Jump to content

Registering vehicle in France - our experience!


trastu
 Share

Recommended Posts

We have just been through the process of re-registering our Landrover Discovery here in France.  I must admit it was something we had been dreading and putting off for as long as we possibly could.  But for anyone out there who needs to register their vehicle and is dreading it as much as we were I felt compelled to let them know that it was (for us, anyway) in fact EASY to do.  From beginning to end (ie actually having the new number plates on the car) the whole process took exactly 1 week!! and this included obtaining a certificate of conformity from the DRIRE database.

We followed the advice outlined by SundayDriver at the top of this section and wanted to say how helpful everyone was along the way.  We downloaded the application form for the coc and took it, along with the documentation they require, in person to the DRIRE office in Niort rather than posting it off.  The lady there was lovely - she checked that the forms were filled in correctly and then looked on the datebase for the car while we waited and although she couldn't issue the coc there and then she promised it would be posted out within a couple of days - and it was! (You do need an A4 SAE par recommande for them to post your coc and original registration document back to you)

When we had gathered all the documentation together we went to the prefecture in Niort.  We arrived there at 10.00 and within 20 minutes we walked out with our new carte grise.  They were SO efficient.  We took a ticket with a number on and when our number was displayed we went to the desk and the lady checked through all the documents.  She then gave us a slip of paper showing the amount owing which we had to take to the caisse when they called out our name which took literally two minutes.  We handed over our cheque and they gave us the carte grise.  AMAZING!!

We then went and had the new plates made up, put them on and took great pleasure in removing the road tax disc from the windscreen!!

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Congratulations and welcome to the world of legal motoring [:D]

I have previously emphasised how easy it is and in my own case, although the C of C for my MG took six weeks to obtain, once I had it the rest was done within the day, thats CT, Quittus, and the procedure at the Prefecture. Similarly my main car, which already had a C of C, took but 2 or 3 hours.

I do not yet speak comprehensible French BTW so no advantage there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice to hear someone confirming how simple it is to become legal in France!

Three vehicles re-registered now - UK-reg Suzuki car and BMW moto with free CoCs, quickly and with no hassle plus German-reg Camping Car (straightforward thanks to Sunday Driver's help, but slow and with lots of hoops to jump through!)

Why oh why do people go to great lengths to avoid re-registering?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="Speedy"]Avoiding re registering 'can' (I agree not allways) but it definetely can give you hastle free motoring (as well as not getting speeding fines - in some cases!) The boys in blue are not too inteligent when it comes to 'foreigners'

[/quote]

What a wonderful attitude to have towards ones adopted country.................................... not.

"not too intelligent" in some cases maybe, but I'll bet they can spell...............[:@]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="Speedy"]Avoiding re registering 'can' (I agree not allways) but it definetely can give you hastle free motoring (as well as not getting speeding fines - in some cases!) The boys in blue are not too inteligent when it comes to 'foreigners'

[/quote]

I can't think of a single reason why keeping your illegal English plate can be beneficial - except to try (usually unsuccesfully) to avoid the laws of the country you've decided to make your home.

Oh, and the 'boys in blue' are a lot brighter than you think... try the 'sorry I don't speak French very well' and just watch them switch to impeccable English...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well done to going legal.  Likewise our Disco was registered in March with little hassle ALL THANKS TO SUNDAY DRIVER or we would not have had a clue where to start!!  Only problem we have now is French plates but a huge GB sticker on the back door which does not want to come off.  Any ideas what to use????

 

The thing I find amusing is all the drivers look at and thank me (the passenger) but I am sure they are having fits when they see me applying eyeshadow or lipstick etc with no hands on the wheel!!!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="Fiona"]

but a huge GB sticker on the back door which does not want to come off.  Any ideas what to use????

[/quote]

Park the vehicle so the sticker is in full sunshine for a while. Then slide a fingernail around and under an edge to lift it. then pull slowly and you should find, if its hot enough, that it will peel right off.

Clean any remaining glue off with lighter fuel or WD40.

Gary.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We registered our 10 year old Volvo estate here end of June and also found the official end of things very easy, quick and efficient and everyone at the Prefecture helpful, and kind and patient with my miserable French but before that ............................................

