Easy importing?!!

[Jo]

Can anyone give me the age/make of cars likely to have both continental/uk headlights changeable by a flick of a switch, and I had heard that some cars had a C.O.C. included in the handbook, am I just dreaming? Looking to buy a car and am trying to keep the import of a uk registered one to France as simple as possible if I decide to buy in UK!!

[Ron-sur-Marne]

Many modern cars have a "flat top" beam pattern so they are the same for Europe and UK.

My Vauxhall Vectra (2007) was less than 4 yrs old, so no Control Technique was needed.

A Quittance Fiscale (free) from the tax office and a Certificate of Conformity from GM (£85) plus the V5 was all I needed to register it.

It passed its CT on UK headlights one year later, as they conformed to the french beam pattern.

[SC]

There is possibly an issue with the rear foglight too if only one is fitted on the UK offside.

Steve

[AnOther]

TBH basing, or biasing, your choice of car on items as relatively superficial as adjustable headlights and the cost of a C of C seems neither sensible or sound logically. By all means take such things into consideration but don't blinker yourself by putting them anywhere near the top of your list.

As for C of C's in handbooks, I think you'll find this is actually quite rare and will be serendipitous rather than a given for any particular make or model.

Every new car in the EU needs a C of C for it's first registration and one is normally supplied with the car but is surrendered as part of the registration process, just as you would surrender the sometimes expensive copy you provide to re-register a car in France.

The fact that some cars may still have them amongst their documents could be down to purely local factors, such as the garage registering them having some cosy relationship with someone in their local DVLA office who will accept a photocopy  maybe, or perhaps where dealers are registering multiple identical vehicles at the same time they just provide one example C of C for the lot, who knows. The point is that if registration procedures are fully and correctly complied with there should be no reason for it to be still with the car. Manufacturers won't be supplying multiple copies when they don't have to.

If you are thinking of buying from a garage in UK them make the provision of a C of C a condition of sale [;-)]

[Jo]

Not basing my choice of car on headlights/C of C, just something else to take into consideration [geek]

[Sunday Driver]

Following the introduction of the UK automated first registration and licencing (AFRL) system, vehicle manufacturers/importers no longer have to physically provide an EU certificate of conformity for the purpose of first registration.  If they are approved for the scheme, they simply transfer the vehicle data from the EU certificate of conformity onto the system and when the vehicle is sold, the dealer inputs the customer details to complete the registration online.  The dealer is allocated a stock of blank tax discs which he completes locally.

The customer is given the EU certificate of conformity when he takes delivery of the new vehicle. Whether he keeps the certificate safe and hands it on the next owner is another matter altogether.....[;-)]

 

 

[Jo]

Well they say you learn something new every day[8-)] Many thanks Sunday Driver[:)]

[nomoss]

If a C of C is required to register every car anywhere in the EU it makes me wonder, Why does France require one for a car which is already EU registered?

BTW, that's a rhetorical question.

[Bob T]

[quote user="nomoss"]

If a C of C is required to register every car anywhere in the EU it makes me wonder, Why does France require one for a car which is already EU registered?

BTW, that's a rhetorical question.

[/quote]

Is it? How come people register Japanese grey imports in the UK then?

[Mr Ice-ni]

So we don't need to answer?

John