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Importing an Ex MoD Land Rover


Ian R
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Merry Christmas one and all!

I am thinking about buying an ex MoD LHD Land Rover Defender 90 or 110, and bringing to France.

Has anybody on this forum done/tried to do this before and did they have any success?

The Land Rover will have release papers and can be registered in the UK with UK plates and V5 document before I bring it over.

It may be possible to get the company I buy it from to export it directly to France, but my instinct says it might be best to register in here in the UK, get a V5 and MoT certificate before I bring it over. I know I will need to get it CT tested on arrival and of course a Certificate of Conformity from Land Rover.

Given that these vehicles are usually of 1988 - 95 vintage, and built for the MoD I don't know whether they will have a VIN stamped on it somewhere.

After the Christmas break I'm going to contact Land Rover and see what they say, but in the meantime i hoping somebody will have the chapter and verse complete with grey hair having completed the challenge!

Why do I want a Landie, well my little R5 Super Cinq isn't up to towing a reasonably sized braked remorque and apart from bales of hay, straw and the odd sheep, it isn't cut out to carry multiple bags of cement etc.for my 'retirement project'!  A rag top Defender is just the job and should last me out!

Thanks in advance,

Ian

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[quote user="Mr Ice-ni"]

[quote user="Ian R"]

A rag top Defender is just the job and should last me out!

[/quote]

Don't start a long book then. If you plan to read War & Peace buy a LandCruiser.

John

[/quote]

OK, the contest between Toyota and LR is still going strong!

Both are tough vehicles I'll give you that, but I've got a soft spot for Landies and a rag top really does beat all in the summer. Maybe you know a quick and easy way to chop the top off a Land Cruiser?

Oh and an easy way putting back on again when it rains!

Also when it comes to tipping a load of melange in the back then it does get rather difficult with a solid roofed Land Cruiser;-)

A 2.5 litre naturally aspirated diesel isn't going to break any land speed records but if it can chug happily around Iraq and Afghanistan then it'll do for me!

Anyway back to the request for information on the possible/probable pitfalls.

I notice that the DRIRE has changed or rather morphed into a new bureaucracy. developpement-durable.gouv.fr in many cases, I'm in the Dordogne (24) by the way so am I Charentes 

www.poitou-charentes.developpement-durable.gouv.fr

or Aquitaine

www.aquitaine.developpement-durable.gouv.fr

Regards

Ian

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Ian, you could register it in the UK if you want, but it will make no difference when you want to register it here. What you need is a European CofC, and I don't thing LR will give you one for a vehicle that is older than about 1998. You will have a bit of work on your hands, but it can be done.

All the MOD ones that I have driven do have VIN numbers.

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Get in touch with this chap......

LIEVRE Sylvain

JAGUAR France

Division de JAGUAR LAND ROVER France SAS

Service Homologation

34, Rue de la Croix de Fer

CS 70337

78105 Saint Germain en Laye Cedex

Tel : 01 61 01 68 18

Fax : 01 61 01 68 96

E-mail: [email protected]

He was very helpful to me when I registered a Special Vehicles freelander here, a model which is not homologated in France.

This thread from the forum.....

http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/2402265/ShowPost.aspx

givess a little run-down of the hoops I had to jump through.

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[quote user="Bob T"]What you need is a European CofC, and I don't thing LR will give you one for a vehicle that is older than about 1998. All the MOD ones that I have driven do have VIN numbers.
[/quote]Hmm.  Ours was 1984 so I don't think that's right unless things have changed radically.

5 years ago we were given this advice by a fellow forum member (who no longer posts) and it worked, as has been mentioned again on this thread by Dave, above:

"we just sent a copy of the V5 and a cheque for E119,60 to:

Homologation Department

FMC Automobiles SAS

34, Rue de la Croix de Fer

78122

St Germain en Laye

They ask for body type, number of seats, date of first registration, VIN number and tyre dimensions, all of which are on the V5, but I gave the information separately in a covering letter anyway"

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Nothing has changed, Coops.

Ian doesn't need a European C of C as they do not exist for pre 1998 vehicles.  What he needs is a French national type approval certificate (attestation d'identification à un type réceptionné en France) which can be obtained by writing to the St Germain address as given by your ex-forum member and mentioned by Dave above.

 

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Very many thanks to you all for those very interesting and useful replies.

So come the new year I'll call Jaguar LandRover both in the UK and France. Thank you Dave for the contact name.

Bob, as I understand it to register a vehicle in the UK it must have a VIN even if it is given one at the time of applying for the V5, but as Dave said the homologation thing for the CoC could be problem, so that contact name at Jaguar LR in France will be very useful indeed, thanks.

