Frederick Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 I have noticed that the Garage on the outskirts of the village (85) are selling reasonably priced cars for.... I imagine.... others.... by letting them display them on their frontage .As my wife retires in September and as we can use the Eurostar and SNCF at low cost . I have thought of train travel to La Rochelle on the TGV and keeping a car at the house ......Decision time ...is the best option to buy locally and will the garage handle all the paperwork for me when I buy through them ...or do I buy another UK car or take my wifes out there . then have the hassle of bringing it home for MOT etc..... which kind of defeats the object ....which is the least hassle when it comes to leaving a car out there for .....mine and family member holiday use ? Forgive me if this question has come up many times in the past....please make allowances for a new boy ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deby Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 If the car is remaining in France for over a year, it really should be registered in France. It might be easier for you to buy a french vehicle and have all the necessary paperwork that goes with it - carte grise, controle technique etc. French 2nd hand cars are expensive and hold their value slightly (just) better than UK cars. I am shocked to see that you can pay up to 1500E for a real knacker sometimes where the equivalent in the UK would be 350 quid!!You could look for a french car for sale in the UK - this is sometimes a good solution. If you re-import it you will have to get the necessary paperwork in order, and there are cost savings. I think the process is well documented on this thread. A good command of french is also very useful.Deby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Driver Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 If your local garage is selling reasonably priced cars, then I would be inclined to buy one. Re-registration is a simple process, but I'm sure the garage would help you by doing it for you. You'd be supporting your local business and you'd have built a good relationship for servicing, repairs, etc. You'd have a LHD local car which will be cheap to run (no annual road tax, cheap insurance, technical inspection every two years) and it will hold it's value reasonable well.If you took one of your existing cars over to France, you could only keep it there for six months then you'd have to return it to the UK or permanently export it. You'd need to keep it taxed and MOT'd during this period (even when it's sitting doing nothing) and you'd need to arrange long term continental cover through a UK insurance company (expensive and difficult to find).It's a no brainer, really..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 I looked at all the options a long time back and at the end of the day it was so much easier to buy a car here. The garage will do everything for you including registering it in your name, all you need do is sort out insurance here in France. We have been the UK/French route so many times and it always gets back to the same thing. If you buy a UK car and don't register it in France but keep it here it's illegal regardless of if you take it back for a MOT or not and there is loads of stuff on this matter in this section of the forum.Buying a car in France is very simple and you should have no problem at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederick Posted July 23, 2006 Author Share Posted July 23, 2006 Thanks guys ...there is a diesel Citroen for 2000 euros that looks in good nick ...if its there in September then it will get a test drive .it would do me fine .....I have used three local chaps for plumming .electrics etc....so the village garage has got to be a good idea to have on board as well......thanks for your help . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anton Redman Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 The above makes sense to me. I might buy something like a Peugeot 406 coupe or where the UK price was far lower than the French price second hand and export otherwise no way would I buy a car to export. I would export a car I already owned. However, if I wanted something cheap and chearful I would buy in France.N.B. If I was buying something to keep at an Airport and use on occasional trips to France I would buy from the a garage within walking distance of the airport and say that I expected them to make sure it started on the button when I came to collected it from them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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