registering a british car in France

[bonjourtaffy]

What is the process of registering your car in france.

Do you have to be a resident?

What is needed to insure the car?

 

[Ron Avery]

Sorry but this really has been covered so often on here, all you need to do to find your answer is a search of "registering a car in France" 

Yes,  you do have to be resident. and you need the same details to insure a car as in the UK,  registration documents proof of ownership, no cliams, and driving license, plus proof of residence.

[Sunday Driver]

By using the search option, you save us having to type all the information over and over again..........[;-)].  However, courtesy of the miracle of cut and paste, here is the definitive answer:-

If you are resident in France, you have one month in which to import your UK car and register it with your prefecture.

If you car is of "standard" EU manufacture (ie, not a Japanese/US grey import) then you'll need to sort out the following in order to register your car in France

Export Declaration:

Fill in the tear-off export declaration slip from your V5C registration document and send it to the DVLA at Swansea. Retain the V5C as you'll need it to register here.  If you've any time left on your tax disc, you can send it back as well and request a refund of any expired excise duty.

VAT Paid certificate (quittus fiscal):

Visit your local Hotel des Impots and ask them for a quittus fiscal certificate.  You'll need to take along your V5C, original invoice/receipt (though for older cars, they don't usually ask for it) and a utility bill.  The certificate is free and incorporates your authority to drive your UK car on its foreign plates for a month whilst you arrange registration.

Type approval (certificat de conformite):

If its a recent car, then it's normal to find a copy of the manufacturer's certificate of conformity inside the owners manual/service book.  If its an older car, then you'll need to write to the manufacturer and ask them for one. There's normally a 100-130 euro fee for this although some will issue them for free.  Alternatively, you can apply to the DRIRE (Dept of Industry) for an attestation d'identite.  Download an application form (with english instructions) from [url=http://www.drire.gouv.fr]HERE [/url]and post it off with a copy of your V5C to your local DRIRE office.  They'll check their database of type approved vehicles and post you an attestation certificate.  Cost is 67,38 euros.

Controle Technique:

If your car is 4 years old or more, take it for a CT test.  You'll need to change the headlamps for right hand dipping ones (cost up to 200 euros - try a scrapyard).  You'll also need to produce your V5C.  The CT lasts for 2 years and costs 56,00 euros.  Retests on failed items are usually free. The certificate is called a proces-verbal.

Visit your local prefecture and fill in a demande de certificate d'immatriculation.  Take it to the counter and hand it over together with your certificat de conformite/attestation d'identite, quittus fiscal, proces-verbal de controle technique, V5C registration document, invoice/receipt, passport and a utility bill.  After they've checked everything, you'll be given a slip of paper which you hand in at the caisse together with the fee (credit cards accepted).  Fees are based on a sliding scale depending on age of vehicle and its fiscal power rating. You can find a fee chart [url=http://www.prefecture-police-paris.interieur.gouv.fr/demarches/carte_grise/cout.htm]HERE [/url]. Once you've paid, they'll issue you with a new registration document (carte grise). 

Now take the carte grise to a cordonniere (key cutting/handbag shop usually situated inside the foyer of a hypermarket) and he'll make you up a set of plaques for about 20,00 euros.  Don't forget to ask him for some rivets - screws are illegal here.

Finally, organise yourself some french insurance cover as outlined by Ron, stick their green insurance vignette on the inside of your windscreen.

If your car is a "grey" Japanese import, then the process is more complex and costly and outside the scope of this response.

 

[derf]

[quote user="Ron Avery"]

Sorry but this really has been covered so often on here, all you need to do to find your answer is a search of "registering a car in France" 

Yes,  you do have to be resident. and you need the same details to insure a car as in the UK,  registration documents proof of ownership, no cliams, and driving license, plus proof of residence.

[/quote]

I agree that this has been done to death on here and other sites, the information is out there, just a click away, some people are so lazy that they can not do a simple search for the main points and then come back if need be with specific queries.

The only thing I would say is that you do not have to be a resident of France to register a vehicle here, just an address is sufficient, I think Ron was not thinking too clearly in his response[:)]

[Kevinmc]

If ever a reply deserved to be one of those sticky pin type ones, always at the top of the forum, this is it. How is such immortality achieved ?