 

I phoned Volvo in Paris and asked for a cert.of conform. which they sent to me within a few days - charged 120 euros but we had expected that.  I then had to have the headlights changed and to get the Controle Technique done and this was the difficult bit.  Two local garages didn't want to know and both told me to go to the Volvo agent.  I am always a bit nervous of agents - in my experience they cost twice as much and are half as interested but I had little choice.  I asked the agent to change the headlamps and to pre-CT the car and to do anything that needed doing to get it passed.  We ended up with a bill close to what the poor old girl was worth.  Seems that of 5 tyres, all of which were in good order, no two matched.  We only had her for six months, got her privately but perhaps in UK a mish-mash of tyres is OK.  The guy we got her from said the tyres were almost new and that was true,   but I digress.  I was assured that everything was fine for CT but there was a wait of 3 weeks for a rendezvous.  This created an insurance problem as my UK insurance was about to run out - Norwich Union only allow 60 days in Europe - and I had believed that I could not insure a UK registered car with a French company.  Wrong!!!!!!!!  I went to a nearby agent of a broker we had used when we had lived in the Dordogne a few months ago and they said they could provisionally insure it until it passed the CT, they took my 13 years no claims from France and my word that there had been no claims in the 6 months I had been in UK and I walked out the door, insured.  Whew!!  Three weeks later, off for the CT..............[:(].failed!  Seems a rear seat-belt is not working too well.  I asked the agent about the (charged for) pre-CT check - got Gallic shrug.[:@]  Only a complete seat belt assembly will fix it which they will order and fit then another 3 weeks for the second CT rendezvous.  This time, passed CT and rushed to Prefecture and, see first paragraph, done and dusted within a half hour, plates done at Carrefour and fitted at the garage across the road.  All clean, legal and sorted. 

We could have bought a French car for what it cost to register the Volvo but we rather love her, she is a really dear, kind car[:D] and big enough for 2 Great Danes and a couple of weeks shopping etc. so we are happy we got it done and kept her.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well done for slogging it out but I cannot begin to imagine why you should have had to twice wait 3 weeks for a CT appointment. There are stations all over the place and if one told me 3 weeks I'd tell them where to stick their 'rendezvous' and go somewhere else [:-))]

The tyre thing is typical in French to the point where some tyre places will refuse to sell you one tyre and will tell you that it is illegal to have different ones which I don't think it actually is but is sensible from a safety point of view to have the same on the each axle and better still, all round if possible.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I couldn't imagine why 3 weeks either - perhaps the Volvo agent had a preferred station although a local-ish garage also told me 3 weeks for the first one.  The last CT we had had was in Dordogne on our 4 year old Megane and the Renault agent sorted that, including a pre-CT (nicely clear) with just a couple of days notice.

Be interesting to know if it is illegal to have different tyres here.  For sure the agent told me after the pre-CT that it would never get through on different tyres and that I needed 4 new ones - they said that I would get away with the spare being different.  I should have asked for the old ones back if only to grow potatoes in.[:D]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="Megan le Fey"]Be interesting to know if it is illegal to have different tyres here.  For sure the agent told me after the pre-CT that it would never get through on different tyres and that I needed 4 new ones - they said that I would get away with the spare being different.[/quote]

Tyres on the same axle must be a pair; the spare can be different.  In the event of one replacement being necessary, it still has to match the other side, so if the same model can't be found, two replacements are required.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is not illegal and you cannot, and will not get an amende for having two tyres of the same construction but of different makes on the same axle.

You will not fail a CT with the above mix of tyres but the rolling radius is measured during the brake test and each tyre on the same axle has to be within (from memory) 8% of the other, or 5% if ABS/ASC is fitted which makes sense.

It is the tyre industry that are using this legislation to their advantage and in my experience they enforce "their rule" 100%, that is to say I have not yet found a garage that will admit that they are wrong or will sell just one tyre, I have either had to turn up on foot carrying my "spare" wheel (and even then sometimes refused as they remembered the obtuse Anglais) or do as I do now buy second hand from the scrapyards.

It was the scrapyard owner that informed me of the actual CT rule which was later confirmed at the CT station when I put my car in for test with different makes of tyres and said "Marco tells me this is OK is he right?".

