Buying a car in france - beginners help needed

[davidandclare]

Hi

We are moving to france later this year and are considering buying a car in france rather than importing our RHD one from here.

We have a few completely novice questions (we already have a property so have a french address):

1. Do the prices you see quoted by dealers for new and/or used cars include taxes etc (TVA, road tax, any other duty)

2. What other documents do you need/get (ie log book equivalent)

3. How easy is it to get insurance, and where is the best place to get it from

4. Are prices generally that much different than the UK?

thanks in advance

David

[Richard-R]

1. Yes and No. Depend on which dealer.

2. Carte Gris( log Book) First a temperary one and a temp number plate. Than after a few weeks a proper CG and a new number plate.

3. Same has in the U.K. Shop around.

4. Some cars a cheaper and some are the same price,give or take.

Have a look at autoplus.fr for price of new and used cars.

[Val_2]

Another tip is that of "extras". You may have seen the vehicle you like in the UK but here they are quite often different with all inclusives like arm rests in people carriers in the UK costing extra each here,even fog lights are optional extras here on some vehicles too and mud flaps. Make sure you know exactly what you are ordering and paying for. As regards the insurance I would start getting quotes asap so that you can let the dealer/garage have the insurance details for his paperwork too when arranging the vehicle. The Carte Grise is an expensive piece of paper so you will need to look after it and carry it with all your other vehicle papers for inspection at any time.

[European]

I am in the process of buying a car in France. I need it also to move my last things to France.

Would I be able to go back with it to the UK (not more than 5 days) with temp Carte Gris and temp number plates?

[Pangur]

We bought a new car and the Renault garage organised all the paperwork so when we collected the car we also received the carte grise, and the permanent plates were on it.  Totally hassle free .

Basically it was worth our while buying a new car as the difference in price between a new and 2/3 year old car wasn't that great.

We got a few quotes from different insurance companies and went with GMF who were extremely helpful.  We went into the office with all the available paperwork before the collection of the car so the insurance was sorted from the outset.  We just carry around a folder with any document they could ask for...

First car, so no real no claims bonus, but they accepted letters from Irish insurers stating my husband had been on his dad's insurance with no accidents for a basic no claims bonus, and also wanted our marriage cert - this was probably just because we have different surnames.   The also called the garage when the car arrived to update the insurance documents  with the correct number plates.  Hope they are as helpful if we ever have a crash

[Bones]

David,

You might find that used cars in France are parodoxicaly expensive (certainly at the cheaper end of the market).

I believe the consensus view to be that cars that around 2 years old offer the best value; that's meant to be the depreceation sweet spot.

Good Luck.