Registering French car in France

[Rob G]

In preparation for our move to France in a few weeks' time, we're going to be buying a French car next week. We've found it through some French friends of ours over there, and are arranging to send them the money to complete the purchase. I'll be going over the following weekend to collect it and bring it back to the UK.

I understand that when you buy a second hand car in France you have a month to re-register the "carte grise" at a new address. Problem is, we won't complete our house purchase until after a month has gone by, so won't have a permanent address. What I do have is an "attestation" from the notaire confirming that we're in the process of buying the house - the insurance broker has accepted this for the car insurance. I'm wondering if the sous-prefecture where we'll be living will accept it for re-registering the carte grise?

A further challenge is that even if they will accept it, I'm not going to have the opportunity to go to the sous-prefecture. Is the process of getting a new carte grise something that has to be done in person, or could our friends in France do this for us? I guess this could be trickly because we'll need to have the original carte grise with us in the UK (with the car).

Thanks,

Rob

[andyh4]

Under the circumstances I would have thought that having a photocopy of the catre grise in the UK would be perfectly OK.  I doubt anyone will ask to see it anyway.

 

[Sunday Driver]

Rules for transfer of registration to a new owner are here:

http://www.prefecture-police-paris.interieur.gouv.fr/demarches/carte_grise/carte_grise_textes.htm#proprio

Art R 322.5:  ....if the new owner wishes to continue driving the vehicle on the roads, he has to apply for a new carte grise within 15 days. 

You can apply by post. Download the application form from the above site, complete it and sign it.  Then send it and the notaire's attestation together with a photocopy of your passport to your french friends.  They can then add the old carte grise, certificate de cession (declaration of sale supplied by the vendor), certificate de non gage (a bit like an HPI - no outstanding finance, etc) and Control Technique certificate (if required) then they can send the lot off to the prefecture.  The new carte grise will be sent to your french address, so you'll need to have a word the present occupiers.

Ask the occupiers to phone your french friends when the carte gris arrives, so they can collect it and sort out your number plates so that the car is all ready for when you arrive.  Get your insurance sorted, plonk the vignette on the screen, stick the papers in your wallet and you're then street legal both in France and in the UK. 

Piece of cake, really.

[Rob G]

Thanks for the detailed information. I've managed to getr the insurance sorted out using the address that we will be living in once we've moved.

Just one question - what's a vignette? I thought this was the thing you had to have for road tax, which has now been abolished.

Rob

[Anton Redman]

The vignette is the large postage stamp sized part of the certificate of insurance which shows the regristration number and must be displayed on the windscreen. The counterpoint (AKA other bit) must be signed by the insured and kept in the car)

NB the Controle technique ( French Equivalent of MOT has a disk of the same size with the month and year it expires punched out of it which should also be displayed.