Immatriculation Data Base

[Paul_Gyn]

Since anyone undertaking the tedious process of importing a UK-plated car into France has to have a Certificat de Conformite, which - apparently - comes from the manufacturer, could I ask those who have gone through the process (and lived to tell the tale) to share the addresses/contact phone numbers for their various marques?

I'm looking for :

Peugeot

Citroen

Renault

 

Thanks,

paul

[Boghound]

[quote]Since anyone undertaking the tedious process of importing a UK-plated car into France has to have a Certificat de Conformite, which - apparently - comes from the manufacturer, could I ask those who ha...[/quote]

Look in your owners manual/dealer list, or log onto their French website or call into a French dealer.

[Miki]

Paul,

I have found that all those marques are nearly all on the computer data base at the DRIRE and have never had to ask the manufacturer for a certificate due to this fact. 

It is in my opinion, best to see if the car you want to immatriculate is on their "base" before going to the trouble of getting a certificate of conformity elsewhere.

[Will]

What Miki says is good general advice, but some prefectures seem to demand a certificate of conformity whether one is really needed or not. For example, we had to provide one in Manche for a re-imported French car, which had been previously (and originally) registered in France, so there should have been no doubt about its conformity. So ask the prefecture what is needed before you go to the possibly unnecessary expense of paying DRIRE for an attestation.

Fortunately in this case (in March 2003) the manufacturer supplied the certificate free of charge. We contacted:

Automobiles Peugeot, Service Identification, Administration des Vehicles, BP01 75761 PARIS CEDEX 16.

I believe Citroen will also supply the certificate free, if it is a vehicle type sold in France, though most other manufacturers make a charge.

[Monsieurmousseux]

I wish that Citroën did provide the Certificat de Conformité free of charge. I enquired recently, and was given this reply (and if anyone can make sense of this - and I DO understand French! - please let me know!):

Bonjour,

Je vous remercie pour votre message et intérêt à l'égard de CITROËN.

Vous demandez à obtenir l'attestation d'identification ou l'attestation de conformité (selon le cas) nécessaire à l'immatriculation en France d'un véhicule en provenance déjà immatriculé dans un pays étranger. L'attestation d'identification étant également delivré par la DRIRE.

Voici ce que vous devez faire pour les obtenir:

Vous devez adresser votre demande par courrier postal en joignant à votre envoi (les pièces indispensables sont soulignées) [Erm, they weren't!]

- une photocopie du certificat d'immatriculation étranger

- une photocopie du certificat de conformité étranger (ou fiche technique)

- une photocopie du certificat de vente ou du certificat de propriété ou de la facture d'achat.

- une copie du contrôle technique en cours de validation (véhicule ayant plus de 4 ans)

Précisez

- Boîte de vitesses: 4/5/6/Auto

- Nombre de places assises pour les véhicules utilitaires

- Un chèque de 115€ ou 100 € si véhicule a 10 ans ou plus, pour frais administratifs à l'ordre d'AUTOMOBILES CITROËN (tarif applicable au 28 janvier 2004).

Pour les particuliers

- une photocopie de pièce d'identité au nom du demandeur (ou copie du quitus fiscal)

- une enveloppe (sans timbre) avec votre nom et votre adresse.

Votre courrier devra être adressé à:

Automobiles Citroën

Attestations de conformité (CO 10)

12, rue Fructidor

75835 Paris Cedex 17

Cordialement.

Service Relations Clientèle CITROËN

Now can someone please tell me whether I should do this, or pop over to the DRIRE to see what they say?

[Miki]

As I said, in my experience I have always gone to the DRIRE and asked there first.

Will are you sure they charge for attestations at the DRIRE?  I  pay them a cheque, not for too much but always took it that it was the usual charge that anyone would pay, with or without an attestation from the car manufacturer?

At the DRIRE they take all the neccessary info from you plus the forms you have to fill in from DRIRE  etc and then you leave it with them (along with a large self addressed stamped envelope) which is returned to you duly sorted out and which you to take to your nearest sous prefecture or prefecture to exchange for your new carte grise (I believe there are other ways now or so I am told).

I shall have to pay more attention as to what the charges are for next time, in fact I shall dig out the last bill from them, if I could only remember where it was put!!

