Importing a Vehicle into France

[Afy]

Given the costs of cars in France, what hoops would I need to jump through to import a vehicle directly from the US, assuming ofcourse that I have moved to France recently?

 

[Le_Jars]

I'd be interested in your replies too. I have fancied importing a campervan from the states and I know some people who have done it, but into the UK. Getting it here should be straightforward I think, it's the paperwork/taxes etc this end which may foul things up. Are you getting a new or older car?

[PossumGirl]

[quote]Given the costs of cars in France, what hoops would I need to jump through to import a vehicle directly from the US, assuming ofcourse that I have moved to France recently?[/quote]

We brought our Toyota Echo with us when we moved (negligible cost, it fit into the container with our household goods). Since we're re-patriated French citizens, we did not have to pay any tax on it. We are not allowed to sell it for a year, which is not a problem.

We're currently in the process of getting our Carte Grise and the main things that have been an issue are the fact that the seatbelts don't have an EU approved sticker on them, our parking lights are orange instead of white/yellow and have to be changed, which is a little complicated. We don't have rear fog lamps, which need to be installed. The brake fluid indicator on American cars indicates when the fluid is empty, rather than when it is low, which needs to be addressed. And American cars don't have an engraved plaque de constructor, which we've had to order, as well as having the VIN engraved onto the chassis.

The other thing that wasn't a problem for us, since it was okay, was whether the glass in the windscreen is EU compliant. There are probably a few other things, but those are the big ones.

[Mpprh]

Hi

there are many different scenarios.

If you fit into the apparent scenario (French resident, fancies buying a car in US because the USD is worthless) then it is not so easy.

There is a joint agreement on EU certificate of conformity. And if you use the search facility, you will find that even this "agreement" is tricky enough.

US spec vehicles are very different from EU spec vehicles. And I'm talking emissions, lights, seatbelts, crash protection, etc. In fact every part on an EU spec vehicle has an EU conformity No. As US spec, or Japanese, or Australian spec vehicles have their own conformity No's.

You could well find that the cost of conversion will be prohibitive. There are many people who have given up, and shipped the car back to US.

If you are moving from a different country outside the EU, and the car was previously registered to you, there are some exemptions.

If it is a classic car (allow 30 years) there may be exemptions.

I'm not sure it is worth the risk : financially or in wasted time ?

Just my experience having imported / exported 3 cars.

 

Peter

 

 

[Afy]

Thankyou for the information. Ok then what if any are the restrictions of importing from lets say Germany?

[PaysBasque]

Importing a car from another EU country is very straight forward if you have a Certificat de Conformité. If the car is at least 6mths old and has got 6000km + on the clock you can import it without paying the TVA, if it is younger than that and/or has less km you will have to pay the full TVA on it, which makes buying it outside France useless. You will have to take your purchase invoice and the car papers to your local tax office who will give you the required papers in order to then go to the Prefecture with all your other paperwork and get your Carte Grise.

[Nick Trollope]

[quote]Importing a car from another EU country is very straight forward if you have a Certificat de Conformité. If the car is at least 6mths old and has got 6000km + on the clock you can import it without pa...[/quote]

But just because it is legal in Germany, does not make it registerable in France!

I tried (for 18 months) to import a Isuzu into France. This was registered in the UK, although it was a Japan-only model, never imported into Europe. It was impossible to get a C-of-C and the DRIRE (the holders of conformity standards here) could not help as the model was never imported into France. I gave up in the end and returned the vehicle to the UK.

The UK (and to the best of my knowledge, German) systems includes a "single vehicle authorisation" test, which means that virtually any vehicle can be registered, provided it conforms. This is why there are many "kit" cars and specials in the UK. Such a system exists in France, although there is only one inspector (in Paris) and due to the fact that it is long-winded and very expensive, I know of noone who has registered a vehicle by this route. A vehicle would need to be very special for you to try this, I suspect.

Even if you are driving a EU-made vehicle, as Peter says, it is unlikely that a EU C-of-C exists for it.

 

[P]

Just to add to Nicks mention of the SVA test in the UK and that you can take any vehicle into the UK provided it conforms to the SVA and also how the kit car industry flourishes.

The test is detailed and a large number of kit car manufacturers had to modify their designs so that they complied - indeed, one very substantial, and excellent kit, was dropped by the manufacturer because of the difficulty in meeting the requirements of the test.

So whilst the SVA does mean that if a vehicle complies it can be imported if it does not and cannot be made to comply (the test includes such things as radii on bumpers and boddywork) then it cannot be registered.

Paul

[PaysBasque]

Nick and Paul, I have no idea about kit cars and the like. My post regards only cars which are bought new or relatively new in Germany and are of straight forward manufacturing. Fact is that now every new, bog standard car bought in Germany is issued with a European Certificat de Conformité. This CdC is recognised in France and registration of one of those vehicles is as straight forward as I described in my earlier post. I do know this for a fact, as I have got a car that I originally purchased in Germany.

However, if Afy is asking about a car that was initially imported into Germany and then into France, I haven't got a clue!

[Nick Trollope]

[quote]Nick and Paul, I have no idea about kit cars and the like. My post regards only cars which are bought new or relatively new in Germany and are of straight forward manufacturing. Fact is that now every...[/quote]

Aye, quite true. Being the cynic that I am, I read Afy's post as being an attempt to circumvent the French system by importing to Germany before exporting it to France. Won't work, for the same reasons I gave regarding my Isuzu.

[babinfamily]

[quote]We brought our Toyota Echo with us when we moved (negligible cost, it fit into the container with our household goods). Since we're re-patriated French citizens, we did not have to pay any tax on it....[/quote]

I am just wondering how much it cost you in the end to make all the changes that you mentioned? We have a Hyundai Elantra that we would like to import into France from the U.S. and we would like to know how much those types of changes cost in order to make a decision about whether or not to take the car. We will be living in Paris so come Monday I will call the prefecture as well as Hyundai to try to get a better picture of what we can expect but any other information you can provide would be helpful.

[Chrisc]

Well for a start you wont have to pay to get the headlamps changed.Your lights etc.are already on the correct side for France Depending on which State you are bring it from will decide other factors like catalytic converter.

Vermont- for example- has the toughest anti pollution laws in the USA

You are correct to contact the prefecture.

I feel a garage would ''find''things that need doing.

good luck

Chris: