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Registering 1972 VW camper


Boscoe
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I have a 1972 VW Westfalia Camper in the UK it's LHD and an import from Germany but registered in the UK at the moment. It's currently off the road and I intend spending more than I'd like getting it to a good state and then driving it down to our holiday home in France. I live abraod and am nither a resident of France or the UK.

I'm assuming the following, please correct me if I'm wrong and point out any problems I may have!

Before I leave the UK...

MOT in the UK

Insure in the UK (I'm hoping to get a 6 month insurance)

Road tax (although I may get an exemption due to the age)

Get European break down cover for 90 days (poss part of insurance)

Get certificat de conformite from VW

Fill in 'intention to export' form and send to DVLA

When I get to France

I have up to 180 days to get the registration done in France?

Get the equivalent of a MOT done in France -  CT?

Pay for registration (probably expensive as the van is old and burns more oil than petrol)

Then I can insure in France and get breakdown cover?

But a fluorescent jacket :)

I can drive the vehicle on my UK licence when I'm there?

We intend to spend about three months per year in France, how long do french MOT's last?

I've owned the van around eight years.

I don't have an original receipt for the van, will this be a problem?

Anything I've missed/got wrong? I have tried to do my research by reading old posts on the forum...

Thanks in advance!

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I think you've mentioned this before haven't you? Or maybe it was someone else with a similar vehicle.

[quote user="Boscoe"]I have a 1972 VW Westfalia Camper in the UK it's LHD and an import from Germany but registered in the UK at the moment. It's currently off the road and I intend spending more than I'd like getting it to a good state and then driving it down to our holiday home in France. I live abraod and am nither a resident of France or the UK.

I'm assuming the following, please correct me if I'm wrong and point out any problems I may have!

Before I leave the UK...

MOT in the UK - Yes

Insure in the UK (I'm hoping to get a 6 month insurance) - You could easily get French insurance however for full breakdown cover UK would be better.

Road tax (although I may get an exemption due to the age) - Tax Exempt depends on date of manufacture not registration.

Get European break down cover for 90 days (poss part of insurance) - See above

Get certificat de conformite from VW - This might be the toughie and a subject all of it's own although possibly less fraught if it is of German origin. You may be able to go the FFVE collection route.

Fill in 'intention to export' form and send to DVLA - When you have exported it just fill in the Export section on the V5 and semd it to DVLA, nothing more to do.

When I get to France

I have up to 180 days to get the registration done in France? - Yes

Get the equivalent of a MOT done in France -  CT? - Yes

Pay for registration (probably expensive as the van is old and burns more oil than petrol) - Shouldn't be expensive, €150 maybe

Then I can insure in France and get breakdown cover? - Yes but breakdown cover in France is not the same as UK. It normally comes included in the insurance but crucially only gets you to a nearby garage not necessarily back home. There are no equivalents to the AA or RAC

But a fluorescent jacket :) - Yes, before you leave

I can drive the vehicle on my UK licence when I'm there? - Yes

We intend to spend about three months per year in France, how long do french MOT's last? - 2 years or 5 if registered as collection

I've owned the van around eight years.

I don't have an original receipt for the van, will this be a problem? - No, I presume the V5 is in your name and if you've owned it for 8 years the dates on that should suffice.

Anything I've missed/got wrong? I have tried to do my research by reading old posts on the forum...

Thanks in advance![/quote]

A brief response as I'm heading off out but if you need any more do ask.

Bonne chance

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Hi AnOther,

Nope, this is my first time :) Thanks for the response, could you expand on the "FFVE collection" route, and also "2 years or 5 if registered as collection" I googled but my French isn't quite there yet [Www]

Thanks again in advance.

B

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Firstly, you are going to be spending time and money insuring the van in the UK (provided you can actually obtain cover, being an overseas resident), getting the van through the MOT and paying for a tax disc or re-registering it as a historic vehicle to obtain a 'free' tax disc (UK insurance needed for both of these options) - just to be able to drive the van down to the ferry port.  On that basis, I'd explore the cost benefit of just arranging for it to be trailered down to the port.

Concurrent with this, you notify the DVLA that it being exported and visit your local French tax office and obtain a quittus fiscale certificate evidencing exemption from import VAT.  The certificate contains your authorisation to drive the van in France on it's old UK plates (without needing UK road tax, etc) for up to four months whilst you organise the French registration.