[Kitty]

If you are new on this forum, you do not know how to search.  I don't think that it matters if a subject is done to death.  It encourages new people to come onto the forum.  This question was the first question that I ever asked (only a couple of months ago) and Sunday Driver was a star.  Sunday - keep up the good work, even if you paste the same message several times - we need folk like you!

[derf]

If you are new on this forum, you do not know how to search.  I don't think that it matters if a subject is done to death.  It encourages new people to come onto the forum.  This question was the first question that I ever asked (only a couple of months ago) and Sunday Driver was a star.  Sunday - keep up the good work, even if you paste the same message several times - we need folk like you!

If you are new to the Forum or not, a simple search or a look at FAQ is common courtesy and if you can't find any results then I am sure people are glad to help.

 

 

[Ron Avery]

I was actually thinking how hot it is today Les.[:)]  and that if you are not a resident why would you want to register a car here anyway?  But I had overlooked the 2nd home owner wanting to buck the trend and not leave a MOT failure untaxed Brit reg wreck of a car at the airport or ferry port[:P].  I agree this is a topic for FAQ's,  SD you have more patience than me and you know where to find your very full and informative post!!

[Sunday Driver]

[quote user="Ron Avery"].....SD you have more patience than me..... [/quote]

Don't worry, Ron.  I can get as grumpy as the next man. [;-)]

I think Cathy has a point in that when people first come across this forum, they immediately see that it's a goldmine of information and they dive straight in with their most pressing question.  Agreed, the search is what they need to discover, but.....

I tend to be quite patient with new members who are sensibly doing all their research before they arrive in France.

I've less patience with folk who have been living here for some time and post such questions as "... Do we actually need to register our car/camper/caravan/motorbike/trailer/boat in France?.................I'm running a gite, do I really have to pay tax?............Help, I feel ill - how do I get into the French health service?.......How much is it going to cost me?....What's the speed limit in towns?

The best one I've read for a long while was "As we are British, the law won't be so strictly applied in our case......." [:-))]

Besides, it's about time that registration piece was "boinged" up to the top of the first page

[sid]

Another comprehensive post from SD.

I'd just like to add that in our the case, at the suggestion of the secretary at our mairie, I filled all the forms at home and she then checked them for me. Result, "C'est parfait!" exclamation by the clerk at the prefecture; it makes you feel so good! It would appear that not everyone gets it totally correct first time. The mairie has stocks of the required forms.

Sid 

[Ron Avery]

I have reported your post to the mods SD for being too comprehensive and informative.  Perhaps they wil move it to FAQ's where it belongs in place of the condescending post about getting a French driving license which has no right to be anywhere near FAQ's[:'(]

Do not post such helpful information again, you have been warned[:P]

[Sunday Driver]

Sorry - I'm off into the garden to eat worms.......[+o(]

[chessfou]

[quote]You'll need to change the headlamps for right hand dipping ones (cost up to 200 euros[/quote]

NB: That's each headlight, i.e. EUR 400 total. Actually, I just paid a grand total of EUR 408 to change the headlights on an 8-year-old Ford but that was a very good deal compared with the GBP 375 quoted by my local Ford dealer in the UK before we left.

The interesting reason for the difference (as explained by someone who used to work for Ford both in France & UK) is that the French labour costs are so much lower than in the UK.

[Sunday Driver]

LHD headlamps are available from [url=http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Headlamp-Shop]http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Headlamp-Shop[/url].

Prices in the range £50-200. Delivery in 2-3 days.

[Charlotte3]

You might not need them....... We passed the CT in Fougeres with headlamp stickers.  I would suggest you put the car in for the CT and wait for them to tell you what needs doing.  Why waste money ?

Aly

[Sunday Driver]

I would suggest you follow the advice already given and invest in the proper legal equipment for your car.

If you put stickers on your UK RHD headlamps to "get it through the test" then they will not comply with the type approval certificate that you later submit to the prefecture for registration and your vehicle will be technically illegal under French construction and use regulations.  This could provide your insurance company with an easy way of refusing a payout in the event of an accident claim by invalidating your policy.  Failure to have insurance cover in place is punishable by a 3,750 euro fine, a three year driving ban and the potential confiscation of your vehicle. 

