pimpernel

[quote user="allanb"]I'll tell you what, Ernie, why don't you take your car back to the UK and register it with an "MG" number. Then bring it back to France and we can revive the "non-resident registration" thread.   There are only about twenty pages of it, and it's been quiet for a few days now. [/quote]   Yeah ,go on Ernie, go on .I double dog dare you[:D]

Well BD, if you spend a bit of time at your place in France you'll probably find someone with some space you could park a car up. But for goodness sake don't pay them ,or if you do ,don't post about it .Or the paying taxes posters will have you[:D]

[quote user="Just Katie"] Merci (that means thank you) [geek] [6] [:D] [/quote] [:D]

Thanks Ron ,I think thats answered it.

Reminds me of the Kenny Everett joke " Some people think they're crape, but I quite like them"

[quote user="Ron Avery"] French registered because the owner lives in France.   [/quote] Right I'm begining to understand.  It's alright for a French person to keep a French registered car indefinitly in England. Not paying any road tax and having the bi annual CT instead of the yearly MOT test. Sounds good to me.

[quote user="Quillan"][quote user="pimpernel"][quote user="Quillan"][quote user="pimpernel"] Alright,how does this work. You're a brit living in France. Cars are all legal, CT'd insured etc but you keep a car garaged in the UK for the times you have to go back. Should this car be French or English registered. If it is English registered ,howif you haven't got an English address.? Are you allowed to drive it in France.? If it is French registered how do you keep it in England.? Probably obvious to most of you .[8-)] [/quote] This looks like somebody who is trying to 'bend' the rules a bit but anyway. [/quote] Well I'm not trying to bend the rules ,merely to understand them thoroughly[:@]. I am a French resident but may soon be working extensively with a vehicle in the UK. While in the UK I will be staying with a family member and I can keep a vehicle at their address. The use I will be making of my vehicle excludes a hire vehicle. I could take my French registered vehicle with me but I wondered what the legal situation would be regarding using a French registered vehicle in the UK for extended periods for business. I assumed this would be illegal so it occurred to me that a UK registered vehicle would be better. It would be easier to fly to the UK and use my vehicle there than drive over every time I go. I repeat, I'm not trying to bend the rules. I only want to be able to drive legally in both countries. Any vehicle I have in the UK may occasionally need to drive in to France. As any French vehicle I have won't be paying road tax I assume I couldn't use it for extended periods in the UK. or do I have to change my country of residence every couple of months. This is plainly absurd. I am posting this as I've been trying to figure out how other people do this. Hence my earlier posts. [/quote] Perhaps if you said all this in the first place instead of going at it in a very round about way people may have been more helpful. [/quote] Sorry about that ,but I was hoping the information would emerge without me having to explain my personal involvement and getting flamed by all and sundry and told to go back to the UK if I want to work there.

[quote user="Quillan"][quote user="pimpernel"] Alright,how does this work. You're a brit living in France. Cars are all legal, CT'd insured etc but you keep a car garaged in the UK for the times you have to go back. Should this car be French or English registered. If it is English registered ,howif you haven't got an English address.? Are you allowed to drive it in France.? If it is French registered how do you keep it in England.? Probably obvious to most of you .[8-)] [/quote] This looks like somebody who is trying to 'bend' the rules a bit but anyway.   [/quote]   Well I'm not trying to bend the rules ,merely to understand them thoroughly[:@].  I am a French resident but may soon be working extensively with a vehicle in the UK. While in the UK I will be staying with a family member and I can keep a vehicle at their address. The use I will be making of my vehicle excludes a hire vehicle. I could take my French registered vehicle with me but I wondered what the legal situation would be regarding using a French registered vehicle in the UK for extended periods for business. I assumed this would be illegal so it occurred to me that a UK registered vehicle would be better. It would be easier to fly to the uk and use my vehicle there than drive over every time I go.   I repeat,I'm not trying to bend the rules. I only want to be able to drive legally in both countries.Any vehicle I have in the UK may occasionally need to drive in to France. As any French vehicle I have won't be paying road tax I assume I couldn't use it for extended periods in the UK. or do I have to change my country of residence every couple of months.This is plainly absurd. I am posting this as I've been trying to figure out how other people do this. Hence my earlier posts.