I've been given a name of a contact in Export Control Organisation, part of the Dept of Trade to give guidance on ex MoD vehicles.

Thanks Cooperlola for the address to send the V5 etc to.

I have to say that €180 is probably better than I expected, and yes I will still need to pay for the various local fees and plates.

In case it was going to prove impossible, which now doesn't look like it is, I had a look at www.largus.fr. The French version of Autotrader?

Interesting as there are a few Defenders up for sale at wildly differing prices compared to age, mileage etc. Photos don't mean much either, as the 'new' picture has been put against a couple of older ones!

Has anybody had experience of L'Argus?

Thanks again for all the information.

Bob, out of interest where in the Dordogne are you? I'm 8 kms south of St-Yrieix-la-Perche, and 5 kms north of Payzac. Interestingly my very minor road is the border of the Limosine and Aquitaine. (87 and 24)

Best

Ian

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"Bob, out of interest where in the Dordogne are you? I'm 8 kms south of St-Yrieix-la-Perche, and 5 kms north of Payzac. Interestingly my very minor road is the border of the Limosine and Aquitaine. (87 and 24)"

I am about 35 kms SW of you.

You will not get a CofC for a vehicle of that age as SD also pointed out, but that will not be a problem if you are determined.

I loved the various LR products that I drove while in the RAF, but at that time they were paying for the fuel. I would not drive one here as my Hyundai Tucson manages the roads and tracks around here and is more economical than many 2WD cars.

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Hi Bob

35 Kms SW, well that narrows it a bit! Towards Bergerac but not as far but south of Perigueux, mmm. Towards Thenon but a bit further.

Yes fuel consumption is a real issue with today's prices;-) Limited income and rising prices. So the pound is fairing better against the Euro, but then fuel is bought with dollars and the Euro is at a real disadvantage to the dollar at the moment. Giveth with one hand and takes away with the other springs to mind!

I started my Land Rover ownership with an old but reliable Range Rover P38, diesel I hasten to add. 25mpg no more no less except when towing my mini digger down to Bossavy. Low 20s but I didn't venture above 45 mph!

I now have a 2005 Discovery 3 TDV6 which is superb. Towing a light trailer with a mates Rangemaster cooker down towards Figeac, I managed just over 31 mpg. Not as good as your Hyundai I imagine, but I love it all the same.

A short true story.

A sheep farmer friend, who lives in Cumbria, was a stalwart Land Rover owner until one day he did some sums and decided on a Diahatsu Fourtrac to replace the ageing Series 3 he had. He worked out that he could nearly buy two Diahatsu Fourtracs for the price of one Defender!

I visited him shortly afterwards and he was really smitten with his new purchase, a radio that he could actually hear, a heater that gave out heat, what could be better? Japanese quality and reliability at it's best.

Just over a year later I was up in his neck of the woods and popped in to see him. No Diahatsu, but a new Defender outside the farmhouse. Visitors, must be, but no he had traded the Fourtrac in after a year because in his own words 'When something fell off the Land Rover I'd pick it up on the way back, with the Diahatsu the bl**dy thing stopped and wouldn't go until the bit was put back on, and it cost me a bomb to get the mechanic up into the hills to repair it!'

Oh and the 'new' Defender is not new any more, but the heater still works, the radio sort of does, but best of all, fewer bits have fallen off and it hasn't stooped once!

They are a bit like 'Triggers broom' if you watch 'Only Fools'. But there is something endearing about them.

The P38 got a 'Thank you' each time it got be down and back from Bossavy! I had all sorts of messages on the dash! One of them - 'Transmission Failure' whilst happily cruising along the A20 Autoroute at 110 kph and no sign of stopping or loosing drive! Rubbish connectors were usually to blame, and a great car once I had sorted the air suspension;-)

So you can see why I rather do want an Ex MoD Defender, something rather simple and straightforward to repair, sorry keep up to scratch!

Thanks again for all the advice, my new year resolution is 'get on the phone and it sorted'!

Ian

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I sold mine when I no longer needed to tow but I do miss it.  The V8 110 was by far the best though, even compared with the 3 other landies we had.  Many's the time I've watched people in all sorts of poncey modern 4WDs being towed out of muddy fields with tractors when my old girl just set sail with the trailer and two dobbins without fuss.  But far, far too pricey to run if I hadn't had a real need for one.  Great vehicles to have owned though.
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>A sheep farmer friend, who lives in Cumbria,...................................Just over a year later I was up in his neck of the woods and popped in to see him. No Diahatsu, but a new Defender outside the farmhouse.<

Just farming sheep? 

Steve

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