certificate of conformity

[Wilko]

Hi

A French friend of mine wants to buy a UK registered Lincoln. Assuming it has the CofC for the Uk is this valid for France and if  not how does one go about getting one.

Thanks for any help

Wilko

[Pickles]

IIRC, Lincolns are not "officially" imported into either the UK or France. Therefore, to have been imported into the UK it would need to have been submitted for, and passed, a UK Single Vehicle Approval (SVA) Test. The resultant certificate is NOT valid across Europe, and therefore the car would have to be inspected by DRIRE and go through the French equivalent SVA test. The sorts of things that they may require to be changed could include glass if it is not marked as conforming to European norms. However it is evidently possible to get a Lincoln into France, because there are a couple of specialists bringing them in and apparently getting them through DRIRE tests (and selling them second-hand in France, which might be a better way to go).

Regards

Pickles

[Sunday Driver]

Pickles is right - US specification cars need to go through this process.  You can read about it in this [url=http://www.drire.gouv.fr/national/demarches/dem_vehicules/4%20fiches%20RTI/080318_import_nonconforme.pdf]Fiche de constitution d’un dossier de Réception à Titre Isolé de véhicule en application du Code de la Route[/url] published by the DRIRE.

To summarise the procedure, in the first instance, you'd need to obtain a certificate of non-conformity from Ford France.  This will list the items on the original US spec vehicle which don't conform with either French or EU type approval - normally all glass and lenses, rear view mirrors, seat belts, tyres, braking system, emissions, sound levels, radio suppressions, etc.

The visible stuff - glass, lenses, mirrors, belts, tyres etc - will have been already been changed over to the proper E-marked ones for the UK SVA and will be physically inspected by the DRIRE.  The rest will have to be independently tested (normally through UTAC Paris at a typical cost of around 1,500€) although it is possible that official test certificates obtained for those items for the UK SVA may be acceptable.  You'd need to clarify this first.

Whilst it is not an impossible task, you may want to consider Pickles' advice about buying a French registered example.

 

[Wilko]

Thanks for that guys.

wilko