concerned!!!   

[Boule de Fort]

I play from time to time in Saumur...   

[BEWARE selling cars - SCAM that cost me dearly]

Its policed at the source - the bank - when someone withdraws that amount of cash or pays it in, it sets off a red flag. I've done it myself in the past without knowing the legality of it all and had a few inquisitive phone calls and inspections d'impots afterwards!

[Argus versus La Centrale]

sent you an email - may be interested - depends on the car/details etc!

[BEWARE selling cars - SCAM that cost me dearly]

Hi folks,

Just thought i'd give you a friendly piece of advice when selling your cars. This scam cost me €10k and I am now carless (well in the process of looking for a cheap enough run around).

A friendly French chap called me on a Thursday about my car I was selling. We discussed pricing and the general state of the car, he said he'd be coming from Paris on Saturday and would prepare a bankers draft with his bank (cheque de banque) so that if the car suited him then we could do the paperwork there and then.

SCAM - you cannot call the emitting bank to check the draft on a saturday. The man used FAKE ID (an official French ID card faked and had stolen another person's identity in the process - the photo was of the scammer). Beware of calling the number on the cheque - the scammers now use redirection systems to reply to your calls even and tell you that everything is fine with the cheque.

My scammer got away with the car, insurance wants nothing to do with it because its my fault and the Gendarmerie "are doing their best".

End of the day - only way to sell a car is during the week and do the transaction in a bank OR verify the bankers draft with the emitting bank on a week day. The other possibility is cash BUT again there are scams and beware that it is illegal to perform financial transactions in cash for cars over €4000 (i seem to remember).

Hope you can all learn from the tough lesson i've had to learn.   

Neil (new to the forum but hoping to be around more often)

[Argus versus La Centrale]

Hi folks,

Ive been living in France for a few years now and have a few friends that work in the car industry...

The "Centrale" calculates your car's worth based upon an average of the ads it picks up on its website.

The "Argus" is the official (Glasses french equivalent) guide for all trade value of cars. Ie: when you buy a car check the argus value and try and get the closest you can to the value it says in the magazine.

Common practice for garages is basically to say: we'll not even give you the Argus because the market is tough etc etc. End of the day they will sell it on for above the Argus value.

 

All things considered - if anyone is selling a second hand car under €4k mark I may well be interested!