Re: Importing and registering your UK car to France

[Deauville]

Great info from Sunday Driver (Ride On!) regarding re-registering, but have you any ideas on how to do it with an old campervan which was previously registered in Germany but is now on UK plates? The van is a Hymer based on a Fiat and I'm not sure which road is going to give me the least hassle - Fiat, Hymer or DRIRE - as we are trying to re-register a CONVERTED vehicle which may require different certificats de conformity for both chassis and body. I also want to register a twin axle 2 tonne trailer which was privately manufactured in UK, any thoughts on THAT problem?

[daryl-et-elaine]

Deauville,

A colleague of mine went through the process of re-registering a Hymer, and it wasn't cheap or easy!

If I recall correctly, it cost him in the region of 1000 euros. It is not only the vehicle that's the problem, but also the gas and electrical installations must also conform.

In your case, as it would appear to be a conversion I think you will find additional problems with regard to obtaining a certificate of conformity simply because the vehicle no longer conforms to its original spec.

Hope this helps.

[Sunday Driver]

Importing a camper is a more complex process than that for a car, but it’s not too difficult to do.

If you read the FAQ on Importing and Registering your UK car in France, you’ll see that there are five stages:

• Declaring permanent export to the DVLA

• Completing a French VAT declaration

• Obtaining evidence of type approval

• Obtaining a controle technique certificate

• Registering with your prefecture

The above steps are the same for a camper, with the exception of type approval.

For this, you will need to submit the van for a single vehicle type approval inspection (reception de titre isole). This is carried out by the DRIRE and for this, you will need to compile a dossier of the following documents:

Attestation d’identite and notice descriptive from IVECO France for the base vehicle (cost around 120 euros).

Attestation d’identite from Hymer for the conversion (cost around 120 euros)

Certificate of conformite (NF S 56-200) for the gas installation from Bureau Veritas (cost 215 euros).

Note: to pass this test, you’ll need to fit a 1kg fire extinguisher inside the entry door and change your old German 50 MBar propane regulators for 37 MBar ones (cost around 8 euros each from a brico). If you’ve still got the original German mains electricity sockets, you’ll be OK, but if you’ve fitted any extra UK three pin sockets, you’ll need to change them for French ones.

CT certificate (cost 56 euros).  You'll need to fit LHD dipping headlamps (have you still got the old German ones?) and change the rear fog lamp over to the left side.

Three weighbridge tickets (front and rear axles plus total van) – get the van weighed at your local grain store with full tank of diesel and full fresh water tank.

Take your dossier to the DRIRE and request an appointment for a reception de titre isole. They’ll check all the documents and then call your van in for a brief inspection and if everything is OK, they’ll issue a process-verbal de titre isole (costs 86 euros). This is your precious single vehicle type approval certificate.

After that, it’s a trip to the prefecture to register the van. If it's over 10 years old, it'll cost in the region of 80 euros.  There's no Commercial vehicle annual "road tax" for campers.

Note: Part of the process is establishing the PTAC (maximum authorised weight) and PV (payload) of your Hymer. These will be shown in the IVECO and Hymer certificates.

If yours is in the B554/B564/B584 series, then it’ll show a PTAC of 3500kg which is OK for a car type CT and driving on a category B driving licemce. If it’s a B694, then it’ll be over 3500kg so it’ll need a CT Poids Lourd (HGV test) and you’ll need a category C1 driving licence.

Useful addresses:

IVECO France SA

6 Rue Nicolas Copernic

79083 TRAPPES Cedex 9

Tel: 01 30 66 80 00

 

Hymer France SAS

RN66

BP 76

68702 CERNAY Cedex

Tel: 03 89 75 30 75

Bureau Veritas: dependent on where you live – check address in pages-jaunes.

Regarding the trailer, can you provide more information about the constructor?

 

Feel free to PM me if you need any further assistance.