Should your vehicle be involved in fatal accident, the subsequent enquiry would almost certainly find the CT technician culpable for incorrectly issuing the certificate. 

Why waste money? Why risk his job and your licence/car for a few euros? 

[Ron Avery]

SD you beat me to it.  This really is a false economy, taped headlights really impair night time visibilty and when, not if,  you fail to see that bend or that cyclist on a rainy misty autumn or winter night,  you will really regret not having got proper headlights.

 Even  deflectors are not much use in autumn and winter.  Taped lights are for holidaymakers and cheap skates on booze cruises to Calais, they really are dangerous for regular use on rural roads at night.  That CT technician needs taking out and shooting, but then its not his life he is playing with is it[:@].

[Charlotte3]

Sorry, should have said deflectors......damn wine again.

Sunday Driver, in my humble opinion 300 plus euros is not a few quid, the car itself is'nt worth much more than that. By the way, I don't use it at night or in very bad weather, I may be poor but I'm not stupid.

Aly

[Sunday Driver]

Aly

You are quite right when you say 300 euros is not a few quid (although if you read my other post, I did post a link to a website where new LHD headlamps could be sourced from upwards of £50).  I'm sure your reply will generate responses from those who will say that if you want to be legal on the road, then that comes with a price and if you can't afford it or don't think its worth it, then you should keep the car off the road.

Your final comment about using it at night or in bad weather should be directed toward Ron Avery. 

[thunderhorse]

[quote user="Charlotte3"]

Sorry, should have said deflectors......damn wine again.

Sunday Driver, in my humble opinion 300 plus euros is not a few quid, the car itself is'nt worth much more than that. By the way, I don't use it at night or in very bad weather, I may be poor but I'm not stupid.

Aly

[/quote]

Unbelievably naive statements. I suppose you drive on bald tyres because you never drive in the rain. And you can always foresee the weather that it'll never be bad and you'll never be caught out? And if you don't drive at night, why have lights at all?

Get real. [:@]

[Charlotte3]

Thunderhorse,

Now you're just being silly......tyres only cost 30 euros to replace.  Very bad weather is usually forecast on the weather forecasts and the chance of that even striking on my two 15 minute jaunts a day to work and back is pretty slim.  However I am now going to publicly flog myself for my naiveity.

Sorry, Sunday driver.

Aly

PS  I only have lights at all because I need them to pass the CT.  Like I said.....poor not stupid.

[Cassis]

Getting a bit heated again!  Has everyone got hangovers this morning?  I've just picked up a pair of LHD headlights for our old 306 for 50 euros the pair from a scrapyard, so it doesn't have to be expensive.

Phil

[Kitty]

I know that we ought to be positive when posting on the Forum but I am struggling to be positive about registering my car.

The lady at DRIRE (the first port of call when you need to register) has held up my form for weeks because of silly queries that she had on her computer all along.  She asked me for more additional information than was written on the form but didn't bother to tell me this (by telephone or by letter) until I telephoned her to ask where my returned papers were.

One of the queries was the 'type moteur' which turned out to be the type of engine.  Several telephone calls later to Land Rover specialists in England and in France (and an inconclusive posting on this website), it was the first three digits/letters of the engine number on my UK registration document, the original of which was in her possession.  Furthermore, the engine number had been written on the form.  Eeeekkkk....

My DRIRE documentation is now being processed 6 weeks after the form was sent in - it is supposed to take 15 days.  Mmmmmmmmmm...

[levisiteur]

Hi!   

Sorry to here you have had such a trying time!

This is a sad fact - living in France I recomend you make photocopies of all documents letters etc..  If they lose or misplace your correspondence it can be very difficult. (Also keep household invoices/ receipts guarantees, for the life of the article. You WILL need them not only for replacements but for an insurance claim even in 15yrs!!) 

Glad to hear they are getting there at last with your car reg.

Best wishes

 Levisiteur

[Kitty]

Le Visiteur - Thanks for your comments.  It's so strange that France is so bureaucratic.  I was brought up to believe that the UK was paperwork orientated (colonial times when everything was recorded in triplicate) but now realise that we are far more efficient.  I am not sure why.  Living in France turns upside down all your (mis?)conceptions about the UK e.g. I thought that Brits were dog lovers until I lived here.