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new car import into France


Porth
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Volvo cars have suggested that I can buy a left hand drive car which will be delivered to the UK and I have to pay for it in euros.  It will come with euopean plates and then I import it into France.

Obviously it will meet all european standards and then I import into France.

As I understand matters the car then has to be registered with French plates at the Prefecture.

Is it please at this time that you have to pay the tax at 19.6%?

Indeed has anyone ever carried out this type of operation.

 

thanks for your help

 

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Hi Porth,

I bought my new car before we came to France. It came from Holland, no French address no buying in France, and was registered in the U.K., VAT 17 1/2%, and a cost of registering about £36. We are now in France and tomorrow we should be going to the Prefecture to get it registered in France. Bringing it into the U.K. on non U.K. plates may give you a problem with getting fully comprehinsive insurance in the U.K. if you are not going to register it there. I was given 30 days to get the registration or the insurance was going to be ended. I had a hell of a job to find an insurer to do even that, but as soon as the car was U.K. registered the cover was no problem.

The cover was provided by Norwich Union Direct and they were great. When we got here I got French insurance cover and cancelled the NUD and the only thing they said was good luck in France and our new life... What ever you do take a copy of the certificate of conformaty and don't let the original out of your sight, you can't get another one without problems... In fact we have got copies of ALL the forms and invoice, I think it's called 'belt and braces'.

Good luck,

John.

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Hi

I bought a new duty free Peugeot in Sweden for export to France.

The car came on Swedish export plates that had a one month lifetime. No problem getting 1 month insurance through the dealer.

Registration process was :

Pay tax at current rate X invoice cost X exchange rate.

Register with VAT export papers, tax receipt, certificate of conformity (don't take delivery without this document showing your actual chassis No.)and proof of residence.

You don't need insurance for registration. French insurers will provide insurance based on the chassis No. Then update it once the plate is issued.

There is a sizable business in duty free import / export of cars under various exemption schemes. Other than the private inter EU buyer the usual classes are military and diplomatic sales.

You can read more about it if you search google for "volvo personal export" (or saab, or bmw, etc).

This is only worth doing if the tax free cost is lower than in France.

You need to check the specifications very carefully to establish the comparison price. Not all model designations are comparable across all European markets. My Peugeot didn't have under bumper driving lamps, but did have heated seats & mirrors when comparing the specs.

Peter

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I am grateful for the responses.  I have checked the specifications and whilst there are minor changes between UK and European standards there are too minor improvements in the left hand drive versions.

So happy on that front and indeed the insurance front.  However and as you rightly say the problem is whether its beneficial to buy direct from Volvo ex-pats or from the dealership in France.

With the £ weakening against the euro and who knows what is going to happen on that particular front it may well be beneficial to buy in France.

I suppose the logical thought process is to see what they will charge and if there is very little or nothing in it I suppose and as the vehicle will have to be maintained by the dealer in France then its wise to buy from them?

very grateful for you help

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Hi

it may well be worth checking the warranty coverage, too. Again it differs by country and specification.

My local Peugeot dealer was happy to service my car. He had a lot of problems reprogramming the electrics to turn off the daylight running lights !

Peter

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If  you are buying a new car, esp Volvo buy it in denmark, it is cheaper and there is no language problem. If you are buying a second hand car buy it in Belgium, where the VAT can still be deducted, and their prices second hand are the best.
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Have just returned from France and the local dealer will provide a top spec Volvo at about 39000 euros.

Volvo ex-pats will supply the same car at 31785.50.  To this you have to add the 19.6% tax in France.

So there is about 1000 euros in it?

I think with a bit of arm-twisting I can get down to that level in any event.

Therefore and on the face of it it seems better to purchase from the dealer.  The euro to the pound is the same it has to be converted at whatever the rate is on the day so I cannot see any benefit from buying ex-pat.

Whilst I think I am now content does anyone please have any experience of dealing with Denmark and how does one go about it?

 

kind regards and thanks for all of the contributions.

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When I bought our new Citroen C8 in Holland and had paid the VAT in U.K. it still worked out just over £3500 cheaper than either buying new in the U.K. RHD or new in France LHD. So even if you take the higher TVA rate in to acount it is still nealry £3500 cheaper. The cost of the cars in the U.K. and France were about the same for a similar spec.

John.

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Hi

Here are the EU competitive list price comparisons for 1-5-04 :

http://europa.eu.int/comm/competition/car_sector/price_diffs/2004_02_full_ii.pdf

Again, you need to check warranty periods, breakdown cover, exchange rates, spec, accessory prices, etc. Also customer discounts vary by market. At present the UK ex tax list price looks competitive.

They do not cover all models. You can get a more precise figure for the exact model by going to Volvo.com, selecting Denmark, then clicking bilerne, select a model, click on price.

Quick Danish lesson ! (bil= car, tilbehor = accessories, find en forhandler = find a dealer, byg den egen volvo = build your own volvo)

The other way is to phone a dealer. Most speak English and all are au fait with export sales.

This one : http://www.sondrup-bilcenter.dk is in Aarhus which is served by Ryanair.

This one is a big Scandinavian group who I have dealt with before. They have salesmen dedicated to export in the larger outlets. The link is to export information : http://cars.bilia.dk/default.asp?target=tds/tds.htm

And finally there are French brokers who advertise in L'Argus.

Remember that under the EU block exemption guidelines it is illegal for a dealer to refuse supply to customers in other parts of EU. And they must supply on the same terms as domestic buyers enjoy. If you have problems like long delivery times, etc threaten to write to the commissioner in Brussels and you will get better service.

Bonne chance

Peter

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I have now emailed, written spoken and faxed to Arhus in Denmark and they have promised to get back to me.  That is a week ago.

 

Bluntly I am not prepared to spend more and more time trying to get someone to sell me something that they undoubtedly do not wish to sell me.

 

Thus the Republique has it and I am going to buy a vehicle that at least relates to the country in which I am hopefully going to live.

 

May I take this opportunity of thanking everyone for their input;

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