Bringing UK Car to France

[Gwenhwyfar]

Sorry I know the answers must be in the archives somewhere but I searched and just got more confused about this!!

We are moving to France hopefully by the end of this year. We will be bringing our UK car with us and intend registering it in France. Our UK Mot and road tax are due now - I guess we only buy road tax for 6mths but our insurance is due for renewal just before we plan to leave the UK.

Please could someone tell me what we need to do, the most cost effective way of registering the car in France, i.e. should we wait as we will have just paid out for UK Insurance or do it immediately? We will have an address in the UK.

This might sound daft but we have a 'Cymru' sticker on the car - do we leave that on once it's registered in France and we are French residents or do we then put a French sticker on it when we return to the UK? Never really thought about whether the stickers denote nationality or residency before!

Thanks in advance

[Iceni]

"Cymru" is an irrelevance as far as the EU (and many others of course) is concerned - it is not a member state. Flags on cars are not required until the next football World Cup.

John
http://www.iceni-it.co.uk

[Stephenlemmon]

Hello.

If your car is a right hand drive then you are going to have terrible trouble getting it registered in France. I tried it once and gave up after about 6 months of trying.

Unless you can get a full homologation certificate (for France)from the manufacturer of your car then you will have to get the car inspected by the service des mines (DRIRE) which takes a really long time (count on at least 3 months) and costs a fair amount of money. In fact, this applies even to LHD cars unless they are actually french registered.

It may be worth doing with a classic or special car, but otherwise I'd recommend selling it in the UK and buying one in France. Think about its resale value too - you'll never be able to sell it in France and if you take it back to the UK

You'll also be at a disadvantage with right hand drive for driving in France. It's a real handicap when it comes to overtaking.

Hope this helps.

Stephen.

[Tomkat]

Just thought I'd share my very recent experience of registering our car in France. We went to our local sous Prefecture in Aubusson here in Creuse and was given a list of paperwork required. Our first port of call was the DRIRE ( vehicle inspectorate) in Gueret who said because the car was less than 4 years old, we just needed a form from them with all ther relevent info from the car, VIN number, permitted weights, number of doors/seats etc. We gave all the info plus original & photocopy of our UK registration document and was told the dossier would be sent to the Prefecture in Gueret within the next 7 days when we could present ourselves with a certificate from the local Centre des Impots to say no duty/tax payable on the car and get our new Carte Grise.
A few days later we got a phone call from the lady at the DRIRE asking us to call in again. When we did the following day, she was all apologetic saying the Certificate of Conformity was not necessary. Apparently, if you have one of the new style registration documents for your car in the UK, this is regarded, in La Creuse at any rate, as a certificate saying your car conforms to French/European standards. She even rang the Prefecture to confirm this and sent a faxed copy of the directive relating to this over to the Prefecture. We went across to the Prefecture with our Demande d'Imatriculation, tax form from the Centre des Imppots and UK Registration Document and, sure enough, 10 minutes and 175 euros later walked out with our new French reg number and Carte Grise. It really was that simple.
It may vary from one Dept to another but it seems if you have the new style European document it is a lot simpler. We were lucky to have one as we had moved to a rented address in the UK between selling our house and moving over to France so we notified the DVLA of the change of address and back came one of the new style documents. As far as I can tell, if your car is less than 4 years old no problem. If over 4 years you will need a Control Technique as well.

Dave

[Val_2]

I've been there and done it and to be perfectly honest, there is no way I would ever drive a RHD car here in France again,although we still retain one in our workshop.It is so much safer to overtake and pull out with a LHD and you don't have the problems of getting out to pay at the service station kiosk or putting a card/jeton in a carpark barrier either and your insurance may be cheaper. If you can get away with buying a french car instead of bringing and english/welsh one over,you would have peace of mind and then there is the final problem of disposal if it dosn't go for scrap here. Get an extension of your UK insurance for 30 days and as soon as you arrive, start to look for another vehicle and then return the other to the UK to sell. We placed a vehicle in a relative's drive, advertised in the local Auto Trader and it was sold within a fortnight.

[Jeanette]

I've recently returned to England and have brought back a French car (a Renault Twingo). It is currently registered and insured in France - would you be interested in a swop?

[Jones]

have you had an answer as i want to register my car in France. It has been there one year ( also with a Cymru sticker, which causes no problem ) which are not valid in the UK let alone France. You should display a GB plate on a UK vehicle and a F on a french registered. if you prefer to phone i am on 01730 265727

regards

tony harwood-jones