Alright,how does this work. You're a brit living in France. Cars are all legal, CT'd insured etc but you keep a car garaged in the UK for the times you have to go back. Should this car be French or English registered. If it is English registered ,howif you haven't got an English address.? Are you allowed to drive it in France.? If it is French registered how do you keep it in England.? Probably obvious to most of you .[8-)]

Don't know about the cover ,but the trailer has its own number and insurance.

Damn, does this mean that if I'd hung on for a couple more years France would have come to me.[:@] And I wouldn't even have had to learn the language.[:D]

Thank you Sunday driver,both for your patience in answering me and for the benefit of your knowledge. Thank you to the other posters who answered.

[quote user="Frederick"]    Our local bar/ hotel has a shop attached ....even when closed.. if we run out of anything they will open the shop for me and let me in ...so by that I assume they are happy to have us among them . [/quote]   As long as you keep bringing in money,they will stay happy.Should you settle here and start competing for jobs etc. they will not be so happy.

Thanks SundayDriver I think the first paragragh covers it.   I would just like to state that these people are not exactly friends of mine. I just know them. When I spoke to them about the box ,they were a bit defensive so I think they realised it probably wasn't legal. Just to further this slightly for clarity's sake. Is it illegal for a French resident to drive an English registered car. ie Someone comes to visit and while out on day trips etc the driving is shared

So what you're saying is that they are OK. I personally would have thought this wasn't right.

Hi, if anyone is still interested in the original topic. I contacted someone I know who lives in France and has run a UK plated 7.5 tonne horsebox for a number of years. They said they were a little concerned about the legalities of having it French registered when they first arrived so to try and get around any problems and expense this is what they have done. The transferred the registration to a parent who resides in the UK. It is taxed and plated and their UK insurers have been told that the vehicle spends the majority of it's time in France. They contacted VOSA who gave them a letter of exemption for the tachograph which they have translated into French.They also said that in conversation with the VOSA official they were told that the UK authorities would not be unduly concerned if the vehicle wasn't taxed when it wasn't on UK roads.However they do keep it taxed as the vehicle regularly goes back to the UK. In fact during the summer months it spends the greater part of its time in the UK. I pointed out to them that this was probably still illegal so they asked me to enquire from the legal experts on this forum which bit is not legal. They said they have occasionally been stopped for routine checks by the gendarmes who have inspected their paperwork and they said there has never been a problem. They themselves thought there may be a problem but as they have been running like this for a time with no problem they have not bothered looking in to the legalities. Over to the experts. As I have now told them they are illegal ,back me up.

Thanks for everyone being patient with me. My problem with comprehension is that as Sunday Driver appears to provide the definitive answer and I think all is clear,up pops ESB who also seems to have an answer and it is at odds with Sundaydriver.

[quote user="Bob T"] We are just going around in circles here, some people will read the rules in any way that they can to suit their situation. [/quote]   I apologise to the people who are losing interest because they think they are going around in circles.That's why I think it is important to discuss it . I know of two different people who have been living in France for over eight years ,still on UK plates. They are convinced they are legal or else they wouldn't keep going back to have an MOT test each year. Other people see them and think ,well if they've been here that long it must be OK. I'm new to this forum so the arguments are still quite interesting to me. However I can do without the "if you don't like it go back home "brigade. I prefer to hear a more reasoned argument. It would be nice to hear a definitive official stand. And if there is one, how do the UK platers get away with it. Has anyone ever heard of a UK plater being prosecuted or being in an accident and their insurance refusing to pay. This all may be old stuff to you all ,but remember I'm a new boy so may take some time to come up to speed.

