bringing a car from the uk to France

[smudge]

Does anybody have the forms required to do this in English? we are planning to move to France this year and I will want to register our uk car in France the only forms I have seen are all in French (surprise) but I remember seeing a translated form somewhere?

Can anybody help please?

Smudge

[EuroTrash]

AFAIK the French government doesn't produce many if any official forms in any language except French, and I would be extremely surprised if the préfecture would accept a copy of one of their forms translated into English. I'd love to see their faces if you tried.

However there are plenty of websites that explain in English the procedure to be followed and list the documentation that you have to provide.

[HoneySuckleDreams]

There are no forms I have seen in English. Which ones were you thinking of ?

 

You won't go far wrong if you read the "FAQ - Importing and registering your UK car to France " sticky thingy on the Driving In France Topic, it's pretty thorough.

 

 

 

[nomoss]

[quote user="smudge"]Does anybody have the forms required to do this in English? we are planning to move to France this year and I will want to register our uk car in France the only forms I have seen are all in French (surprise) but I remember seeing a translated form somewhere? Can anybody help please? Smudge[/quote]

 

Hey! Just about everything in France is in French! Surprise?

I strongly suggest that you print off the forms, buy an English - French dictionary, and start learning some French, instead of being so helpless!

It might help make your life a bit easier when you move here, and save a lot of hassle [:D]

 

 

[EuroTrash]

nomoss does have a point. You will have to get used to forms being in French, so the sooner you start learning enough French to understand what is being asked for on forms, the better. It tends to be always the same stuff, name and date of birth and address etc, and the list of documents is pretty standard too, utility bills, passport, avis d'impot. Expect to fill an awful lot of French forms in during the first few months..

[John Brown]

Please do the maths before you bring the car over

The secondhand value will drop like a stone

The Certificate of  Comformity cost my friend £140 for a Citroen C8 plus £130 to register, plus new plates at a premium!

Plus, in some cases, new headlights,up to £1000 a pair and an MOT

I ended up taking my car back to the UK and selling it there because of the overtaking blindspot issue

John

[HoneySuckleDreams]

[quote user="John Brown"]Please do the maths before you bring the car over

The secondhand value will drop like a stone
The Certificate of  Comformity cost my friend £140 for a Citroen C8 plus £130 to register, plus new plates at a premium!
Plus, in some cases, new headlights,up to £1000 a pair and an MOT

I ended up taking my car back to the UK and selling it there because of the overtaking blindspot issue

John
[/quote]

I get your point John but I think it depends on the car.

We got our CofC from Jaguar UK for free (and they even gave us a French version), and the lights are adjustable enough so they passed the CT.

Not the case for the Citroen which passed the CT with sticky things over the lens for 4 years. The Suzuki had other problems (computer said no!).

One of the things the OP must bear in mind is Insurance. Make sure it is covered until the logistics of converting to the French system are completed.

And they might need an invoice/bill of sale to prove to the Hotel d'impot what they bought the car for. We had a problem with the Suzuki as I had bought it from FleaBay. Lots of hand waving and gallic shrugging was involved before getting the piece of paper stamped for that one!

[EuroTrash]

I disagree with JB on every count I'm afraid

CoC is sometimes free and not always needed at all.

Headlamps cheap on eBay for most models

If it has an MOT it should pass a CT no prob, only about 60€.

One off registration fee then no annual road tax

I don't remember plates being expensive to get made up.

As HSD says it depends entirely on the car, what your long-plans are for it, and your ability as a driver. But as long as it's not a gas guzzler that costs a fortune to register, by the time you've registered it you would normally expect to have had to pay more if you'd bought the equivalent car to what you now have, in France. There is of course the LHD/RHD issue but it has never bothered me, you just have to drive accordingly.

[YCCMB]

And.....if your car is under 4 years old....you don't need a CT anyway.

[John Brown]

I accept some of your points EuroTrash but I did start by saying "please do the maths"

I was never happy putting my vehicle across the center of the road so I could see if anything was coming the other way when driving behind an HGV or worse a close-coupled Truck and Trailer . If you are on your own in the car its even harder to overtake. IMHO

Another friend tried to part ex his RHD Landrover for a new C4 and was told a big fat NO by the Main Dealer so now it sits in the garden rusting

JB

[dave21478]

^^^^

Tell your pal to advertise it on LeBonCoin. RHD or not, in France a Landrover is worth at least its UK value and often much, much more.

Even a Freelander is worth at least €1000 as spares if it is in working order.

[John Brown]

Thanks Dave

He's tried, in the past, to sell it for spares but he didn't want to be left with a dismantled wreck in the garden and no one would take it all

I'll mention LeBoncoin again to him

JB

[NickP]

nomoss wrote    "Hey! Just about everything in France is in French! Surprise?

I strongly suggest that you print off the forms, buy an English - French dictionary, and start learning some French, instead of being so helpless!

It might help make your life a bit easier when you move here, and save a lot of hassle" [:D]

You might suggest  a similar solution for the French in London who need French speaking plumbers. [:P]

[dave21478]

Tell him to advertise it entire for parts or for use on private land (assuming it runs)....should get a buyer.

