Keeping a car in French holiday home

[Rtony]

With the ferry charges increasing and air fares dropping we are considering buying a used car in France and leaving it there, in our holiday home.

We go there about 7 weeks a year at the moment. 

Does this sound feasible? Can anyone let me know the charges for road tax, MOT & insurance etc., please?

Thanks,

Tony

 

[Val_2]

Firstly you need to find a second hand car and change the carte grise to your name and french address. Now I am not sure because you live inthe UK how hard things will be for you on the insurance front if the insurer knows/finds out that you are not in residence at the address full time especially with a vehicle they are insuring left there unattended for long periods of time even if it is locked away. Before you go out and spend money,talk to an insurer and see how the land lies regarding this situation as it may turn out to be very very expensive with a huge franchise. There is no road tax in France on private domestic vehicles and the contrôle is every two years on vehicles of four years and over in age. Can't remember the cost but less than 50€ I think. Remember that cars hold their value in France and second hand ones are quite pricey in some cases to the UK. If you buy from a garage you will have six months guarantee, a dealer will give you 12months and a private seller dosn't care. All have to provide a new contrôle to proove it is roadworthy.  If you do come clean about not living here,you must make sure that all correspondence relating to the vehicle can be sent to you and not to your french address in case you do or cannot visit. Another point to mention is that leaving unattended vehicles now at airports etc for long periods is attracting the authorities to remove them and fine the owners.

[Will]

What Val says, plus a couple of other things to consider. Do you think that cheap air fares - at least when and to/from where you might want to travel are here to stay? How would you travel between airport/ferry port and your house (on both sides of the Channel) - public transport and taxis are uncommon in some parts of France? And do you need to take things to your French house and bring things back from France to England (difficult with some budget airlines' baggage policies)?

[Rtony]

Thanks Val & Will, just what I was looking for.

Regards,

Tony