[Will]

Miki - I can't speak from direct experience as we've either gone the CofC route, or, in the case of one car that originated in Belgium, let the dealer we bought it through handle the documentation. However, from what others have said, they never seem to walk out of DRIRE without paying - quite a fair amount if a full inspection is needed.

I think, like all things French, there is considerable variation between regions. I don't see why DRIRE should expect payment when all they have to do is look something up on a database, but this is France after all

[Will]

[quote]I wish that Citroën did provide the Certificat de Conformité free of charge. I enquired recently, and was given this reply (and if anyone can make sense of this - and I DO understand French! - please ...[/quote]

M Mousseux: I'm amazed. All we did was supply Peugeot with the VIN number and the certificate came back immediately - the car was about 11 years old as well.

Maybe the difference was that it was LHD and had previously been registered in France, though I'm sure I've heard of other people with English-origin French-marque vehicles that have not had to pay or go through that procedure.

Maybe it varies according to model? I know that a lot of UK model types aren't recognised in France, and I remember having a Peugeot in England that was made in Coventry.

[derf]

[quote]I wish that Citroën did provide the Certificat de Conformité free of charge. I enquired recently, and was given this reply (and if anyone can make sense of this - and I DO understand French! - please ...[/quote]

I got my Certificat de Conformité free of charge from Citroen Uk in Slough I sent them a copy of my Uk registration document and they sent me CdC no cost I did make sure to ask for a European CdC.

[Monsieurmousseux]

Thanks, Les.

I have emailed Citroën in Slough, and now have fingers crossed. If the CdC really does come free, that is a substantial saving!

As a matter of interest, did you have to have your headlights changed?

[Monsieurmousseux]

Thanks, Les.

I have emailed Citroën in Slough, and now have fingers crossed. If the CdC really does come free, that is a substantial saving!

As a matter of interest, did you have to have your headlights changed?

[Kaf]

Hi Everyone

We finally took the plunge and got our 14 year old SAAB reregistered a couple of weeks ago.

We did not need to contact the vehicle manufacturer for a Certificat of Conformity.

Instead the local DRIRE supplied us with a form to complete with all the relevant details (together with a sheet giving the translations of items needed!).

It cost us 67 euros and they actually issued a Certificate of Conformity to us themselves which was fine for the prefecture (St Brieuc 22).

Hope this is helpful.

Incidentally, on the thorny subject of headlights, if any one needs to change SAAB headlights, I can let you have the name of a supplier in the UK who got us complete headlights (admittedly not SAAB originals)for just over £200.00 rather than the 650 euros we were quoted over here. This was all we needed to get the car through the CT.

regards

Karen

[derf]

[quote]Thanks, Les. I have emailed Citroën in Slough, and now have fingers crossed. If the CdC really does come free, that is a substantial saving! As a matter of interest, did you have to have your headli...[/quote]

Hi

Sorry about the late reply, I have only just seen yours, in answer to your question i did change my headlights, i asked at a couple of Mot stations here and they said they would have to be changed and as we are here full time it does make sense to have the lights pointing in the right direction. I bought them from a French Citroen dealer but could have got a better deal in the UK, being in the motor trade, so I would advise you to get a few prices there "Euro Car Parts" or someone like that should be able to obtain them for you.

Any news from Citroen UK? 

[Monsieurmousseux]

Hi, Les. Thanks for the reply. It really doesn't matter that a few days have slipped by. We live in darkest SW France, and nothing here moves quickly! We love it like that, being sloth-like ourselves.

Yes, there has been an email reply from Citroën UK. In my email to them, I made the mistake of saying I was already resident here, and they replied that in that case, I would have to apply via Citroën France.

I have now written to Citroën UK (by snail mail) using a UK address (where the car is still registered), and asking for one that way. I'll let you know what happens.

Thanks for advice from others about going to the DRIRE. Clearly, if I hear nothing from C. UK, I will likely go down this route.

Wonder if I could find a pair of headlamps down at the Casse ...

[Kaf]

Hi

Yes, try the casse. We know several people who have managed to obtain headlights that way and, as you have a Citroen, you have a good chance of finding what you need. We tried that option first for our SAAB but, unfortunately, there aren't that many around and we had no luck.

Happy hunting

Karen