If not and he wants to break it up for parts, always, always sell the engine first - Assuming its a turbo diesel it should fetch €500 minimum, and depending on what model Landrover it is, possibly over €1000.

Once that is gone, if anyone else wants bits, then great. If not, then he can get a scrappy to uplift the remains....better than it rusting away at the bottom of the garden.

[baypond]

Leave the windows in and use it as a 'man shed'.

[Jonzjob]

Left hand drive or right?

We were coming over here on holiday for 20 odd years before we actually moved over and a RHD car was not a problem as there was almost always 2 in the car. There is NO way that I would do that on a permanent basis! As has been said it's no fun sticking the car out ot the other side of the road to try to pass any kind of truck. Having to get out of the car when on your own at paege points/parking places would not be too much fun either and along with the what do you do when you want to sell argument?

For me it's a no brainer to drive anything but a left hooker as a permanent resident. We bought our C8, new LHD, in Holland from a dealer there before we moved over and saved several thousand pounds by doing so. I registered it in the U.K. from the temporary Dutch plates as the VAT was less and then registered it here when we arrived. No hassle and no problems.

[SC]

Re RHD vs LHD, it might be sensible for the OP to consider where he/she will be mostly driving before deciding whether a RHD would be practical. Once we are out of our local lane (1km north or 2km south) we are on roads where everyone with the exception of vsps and tractors are travelling at or over the speed limit, and the urgent need to overtake in the way others have described is very rare.

We have LHD cars and one RHD car and for us the RHD car isn't at a disadvantage locally, and as longer trips are mostly on dual carriageways and autoroutes, despite the potential peage problem (but on longer trips there's normally two of us), there's no problem there that isn't easily overcome either.

On the other hand if you have to drive miles on winding hilly roads peppered with lots of slow trucks just to go shopping, then I'd recommend a LHD Lotus 7 with a towbar and a light trailer :-)

But as someone said, do the maths, the costs of coc, registration, headlamps and possibly rear foglamp depend on the car of course.

Steve

[Chancer]

I still have my Caterham 7 in my garage in the UK, I used to drive it like a maniac and groups of us would frequently come to France to do just that, now I am a completely different driver, rarely in a hurry to get anywhere and fuel economy is the over-riding factor, I do still overtake but rarely need to and never as before, just for the sake of trying to go faster than all the other lesser mortals.

After 9 years with RHD I would not consider a LHD car unless they were of equal price, I dont see it as a disadvantage at all, in fact being effectively blind in the left eye, when approaching PAD's especially those at an cute angle, is far safer for me; and to a lesser degree this also applies to people with normal vision. I reckon I pass or negotiate maybe 500 PAD's for every one time that I actually need to overtake a slower moving vehicle.

I never have a passenger in the car so have just adapted to a safe way of overtaking, being prepared, having viewed the oncoming traffic by moving left especially on a gentle RH curve, counting the cars through till when my proposed gap should be there, leaning right over in the car, moving out for a look and being prepared to pull back smartly, above all not closing up the gap with the vehicle I am overtaking, that is most peoples error and not just drivers of RHD judging by the amount of vehicles that have forced me off the road when they have swerved out violently to overtake the vehicle that they were too close behind, that was obscuring them from my vision and me from theirs.

I have had to do some really fast, instinctive and violent evasive manouevres like back when I was a racing driver, all the time these idiots (who normally display an A plate) are still on the roads, one day I won be quick enough, that day I will be especially glad to be driving a LHD car, if I have a passenger then they and their next of kins wont feel the same way.

Before anyone points it out I am aware that for most of my life I drove with equal impatience as those above who I call idiots, I was never stupid enough to overtake without seeing if the way was clear but must nonetheless have been called the same sort of names many times over.

[SC]

What's a PAD?

Steve

[Chancer]

Sorry, was being lazy, PAD = priorité à droite.

[CeeJay]

Interesting post as I was just about to put pen to paper on this subject!

Thinking of buying a Volkswagon CC and started to compare prices viz a viz UK and France with similar type car. Did some homework and came up with the following figures:-

French from main dealer in Montpellier, reg. 2012, 23000 miles, £24500

English from main dealer in Bristol, reg 2013, 7500 miles, £19990

Now there seems to be a very large difference here and some of it is, I accept, down to currency conversion, but even taking into account the obvious charges of changing headlamp units and re-registering it does seem that it really is less costly buying in UK.

Having to drive a UK type car does not bother me at all as I have been driving a UK 807 over here for the last 6 years, albeit for mainly autoroute driving and I also have a French Kangoo for pottering around here and I find it very easy to change from one to another.

The other factor with buying the UK CC is that Volkswagon will also give a 12months European guarantee and a 7 days free Insurance cover, again including Europe.

However, I am still thinking there is a catch here somehow!!

[HoneySuckleDreams]

[quote user="CeeJay"]I am still thinking there is a catch here somehow!!

[/quote]

 

No catch.. If you live in France you pay more for a 2nd hand car.

[AnOther]

What's often forgotten is that unless you are planning to run a car into the ground then the initial price premium will be at least partially recovered when it comes to selling on.

Even driven to the edge of death a CT'd crappy 20 year old banger which you wouldn't give £100 for in UK can sometimes fetch 10x that in France.