Just to add another little dimension to this. Caravans. A person has used their caravan to tour europe for a number of years no problem. They've spent six very enjoyable months each year touring. They think as they enjoy France so much lets go and live there. So they pack up their belongings and buy a place in France. They don't want to break any laws so they immediately re register their car. Bingo! they can no longer use their caravan. The caravan maker cannot give them a COC for whatever reason and DRIRE are no help because the internal fixtures and fittings don't conform either. They can't sell it in France except for scrap,and they can't tow it back to England because as soon as it's hitched to their now French registered vehicle it is illegal. There is nothing wrong with the caravan other than it doesn't have the correct paperwork. It is not unsafe and there has been no problem with it on French roads until the owner became a French resident. If the holier than thou brigade can't see how ridiculous this is then there is no hope.   Another example is 7.5 tonne horseboxes. Perfectly legal in England subject to stringent ministry tests so probably even more safe than some of the vehicles I've seen leaving CT centres in France. But to obtain all the necessary certificates and paperwork for them,as it is not only the vehicle but the box it's carrying that has to conform,would cost many thousands of pounds. I repeat there is nothing wrong with the vehicle or box other than paperwork.Is it any wonder that people can be reluctant to re-register or try to find a way to circumnavigate the law.It would be a very bored Gendarme who would wish to get involved in the legalites of nicking an English registered, taxed, tested and insured vehicle because it's owner was a French resident. Anyway, as far as I've seen of gendarmes demanding that Brits with UK licences change them to French licences because they are French residents demonstrates that gendarmes have very little knowledge of the law.   Before all the people who usually come on and throw their arms up in horror and say if you don't like it then go back to the uk. I would just like them to stop and think. There are many reasons why this is a ridiculous thing to say. Due to many personal or professional reasons people may not be able to go back to the UK no matter how much they would like to.   Right, I'll just go and hide under the table now, just in case the usual war breaks out.

Did anyone say they wanted to break the law !    Sorry for the edit I've calmed down now!

You are of course quite correct. The cars should be sold and nice new French ones bought. But people who have built there own car and have been driving it legally in an EU country for many years are a bit put out to find that it becomes illegal if they live in France. It is not just a question of a visit to DRIRE. This is usually just the start of a very long and frustrating journey. I know the argument is that if you don't want to do it then don't move to France. But I can also see the other side. If it is kept UK MOT'd and taxed and insured and registered at a Bona Fide address in the UK then why beat youself up by French registering.

What happens if these cars are not technically owned by the French resident. They could be registered to a UK resident and just "borrowed" by the person resident in France!  Also not re registering is not just down to laziness. There could be a problem with the C.O.C. due to the car being a foreign car to the EU, kit car etc. The vehicle may have had modifications that the French don't recognise.. It is very awkward to re register some vehicles. If the French don't like it then they should simplify the system.

Well I stopped washing months ago. I only shave once a week. I will eat anything that has walked ,crawled slithered or swam. I don't mind stopping for a pee anywhere instead of looking for a public convenience. I always wear a zip up boilersuit. I chew garlic because I like the smell.I drive a white van. I keep my dog chained to a tree for weeks on end. I'll happily hold up people in a hurry while telling the girl at the checkout what I did yesterday. I drive as close to the car in front as possible and risk life and limb to overtake them if they have UK plates. This is even better if I can do it just before I turn off. If we have guests I'll cut them a piece of cheese with the same knife I used to castrate the pigs five minutes before. When I'm out hunting I like to park my vehicle so that it causes as much obstruction as possible and then glare at anyone who drives past. I've had all the indoor plumbing taken out of my house and run all the electrics off of one socket.   Other than that I've hardly adopted any french ways

As far as I know, I live nowhere near an airfield. Yet I regularly have microlights flying over. They are not nice quiet 4 strokes but horrible buzzy two strokes. They take twenty minutes to arrive and twenty minutes to depart at an estimated 1000 to 1500 feet. I'll warrant, with the noise pollution they upset far more people than they give pleasure to. As for Madonna's neighbours, I think that if the fly ins were intentionally started to annoy her then the ignorance and total selfishness of the microlight community is self evident.

They do tend to make the sand filter a bit bigger and the smell slightly stronger, but as long as you keep the hair growth in check there should be no lasting problems.