Selling a used car ... advice please

[Wardy]

Hello

Can anyone  give some advice please on selling one's used car in France privately via local newspaper etc etc.

In particular is there usually much room expected on price negotiation?

How is payment usually made? For example in the UK one gets cash or waits until the buyers cheque clears.

Does one have to surrender the carte de gris or write to the motor department?

Does one just hand over the keys or ask for identity etc etc.?

A simple list of "do's and don'ts" would be very helpful and much appreciated

Many thanks

Wardy

 

 

[Miki]

As no one else has answered, I will rack my brain to remember how we have sold cars !

You require an MOT (control technique) to prove to the buyer that the car is roadworthy with over 18 months of the 2 years still to run. Although for some reason we have bought and sold without this being strictly adhered to but the French do like a fresh CT.

Write a certificate of sale (certificat de vente) and an admin form (certificat de situation administrative) available from your Préfecture or Sous-Préfecture. The latter might be called a cert de non gage, which can be downloaded from the net by using the cars registration number..

You need to cancel your registration papers by writing "vendu le (date)" and signing on the inside of the carte grise

The carte grise now duly written on (and I seem to think the corner has to be cut off, unless that was just for the older type) admin certificate and a copy of the certificate of sale go to the buyer.

You return the sale certificate to the Prefecture/Sous-Prefecture within 15 days of the sale.

Why I hesitate, is that the carte grise has changed slightly and I am unsure at the moment, whether anything else has changed with selling the car, I think not and all probably remains the same.

There I think that's about it. Oh yes, put on something to be able to come down to around the figure you want. All the world likes a bargain !

 

[Teamedup]

And how would you want paying, I wouldn't just take a personal cheque. I would want some sort of banker's draft that is guaranteed or cash, although personally I would prefer a banker's draft or something like that.

[Wardy]

Miki... very many thanks for your suggestions.

Anybody got any comment re payment? I realise there is a very different attitude towards bouncing cheques here in France but I would prefer not to take risks with such a large amount of money - and its likely to be from a stranger.

 

Wardy

[Miki]

Like TU says, bankers draft will at least guarantee you the money (unless it is a stolen cheque !) I sold a camper for cash once, as it was the day I was moving and I needed to ensure that any cheque would not bounce and simply did not have the time to do so. The problem there can be, the legal amount of cash one is allowed to use for payment but with a private sale I wouldn't think the law is operative.

If you take a private cheque give it plenty of time to clear, it has been known that even when cleared, a cheque can mysteriously bounce later. Oh yes, French banking is in a world of its own !

 

 

[opas]

Miki, remembered reading this read a while ago, when we were thinking of selling our car. A bit of searching early doors this morning gave me the info I needed. for one reason or another I was unable to download the form you mention , so prepared my self for another day in Perpignan, but thought I would just ask at the Maire (secretary) . Lovely lady that she is( or perhaps she felt sorry for me ) she downloaded the form in her office.

The form goes to the purchaser along with the carte gris ...and car keys , and letter of sale!! Not sure how our purchaser is paying, she said she needed to visit the bank(could be a loan or to arrange a bank draft) If I ask to take details of her licence would this seem excessive?

Mrs O

[Miki]

No not at all.

They would probably expect you to want some kind of security of who they are. I know cheques are not meant to bounce due to French laws about cheque en bois and too many Brits think therefore none bounce but unfortunately, oh yes they do, so do be careful and rely on your instincts. The odds are on your side, so good luck.

With the letter of sale, I think I would prefer to hand that in myself to ensure it gets done !

[derf]

Just a small point, i think that the control technique only has to have 6 months or more left to run when you come to sell your vehicle, below is a link to the French Government website that will tell you all you need to know about buying and selling vehicles in France. 

http://vosdroits.service-public.fr/particuliers/N534.html?n=Transports&l=N18&n=Automobiles%20et%20deux-roues&l=N529

[Miki]

Mrs O ,

Further to the pm earlier, here is something I remembered having somewhere in the vault !

Carte Grise : this is your vehicle registration document, marked in indelible ink with the words "Vendue le..." and the date, or "Cédée le..." and the date, followed by your signature.

A certificat de situation, (NON GAGE) which includes a certificate of non-security (valid for one month) and a certificate of non-opposition (valid for two months). The form is available from the Préfecture or Sous-Préfecture.

A certificat de vente document of sale. The form is available from the Préfecture or Sous-Préfecture.

This is the one you need to get to sell the car and send off yourself after the sale

If the car is more than 4 years old, you must provide a contrôle technique (CT) certificate as proof of roadworthiness. It must be no more than 6 months old.

Within 2 weeks, you must send the duplicate of your certificat de vente to the Préfecture or Mairie of the place where your car was registered.

Hope that helps ?

 

 

[Jonzjob]

Hi Miki & Derf,

I'm a bit confused about the 6 months thing. Miki your link to AngloInfo states clearly that the CT must be no more than 6 months old.

Derf your link to Service Public site states :-

"En cas de vente d'un véhicule de plus de quatre ans, un contrôle technique doit être effectué  et un procès-verbal de contrôle doit être remis à l'acquéreur. Celui-ci doit dater de moins de six mois ou si une contre-visite a été prescrite, de moins de deux mois."

The famous Bable fish translates this to :-

"In the event of sale of a vehicle of more than four years, a vehicle inspection must be carried out and an official report of control must be given to the purchaser. This one must go back to less than six months or if a check inspection were prescribed, of less than two months."

I think that this states the same thing as Miki's, but I would like to be sure as we are about to buy a car, from a dealer, and would like to know what really should happen. I'm sorry, but my French is not up to sorting that at the moment, but it is getting better.

John.