Re-registering a re-import

[AnOther]

Strange how things happen, I was intending to pose a question not dissimilar to the previous posters [8-|]

A friend of my wife's has a problem with a 2CV.

It was initially bought and registered in France, then exported to UK and properly registered there, but now she is living in France, has brought it with her, and wants to put it back on French plates.

When she went to the Prefecture however, they insisted they needed the original French Carte Gris which of course she hasn't got, just the UK V5.

To my simple way of thinking if it were originally a French car it would be on their computer and as long as ownership were provable (V5) then it should be a rubber stamp job.

What would be the correct procedure for this, were the staff a the Prefecture just being awkward [:'(]

 

[Will]

We too bought an exported LHD ex-French car in England to take to France when we first moved there, thinking registering it would be a doddle. The prefecture just couldn't cope with that either, they had probably never come across that situation before. Despite what people like SD say about registering being dead easy if you have the paperwork, it took ages, even with the help of the local Peugeot main dealer. In the end we were able to find the last French immatriculation number on an old CT certificate, our prefecture faxed it to the prefecture that issued the last number, they faxed back the details of the previous French registration and bingo - all the things that wouldn't fit the system suddenly fell into place.

Yes, in theory it should be the easiest thing in the world, but in practice it's quite the opposite.

[AnOther]

Thank you Will.

It's worrying to think that the Prefectures are so disassociated that simply typing in the VIN number anywhere in France wouldn't bring up the relevant details [:-))]

There would seem to be another inconsistency here too because if it is indeed the case that a vehicle only "exists" in it's home department then you'd think that presenting in another with a usual neccessary documents would enable registration in exactly the same straightforward way as a car imported from any other country.

I will go back and ask some questions but I'm wondering if she perhaps stymied herself by giving over too much information when omitting any reference to it having been previously French registered may have produced a different result [8-)]

[Sunday Driver]

Reading these two scenarios, my thoughts are as follows...

They both involved foreign registered cars being imported into France, therefore the usual import/registration process should have applied.  That would have meant presenting a demande de certificat d'immatriculation, import VAT certificate, attestation de conformité, CT, plus the usual ID/address documents. A new carte grise would have been issued in the name of the applicant.  Straightforward, routine procedure.

What appears to have happened is the situation has been presented to the prefectures as a change of ownership for a car with an existing registration, and for this, the applicant has to produce the existing carte grise and a certificat de cession proving transfer of ownership.  Producing a foreign registration document does not fulfil this requirement.  In Will's case, he was able to trace the original registration number which his prefecture then used to obtain the details of the original carte grise. They then, exceptionally, processed the change and issued him with a new carte grise.

In the case of ErnieY's friend, I suggest she re-presents the application together with the normal import documentation.

 

 

 

[Ron Avery]

I bought a Renault Twingo in the UK with a UK reg. It was made and registered in France, then sold to Germany and then to the UK and fitted with personalised plates. When it came back to France with a UK V5 it was registered in France as if it was a UK car, no demands for old carte grise or anything, just the normal paperwork, including having to get a C de C from Renault at 104€[:'(].

[Will]

SD yes, I would agree with your thoughts except that we presented the full package of paperwork - tax certificate, letter of conformity from Peugeot, new CT, DVLA export certificate (this was pre-V5C) etc. So it should have been just the same as any other British car. What I think threw them was that the date of first registration in UK (as on export certificate) did not tie up with the 'mise en circulation' associated with the VIN. They understood the problem, but didn't know how to get round it.

It was over 5 years ago now, when registering foreign cars was a comparatively uncommon event (none of the British who had lived in our area longer than us had ever bothered), so it was probably the first time these particular officials had met this situation. Still, it was all sorted out in the end, but what should have been perfectly straightforward ended up as anything but.

 

[AnOther]

I've asked for confirmation but thus far it's been my understanding that there is no change of ownership involved, if there were however it would certainly explain the demand for the original CG.