Selling a vehicle

[Emmarc]

I'm currently in the process of selling my car privately.  What is the process??

I know the French like to shuffle paperwork.  What do I need to do when receiving payment for my vehicle??  What paperwork do I have to complete?  What do I do with the certificat d' immatriculation?

[giantpanda]

Hi!

If you can read French, here is the whole procedure.

http://vosdroits.service-public.fr/particuliers/N534.xhtml

Yours,

giantpanda

[Sunday Driver]

The process is quite simple.

First, you need to obtain a certificat de situation/non-gage which tells the buyer that there's no outstanding finance or legal oppositions registered against the car.  You can download one from [url=http://www.interieur.gouv.fr/sections/a_votre_service/vos_demarches/vehicules/telecartegrise_particuliers]HERE[/url].  You'll need your carte grise handy to fill in the request and the certificate is free of charge.

Next you need to complete a certificat de cession transferring ownership to the buyer.  It's a three part form  signed by both of you - you give one copy to the buyer, keep one copy for yourself and send the third copy to the prefecture to advise them you're no longer the owner.  You can download a blank certificate [url=http://www.interieur.gouv.fr/sections/a_votre_service/vos_demarches/vehicules/certificat/downloadFile/attachedFile/cerce.pdf?nocache=1152631071.98]HERE[/url].

Finally, you draw a line across the carte grise and write on it 'vendu le (date/time)' plus your signature, then hand it over to the buyer together with the CT certificate (if the car is over four years old).  The CT certificate must be no older than six months.

Once the car has gone, you can cancel your insurance by producing your copy of the certificat de cession as proof of the sale.

 

[Emmarc]

Thanks for this.  All seems straight foward. 

Wasn't aware of the ct bit though.  Does that mean I have to send it for another ct even though it passed last July?

[tonyv]

If you can't, try here...

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fvosdroits.service-public.fr%2Fparticuliers%2FN534.xhtml&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=fr&tl=en

[Sunday Driver]

[quote user="Emmarc"]

Wasn't aware of the ct bit though.  Does that mean I have to send it for another ct even though it passed last July?

[/quote]

If the certificate is dated more than six months prior to the sale, then yes.

 

 

[David]

[quote user="Sunday Driver"]

The process is quite simple.

First, you need to obtain a certificat de situation/non-gage which tells the buyer that there's no outstanding finance or legal oppositions registered against the car.  You can download one from [url=http://www.interieur.gouv.fr/sections/a_votre_service/vos_demarches/vehicules/telecartegrise_particuliers]HERE[/url].  You'll need your carte grise handy to fill in the request and the certificate is free of charge.

Next you need to complete a certificat de cession transferring ownership to the buyer.  It's a three part form  signed by both of you - you give one copy to the buyer, keep one copy for yourself and send the third copy to the prefecture to advise them you're no longer the owner.  You can download a blank certificate [url=http://www.interieur.gouv.fr/sections/a_votre_service/vos_demarches/vehicules/certificat/downloadFile/attachedFile/cerce.pdf?nocache=1152631071.98]HERE[/url].

Finally, you draw a line across the carte grise and write on it 'vendu le (date/time)' plus your signature, then hand it over to the buyer together with the CT certificate (if the car is over four years old).  The CT certificate must be no older than six months.

Once the car has gone, you can cancel your insurance by producing your copy of the certificat de cession as proof of the sale.

 

[/quote]

I must thank this forum for some wonderful advice over the years, and would be grateful for yet more advice.

I am bringing myself to sell my much loved car as we no longer use it, and wonder if the system for selling a second hand French registered UK car may have changed slightly since this thread was written?

I found that the "certificat de situation/non-gage" must now be completed on line.  This is presumably a request for confirmation that no debts attach to the car, and seemed straight forward, but I wonder if the confirmation is emailed back or sent in the post?  Or is confirmation given as the form is completed?

I found that the SD link for the "certificat de cession" no longer works, but I did find it by doing a search.  Considering the recent change in numberplates, which prefecture should this form be sent to?  If a local prefecture how do you find out the postal address?

