What documents should be with the car?

[Paul Bradford]

Hi all,

I'm contemplating purchasing a French registered car from a dealer in the UK with the intention of registering it at our holiday (soon to be permanent!) home. Apart from the receipts for sale and purchase, registration document etc, can anyone tell me the equivalent numbers of the documents? For example the UK registration document is a V5C and the new style MOT is a VT20. Also, is there a service available in France similar to our HPI check?

Many thanks

Paul Bradford

[Opalienne]

The registration document is the 'carte grise' that you get from the Prefecture or Sub-Prefecture of your department.   You will need to do this when you take the car to France with you.   MOT is 'controle technique' and you won't need it unless the car is four years old.   You can go to any approved controle technique centre in France to have it done.  But it would be simpler and probably cheaper to buy a car in France, wouldn't it?   I wonder if buying a French-registered car in the UK might not be rather complicated............

[Sunday Driver]

There are no specific document numbers for the french equivalents of V5C and VT20.  The carte grise is the certficate d'immatriculation - an A5 sized grey card containing the name and address of the current owner as well as the details of the vehicle. It must be endorsed "vendu le (date)" by the original owner. 

The original owner should have completed a certificat de vente showing details of the dealer to whom he had sold the vehicle.  A copy would have gone to his local prefecture to notify them of the change.  The dealer would then give you a copy when you buy the car. This is the equivalent of the change of keeper notification to the DVLA. 

The equivalent of the MOT certificate is the process-verbal de controle technique.  There should be a matching CT sticker on the windscreen showing the expiry date.  The sticker is mandatory, so if its missing..... [:'(].  The CT must not be more than 6 months old.  If it is, you'll need to have the car tested again.

The french equivalent of the HPI is the certificat de situation/non-gage.  It confirms there is no outstanding finance etc  You can obtain a certificate on line [url=http://www.interieur.gouv.fr/rubriques/b/b8_teleservices/rubriques/b/b8_teleservices/new_telecarte_grise] HERE [/url].

Registration in France is straightforward.  You'll need a demande de certificat d'immatriculation (download one [url=http://www.interieur.gouv.fr/rubriques/b/b2_vos_demarches/b22_CERFA/index_html/10672.pdf] HERE [/url]). Its simple to complete - the technical information for the boxes on page 2 can be found on the existing carte grise.

Then pop along to your local prefecture with the demande, the original carte grise, CT certificate, certificat de vente, certificat de situation, original receipt, passport and utility bill. Pay the required registration fee and get your new carte grise.  Then get some new number plates made up and rivet them onto the car (screws are not allowed).

Once you've bought the car, you can drive it on the original plates for a month whilst you sort out the registration.

[Paul Bradford]

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

I am considering a purchase in the UK because from what I have seen so far is that owners and dealers in France value their cars unrealistically high. I know that we like to think our cars are worth a lot, but when you compare the price of a new car in France, the price of a used one seems ridiculous. Left hand drive cars in the UK now generally command a higher price than a few years ago. Down to all of us wishing to relocate I suppose! I just happen to have seen a French registered car for sale at what I feel is a reasonable price.  

Many thanks for the assistance.

Paul