anjo Posted September 12, 2023 Share Posted September 12, 2023 Hello all, Apologies if this subject has been covered already, I couldn't find it on the forum. I have recently moved to France and brought my UK registered car with me. I had intended to buy a French car and then sell my UK car in the UK before our definite move but I ran out of time and also was shocked at the difference in price for second hand cars here. It would be very expensive for us to travel back just for the purpose of the selling the car since we'd have to pay for accommodation while there and then try to get back home here in the middle of the countryside without public transport. I looked at importing the car but it seems really complicated, dozens of forms required, not possible to sort out online. My question is, finally, would anyone, a car dealer for instance, buy a non-imported car and deal with the paperwork themselves? For instance take it as an exchange car when buying a French registered car? Thanks for any relevant advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harnser Posted September 12, 2023 Share Posted September 12, 2023 (edited) I seriously doubt that any french car dealer would risk buying in or taking in part ex a UK registered RHD car unless they are insane. The possibilities of getting landed with a car that cannot be registered in France are endless depending on what the car is, condition and original source of the car. Importing is a minefield of paperwork, and import taxes have to be paid making it uneconomic to import RHD UK cars any more. There is an english owned garage near Lyon who seems to get involved with LHD and RHD part exchanging and they have some RHD vehicles for sale so presumably will take them in on part ex. If anybody can sort you out if it's possible they can. https://www.gary-automobiles.com/product-category/used-vehicle/ (Click on used vehicles) Apart from that,your best course of action is to advertise it for sale on as many brit expat forums as you can, many brits don't want LHD french cars, and hire a car in the interim between selling it and buying a french car. Some supermarket chains offer cars and vans for short and long term hire at better rates than the well known hire co's, SuperU and Intermarche spring to mind. https://www.ulocation.com/# https://location.intermarche.com/nos-vehicules/ Edit - There is an english owned garage near us in Brittany who also buys and sells cars LHD and RHD and his daughter does the french registration procedures. https://www.garage-torode.fr/ Edited September 12, 2023 by Harnser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crabtree Posted September 12, 2023 Share Posted September 12, 2023 Is your car still insured. Normally once you are resident in France your UK insurance stops. Also if you have not imported it within one month of being here then you are breaking the law, and likely to have it confiscated if stopped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alittlebitfrench Posted September 12, 2023 Share Posted September 12, 2023 (edited) Buy a LHD car in France. Take that one off the road. Go through the hoops of importing it. That will give your first real experience of France. Once done, you can sell it on Le Bon Coin at a higher price than in the UK. But listen, you have moved to the middle of nowhere with no public transport. You will need a back up car. And just bare in mind for the future….you will have to move again. For most folk, that is back to the UK. So keep it as a back up. Edited September 12, 2023 by alittlebitfrench Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickP Posted September 12, 2023 Share Posted September 12, 2023 (edited) There is a guy who runs a site on Social media who is a wiz at doing all the paperwork to register a UK car, he did it for me and for a very reasonable fee. If you should wish to go down that road send me a personal message on here and I will point you in the right direction Edited September 12, 2023 by NickP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harnser Posted September 12, 2023 Share Posted September 12, 2023 8 hours ago, alittlebitfrench said: Buy a LHD car in France. Take that one off the road. Go through the hoops of importing it. That will give your first real experience of France. Once done, you can sell it on Le Bon Coin at a higher price than in the UK. Not much chance of selling a RHD car on Leboncoin - but worth a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harnser Posted September 13, 2023 Share Posted September 13, 2023 (edited) 21 hours ago, crabtree said: Is your car still insured. Normally once you are resident in France your UK insurance stops. Also if you have not imported it within one month of being here then you are breaking the law, and likely to have it confiscated if stopped. Referring to this guide on importing/registration it appears that the period is 6 months not one month. https://www.french-property.com/guides/france/driving-in-france/vehicle-importation-registration Edited September 13, 2023 by Harnser stupid spelling mistake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crabtree Posted September 13, 2023 Share Posted September 13, 2023 1 hour ago, Harnser said: Referring to this guide on importing/registration it appears that the period is 6 months not one month. https://www.french-property.com/guides/france/driving-in-france/vehicle-importation-registration Where does it say that please, I can't seem to find it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
menthe Posted September 13, 2023 Share Posted September 13, 2023 Excellent link from Harnser. When we came (2007), the period for registering was 6 weeks and, during that time, OH refused to let me break the law and drive around in it. Had to have lights changed and pay for registration and new number plates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric.lange Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 Hey, The process of importing a car registered in the UK to France can be complicated. I think you must have a Certificate of Conformity (COC). I am registering my car on COC-Online. They quickly made a coc citroen https://www.coc-online.com/fr/produits/certificat-de-conformite-officiel-voiture-citroen/236068000002025032 for me. 100% - my personal recommendation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickP Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 13 minutes ago, eric.lange said: Hey, The process of importing a car registered in the UK to France can be complicated. I think you must have a Certificate of Conformity (COC). I am registering my car on COC-Online. They quickly made a coc citroen https://www.coc-online.com/fr/produits/certificat-de-conformite-officiel-voiture-citroen/236068000002025032 for me. 100% - my personal recommendation Why pay someone else to get a CoC when you can get it easily yourself from the manufacturer. In fact some cars come complete with them , my Mercedes did and for the old runaround VW I applied to VW for one and got it very quickly. There is a guy on social media who specialises in registering UK cars in france, should anybody need his expertise, message me and I will point you in his direction. I might add that I have no commercial interest with him or his business. I'm just a very satisfied customer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric.lange Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 16 minutes ago, NickP said: Why pay someone else to get a CoC when you can get it easily yourself from the manufacturer. In fact some cars come complete with them , my Mercedes did and for the old runaround VW I applied to VW for one and got it very quickly. There is a guy on social media who specialises in registering UK cars in france, should anybody need his expertise, message me and I will point you in his direction. I might add that I have no commercial interest with him or his business. I'm just a very satisfied customer. I have bought a car outside of Europe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveLister Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 7 minutes ago, eric.lange said: I have bought a car outside of Europe Which was then registered in the UK. How did you do that out of interest S.V.A.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric.lange Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 It seems that I didn't understand the question. I know that you should have COC documents if you are importing a car into the EU, isn't that right? If you want to buy a used car from outside the EU, you need to have COC papers. Since the UK is not in the EU, you have to have a COC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VortexJester Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 In my experience, some car dealers might be willing to buy your UK car, especially if it's a desirable make or model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corrin Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 I've heard that some dealers are cool with taking your UK car when you're buying from them. It's like a trade-in, so you skip all the hassle of selling it privately or sorting out the import process solo. Carwow has this feature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harnser Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 15 hours ago, Corrin said: I've heard that some dealers are cool with taking your UK car when you're buying from them. It's like a trade-in, so you skip all the hassle of selling it privately or sorting out the import process solo. Carwow has this feature. Carwow is a UK company - how does that work in France? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betise Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 I have a sneaking suspicion that we may have an AI bot posting somewhere on this, and other threads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveLister Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 Personally I think Corrin is a real person. Aren't you Corrin ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belves Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 To me it seems like a real person Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corrin Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 do you guys need photos or something? 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveLister Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 8 hours ago, Belves said: To me it seems like a real person " It " ???????? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveLister Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 9 hours ago, Corrin said: do you guys need photos or something? 🙂 No, just wondering what your motives are in joining the forum. ( that goes for you too Belves ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betise Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 If Belves or Corrin were to meet the mod DaveLister, what question would you ask him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
menthe Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 Is David Lister your REAL name? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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