Importing a car.......again!!

[vickybear]

I know this subject has been done to death but I cannot find an answer on the search which relates to my specific query.

This is an opprtunity for all you organised men ( and women ) to tutt and tell me off but hey ho....nobody's perfect.......

I moved to France in May 2005 and brought my car! My local French insurance office kindly insired it for me on UK plates ( probably worth nothing in an accident?? ) ..........and time ticked by. I took it off the road in the UK officially and in February of this year put it through it's French MOT which it passed........and more time ticked by........it's now 8 months later and I really should be doing something about bringing this car in officially.

Am I in big trouble?  Can I still do it? Will it need another MOT as I think you have to get to the Prefecture within 6 months?

And finally, what does the final stage cost at the Prefecture in the Charente for the import??

Thank you

 

[Will]

Don't worry too much, the only things you seem to have done wrong so far, apart from being a bit slow, are:

1. What you refer to 'taking it off the road in the UK officially', by which I am assuming you mean you did a SORN declaration. The problem with that is that you are then not supposed to use it anywhere, what you should have done is fill in the appropriate bit of the registration document to say you had exported it. But in reality who is likely to check whether you are using it overseas or not? (you could be in big trouble if you ever need to take it back to Britain with its UK index number).

2. Not going back to Britain to re-MoT it (as from what you say it is old enough) and re-tax it. A British-registered vehicle needs to be legal for use in Britain in order for it to be legal elsewhere, but plenty of people will interpret the rule differently, and it is a rule that does not seem to be enforced in France.

There should be no problem if you want to start registering it now. You need a controle technique less than 6 months old to register a vehicle in your name, so you will need to get this re-done. You also need to get a copy of the manufacturers certificate of conformity, or an attestation from the DRIRE office,which proves the car is correctly built and equipped for use in France. As you have had a controle technique done before, presumably the headlamps are legal and you will not need to change them. You also need to go to your hôtel des impôts and get a quittus fiscal certificate which proves there is no VAT to pay, and it is from the issue of that when the clock starts ticking for the registration to be completed (you officially have a month I think, longer if it is a particularly difficult vehicle not covered by a manufacturer's certificate of conformity for Europe). With those, there should be no problem registering it in France.

As to what it will cost, this varies not only between prefectures but also with the CV (fiscal) rating and the age - the carte grise cost is reduced considerably for vehicles over a certain age, 10 years I think.

If I have missed anything I am sure Sunday Driver or one of the others who knows a lot about vehicles will put you right.

[vickybear]

Thanks for that Will.

[Cassis]

Are you two related?

[Sunday Driver]

[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]

Bugger it! - just splattered a mouthfull of whisky all over my laptop............

Been working on the camper all day getting it ready for a week away and you made me laugh!

Thanks, Phil!

 

[Cassis]

Don't waste your whisky and have a good holiday!

[vickybear]

I got the looks![;-)]

[Will]

Not sure what I got, maybe the brain cell?

Don't let Mrs Will see this, she's sure to jump to the wrong conclusions [;-)]

[vickybear]

Cheek!!!

[Cassis]

 [:D] [:D] [:D]

[Bones]

I have neither....

[vickybear]

Oh I dunno.......with wine goggles on perhaps...............

[mitsi]

Having just returned from the prefecture at Saintes today, it was relatively painless although I wasn't prepared for the cost. Because the car is 12 Cv and a '98 model it just cost 382 Euros! I thought maybe a hundred or so - oops!

Obviously it lasts for 2 years along with the contole technique but do you have to pay the same again? Hopefully it will be 10 years old by then too.

[Cassis]

Your registration is a one-off cost for as long as you have the car, except that if you move to a different dept you'll have to change it again (you probably noticed that your car has a registration ending in your dept number).  I don't know what the charge is for switching a car registration from one dept to another.

NB When you get your plates, make sure they are riveted on, not screwed.

[basquen]

The fee for the carte grise is a one off payment. If you move departement there is no charge for a new one - just the cost of the new plates themselves (approx 30€). To make you feel better just think about how much you are saving compared to the UK - no annual MOT + no annual road tax......