Just to clarify that a tyre near the legal limit with say 2mm of tread remaining compared to a new tyre with say 8mm has a tread depth difference of 400% but only makes about 2% difference to the rolling radius dependant on wheel size and tyre profile. I have also had a tyre shop owner trying to convince me that I would have a 300% imbalance at CT [:)]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="bmt"][quote user="Megan le Fey"]Be interesting to know if it is illegal to have different tyres here.  For sure the agent told me after the pre-CT that it would never get through on different tyres and that I needed 4 new ones - they said that I would get away with the spare being different.[/quote]
Tyres on the same axle must be a pair; the spare can be different.  In the event of one replacement being necessary, it still has to match the other side, so if the same model can't be found, two replacements are required.
[/quote]

I don't know the answer under French Law, but in UK Law it's quite simple (ish) under The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 Regulation 27

'Must NOT have radial tyres on the front wheels and cross ply tyres on the rear wheels, it is also illegal to have a cross ply tyre on one side with a radial on the other.

All steerable axles must be fitted with tyres of the same construction, as must all driven axles that are not steerable. An axle includes two stub axles that form a pair, and an articulated vehicle is treated as two separate vehicles.'

Now my recollection is that if you have Cross Plys on the front of your two axle car, you can have Radials on the back (from one of those irritating exam type questions I get every now and then).

I am presuming that the law might be similar in France as The Motor Vehicle Tyres (Safety) Regulations 1994 stipulates that all tyres sold after 1/7/1997 must have an E Mark to show they conform to various EEC/EU regulations. Or am I being a bit too naive??

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can tell you what the Code de la Route says about it.

Il est dangereux et interdit de monter des pneus de marque, type et caractéristiques différentes sur un meme essieu, meme sur un véhicule d'occasion.

En cas de crevaison, il est possible de monter la roue de secours sans s'occuper des regles de montage précédentes, si elle est utilisée temporairement a vitesse réduite.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="gosub"]I can tell you what the Code de la Route says about it.

Il est dangereux et interdit de monter des pneus de marque, type et caractéristiques différentes sur un meme essieu, meme sur un véhicule d'occasion.
En cas de crevaison, il est possible de monter la roue de secours sans s'occuper des regles de montage précédentes, si elle est utilisée temporairement a vitesse réduite.
[/quote]

The Code de la Route (according to my basic french) agree that you can't have two different makes/types of tyre on the same axle. However my translating skills then let me down. Is a 'véhicule d'occasion' a used car, or is this referring to the whole car, as in both axles?

Also is the Code de la Route like the Highway Code, in that it is advisory rather than a law in certain sections?? I know, questions, questions.......

66 Pay Days to escape!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Is a 'véhicule d'occasion' a used car, or is this referring to the whole car, as in both axles?"

It's a used or second hand vehicle.

I guess like the highway code in the UK some of it is advisory, but if it says interdit then I would say this is the law.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Les, I'm not convinced it would pass. In the original problem 'Seems that of 5 tyres, all of which were in good order, no two matched.' We don't know the makes/types from the information given, but it does look rather unlikely, as no axle could have the same type of tyre on both sides.

'Il est important de monter des pneus de structure identique sur toutes les roues du véhicule. De plus, il faut monter des pneus de marque, de type et de caractéristiques identiques sur un même essieu.
Toutefois, en cas de crevaison, il est possible de monter la roue de secours sans respecter les deux règles précédentes, dès lors que cette roue n’est que temporaire.' From one link I found on Code de la Route.

Translation (basic) seems to be -  .It is important to mount tire structure identical on all wheels of the vehicle. In addition, we must mount tire brand, type and characteristics identical on the same axle. 
However, in case of puncture, it is possible to mount the spare wheel without respecting the two previous rules, as this wheel is only temporary..

Important - Does that mean advisory?

Must - Does that mean Legal Requirement.

 


 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Same as the UK. You cannot have two different makes of tyre on the same axle, they will have different treads, characteristics, speed limitations etc etc.  Also, in the UK the spare, if present, has also to pass the MOT. That's just in case people have been away from the UK for some time and didn't realise the change in MOT legislation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If there has been a change in UK MOT Legislation, nobody told http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/Mot/DG_10016070 which is a UK Government Website, dated today. The bit in question, to save the link says 'Wheels and tyres - condition, security, tyre size and type, and tread depth. Spare tyres are not tested.'

Still, if in doubt, take the spare out before the MOT! ! Now I'm going to be quiet and let this get back to French Regulations and Law on driving.

66 Pay Days till we get out of here - Finally......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...