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New/nearly new car purchase


Remilly
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I've been recently making enquiries into buying either a new or very recent Citroen C5 estate, left hand drive in preparation for our impending relocation to France. I was very surprised to find that both new and used vehicles seem to be expensive compared to England.. Having had a good look around Angleterre on the internet, I reckon I could buy a 6 month old C5 estate with nominal miles at about 11 to 12 grand.  From a brief look around the car showrooms in and around St Lo, Normandy I reckon a similar vehicle would be closer to 16/17 grand.

This has got me thinking that driving a RHD in France with a bit of aggro swapping headlamps and re-registering it isn't such a bad idea after all!

Does anyone have any recent experiences on the above matters or advice/views as we have been visiting France for 20 years and frankly don't mind driving "on the wrong side of the car".

Incidentally, would French vehicle insurance cost more for a RHD vehicle registered and used permanently in France?

All comments/views/experiences appreciated

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Yes, I find second-hand cars expensive in France.  Someone else mentioned it recently too in a more general thread about buying second-hand goods.

Even at the very bottom of the market, ancient clapped-out Renault 5s and the like, there's just no way they would sell for that price in the UK.

However, living here permanently, we've always had left-hand drives, in spite of the cost.  To tell the truth, can't really be bothered driving from the Med coast all the way to Britain just to buy a car!   

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Hi

I think that the choice of vehicle is important.

Citroen is a major player in France, whereas the UK importer of Citroen has chosen to adopt a low price policy to increase volumes.

Big Citroens have always been relatively unpopular in UK, and suffered heavy depreciation.

I don't think you would find such a big discrepancy if you looked at smaller players in France : Ford, Opel, Volvo or the Japanese.

Peter

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[quote]I've been recently making enquiries into buying either a new or very recent Citroen C5 estate, left hand drive in preparation for our impending relocation to France. I was very surprised to find that ...[/quote]

Remilly. It all really boils down to personal choice. Driving a right hand drive is not a great disadvantage but there again it depends on the vehicle. I drive right hand 4x4 here but can see better in them because of the height but also have a Ferrari which is left hand drive and it would be slighter harder to drive here if it was right hand drive. Even so. I still have to get out of it to pay for fuel and car park tickets because of the height.

The price of used cars here, no matter what the make, are all dearer then the UK.

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Hi Remilly, I will trype this lot in again (I went back to see that I had your name spelled correctly and this wonderful new set-up dumped all my tryping). 

We went through the hoops that you are going through now, checking the U.K. market for the 2nd hand cars, Renault Espace 6 years old £9000??? (comedien) and decided to go the new route. I wanted a Citroen C8. My local English agent isn't allowed to buy LHD cars! Can't buy one in France without an address, so we finished up buying one from Holland. Saved over £3500 and had a bloody good day out in Amsterdam ot collect it! 

Now we have a lovely car with a known history, i.e. not ramped and we are loving our new kife here in the Aude!!!

If you would like info on how we did it then please feel free to either send me a private message or e-mail...

John

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Bob,  from my very limited experience I have found that "newish" second hand cars in France don't suffer the spectacular depreciation that we see in England, particularly in the higher price/larger engine models.

I was quoted 27,000 euros for a new C5 estate by the Citroen dealer in St Lo Normandy which soon sent me scuttling around the second hand dealers! Not much confort there either as I found that a higher than average mileage 2 year old C5 (obviously ex-rep) would still cost about 20,000 euros.

There may be bargains to be had in the private market but having scoured our local press I havn't seen any yet!

Which brings me back to the dilemma which prompted my original post, is it better to buy a 6 month old RHD for £10,000 and register in France or pay 20,000 euros for an 18 month old LHD?  Its a poser n'est-ce pas?

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Think about selling as well as buying. A left hand drive vehicle in France, even large, old or high kilometres will always be worth a fair bit more than the same RHD in England, and infinitely more than a RHD in France.

If when buying new you are fussy about a particular make, model, colour etc then you can pay a lot for it. There are plenty of offers available though if you look around the dealers. Alternatively there are dealers selling new and recent ex-lease Belgian imports which will save a bit of money over the normal French price (though not a lot). As you have been looking around St Lo you may like to know that there is one at Fleury, near Villedieu-les-Poeles which advertises in the la Manche Libre small ads.

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There are a couple of "brokers" who it appears can source new cars cheaper than the local dealerships.  Elite-auto.fr is one example (but their website doesn't appear to be working this morning). 

I considered the route of buying a nearly new car from Germany (where some types of car are definitely cheaper) but considered that it wasn't worth all the hassle and time involved, so bought in France instead.

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[quote]I'm told the French car auctions are a good bet, apparently they give a 6 month guarantee, & also it's MOT'd. I intend to have a look before I decide. Regards, Bob[/quote]

Hi Bob,

I am not sure about the warranty or the Controle Technique but sensibility would tell one that , yes an "MOT" should be on the car according to French laws. To drive any car home and to make things easier, there is a company at all the auctions who will insure the car for you short term (as little as a day).

Off back to Rennes next Monday for a look about, Tina is on about the "Pug" now showing its age and maybe it's time to aim it !!

10.76 % for "the hammer" and another 53.35€ for preparation etc and a possible further charge for expertise required on certain cars (not a clue what that might mean !) plus in some commercial cases, TVA is added.

The paperwork needed will be sent to you ASAP (possibly on the day) to enable a new carte grise to be sought.

I will let you know what I find out but initial enquiries don't show it to be too different to the UK.

 

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