Lastly and VERY IMPORTANTLY, I am wrestling with advertising, but WHAT IS THE RECOMMENDED METHOD OF ENSURING PAYMENT???  I have searched for this recommendation without success.  I have heard that even French bank cheques can bounce.  Any accounts of actual experiences welcome.  Should anything be put in the advert about payment methods?  I am afraid that the car will be virtually worthless being over ten years old, RHD, petrol and automatic - all the bad things in France, but I would still like to ensure that any agreed sale money is actually paid.

A simple idiots step by step guide to selling a car in France from start to finish would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

David

[Sunday Driver]

No change in the process of selling a car since my last post.

When I said you can download the certificat de situation/non-gage, you complete the request on-line with details from the carte grise and the system generates the certificat in pdf format which you then download and print off.

As regards the certificat de cession, they've since re-organised the official government documentation website.  The new certificate can be downloaded from HERE.

In your case, you'd send the copy of the certificat de cession to La Préfecture des Deux-Sèvres, 4 rue Duguesclin, 79099 NIORT Cedex 9.

It's not necessary to include the payment method in your advert.  Once the deal has been agreed, you can then ask the buyer for a bank cheque - this is quite normal.  The cheque won't bounce unless it's been forged or stolen.  Simplest way to check is to phone the issuing bank branch with the cheque details and the name and address of their customer and ask them to confirm it's genuine.

When I sold my big motorcycle to a guy from Lille, we did the deal on the phone leaving him to get the train down here to collect the bike unseen.  I mentioned that I'd like to be paid with a bank cheque and asked him to e-mail me a copy of the cheque in advance of his trip so I could verify it.  No objection on his part and the bank confirmed it was OK. 

When I sold my small bike, the buyer was a young lad from Parthenay whom I'd spoken with a couple of times on the phone.  He came with his dad to check out the bike and they both seemed genuine - I'd already checked out his address in the phone book (Pages Blanches allows you to put in a number and get the name and address of the subscriber).  When he returned to collect the bike, I took the chance and just accepted his personal cheque, which cleared.

In both cases, they were happy to produce their identity cards so I could copy their details correctly onto the certificat de cession - and take a photocopy of the card for myself....[8-|]

 

[Thebiga]

I did read on this forum I think that it is possible to sell a car with a CT older than 6 months if you are selling it with something wrong with it and it is sold 'Sans ct' for parts or repair. Is this correct because someone said they had seen plenty of vehicles for sale like this.

We are thinking about this at the moment as we have a vehicle that has started to loose water and we suspect a head gasket leak as it steams a bit more than usual from the exhaust and it only had a reconditioned head put on 18 months ago!!

[Chancer]

I thought that "CT OK" in an ad meant that the vehicle had more than 6 months ticket on it, does it actually mean more than 18 months?

Or to put it another way can you only sell a car (other than for spares) with more than 18 months ticket on it?

[Sunday Driver]

http://vosdroits.service-public.fr/particuliers/F2878.xhtml

Vente d'un véhicule d'occasion

En cas de vente d'un véhicule de plus de 4 ans, le vendeur doit remettre à l'acquéreur, avant la conclusion du contrat de vente, le procès verbal du contrôle technique périodique, établi depuis moins de 6 mois.

Pour obtenir un certificat d'immatriculation (ex carte grise) dans une série normale, l'acquéreur doit apporter la preuve que le contrôle technique périodique a bien eu lieu dans les 6 mois précédents la date de dépôt du dossier en préfecture.

I have read somewhere recently that a car can no longer sold on for parts and instead has to go for destruction.  When I have time to find the source again, I'll post details.

 

[Chancer]

Thanks SD

I am pretty sure that it was you that explained it last time, give me another 6 - 12 months and I will have forgotten again!

[David]

Thanks very much for that SD, particularly the advice about payment.

I think I now understand enough to give it a go.

Thanks again, and trust you are well.

David