Purchase a French motor insurance policy and put the van through a controle technique.

As regards registration, as a campervan, it would require a single vehicle approval inspection to obtain a conformity certificate before a normal registration certificate can be issued.  However, as it is over 30 years old, it qualifies for registration as a 'voiture de collection' which is a less onerous process.  On that basis, contact the Federation Francaise des Vehicules d'Epoche and request an attestation de datation. This is the equivalent of the normal conformity certificate.

Finally, visit your prefecture and register the van. Because it's over ten years old, you'll only pay 50% of the standard registration fee.

A fairly straightfoward process which you can complete in a few weeks.

As far as ongoing CTs are concerned, a vehicle subject to 'normal' registration has to be inspected every two years.  A vehicle registered as a voiture de collection requires a inspection every five years.

 

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Sunday Driver,

'You da man'! (not that AnOther wasn't very helpful - thanks again)

OK Did think about getting it shipped down but I'd still need UK insurance and as I'm not in France I can't visit a local tax office to get a quittus fiscale certificate unless this is possible by email/post?

Do you happen to know what info/documents would the Federation Francaise des Vehicules d'Epoche require to issue a attestation de datation? And can I get this sorted before I get to France?

I'm assuming once I get the attestation de datation I take that to the garrage with the van to get it tested?

Sorry for my ignorance, but if you ever want to register a car in Russia I'm your man!

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If you're getting the van shipped down, then there'd be no need for UK insurance (you normally have to be UK resident for insurance) and you can wait until you arrive in France to visit the tax office for the quittus.

The FFVE require a copy of the UK registration document and photographs of the manufacturer's plate and stamped chassis number.  Details are on the application form which you can download from their website.

You don't need to attestation in order to have the van tested.

 Do svidaniya......[;-)]

 

 

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[quote user="AnOther"]Certainly the adjacent department rules have been abolished so now you can go anywhere anytime.

I think under the old rules there may have been some restriction on taking one out of the country so not sure about that.

[/quote]

FYO under the old rules there wasn't a restriction on taking a car on CGC out of France.

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[quote user="Boscoe"]Thanks all, will look into all the advice.
[/quote] Have you sourced the headlights ,machanic.com have h4 at half price till the end of january... Ct`s/mots are a waste of money and just another scheme to rob motorists... ....
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[quote user="Polly"]So do you think CTs on any car are an expensive waste of money?[/quote]For the self respecting conscientious owner yes.

The law requires that you maintain a car in a roadworthy condition and that in essence means that it should be capable of passing a CT 365 days a year, not just on the day of the test, so I think an argument could be made that if cars were properly maintained at all times then CT's would be completely unneccessary.

Obviously a utopian concept but true nevertheless.

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[quote user="dandaz"][quote user="Boscoe"]Thanks all, will look into all the advice.
[/quote] Have you sourced the headlights ,machanic.com have h4 at half price till the end of january... ...[/quote]

No such website as machanic.com.  Mechanic.com is some sort of search engine.  Link please........?

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Another, yes but how does a non technically minded motorist constantly verify that their car is road worthy?  I am my own mechanic and am  vigilant with regard to any issues to do with our cars.  Having said that our uk based car has a problem which could be dangerous, mind it passed its mot with it.  It judders when I brake, I will fix it when next back in uk and the weather is amenable.  For non mechanically minded owners how often does a car visit a garage?  Also I must say my experience of the quality of workmanship of car mechanics is very inconsistent.  I just put our transit into the local ford dealers (I do 99% of my own work) to see if they could find a water leak which was rusting the passenger footwell.  They told me I needed a new windscreen as there was a crack in it and the water was coming in through it.  Well we have had the water leak for 2 plus years and I had never noticed te very obvious crack before.   One of the young mechanics must have tried levering off the platic piece covering the down pillar by the side of the screen with a screw driver and caused the crack.  So I must pay 48 euros to have the insurance company fund a new unecessary windscreen when all that was probably needed was some mastic in the right place.  I've just changed a set of glowplugs today, would I let a garage mechanic do it, not on your life they break too many and it costs the owner dear.

 

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