Forgive me if I am posting in wrong area as this is the first time for me.
Okay, so this is the year I will move to france and I am looking to buy a car. Do I wait until I have a home in France (so i have a french address) or could I buy a French registered left hand drive from a uk dealer?
Anyone have experience or know a few pros/cons?
Thank you
Mark thank you so much for your advice -)
Elaine,
First, push for a discount if you are not going to trade & be bold - you could save £500 - £1000. Look at the tyres. If they look a bit worn insist that new ones are fitted (after first getting the discount!)
You will need a European Certificate of Conformity - they will know what it is & they should be able to get it free of charge. You will need it & it costs money here to get it.
Do NOT buy headlights from the dealer! Ypu can get new replacements from Ebay France quite cheaply.
Do remember that the value of your car will fall like a stone - cars in France seem to be more expensive initially but they hold their value much longer. RHD cars are not worth much here after a while.
People will tell you all sorts of things about your choices but at the end of the day its all a matter of personal choice! Enjoy your new car.
What I have decided to go for is the Citroen c3 1.6 HDi 16v or 8v Picasso exclusive 09 or 2010 with a mileage around 30-60 miles, there are a few over here in England that have one owner and full service history and you seem to get a lot of car for your money. Test drove one today and I really loved it. Not a LHD and don’t think headlamps ‘switch’ so will have to get replacements for France but will ensure I ask the dealer for
- Proof of purchase showing VAT paid
- Proof of ownership
- CLC - I am presuming the garage will know what this is.
- Evidence that car is free of hp/debt
Anyone think of anything else I need to ask for whilst buying and here in England, it will be in my name only.
Hi Tony,
I can answer that for you. The Quitus Fiscal is basically a certificate issued to every imported car to show that any duty or VAT has been paid, in the event of the vehicle being less than 6 months old, or is not due, in the event that the vehicle is more than 6 months old. This will be issued by the Tresor Public (tax office) based in the more major towns close to your French residence. To get one you will have to present the V5c or an export certificate, an invouce or receipt showing how much you paid for the car if you have just aquired it (in conjuction with a "cession d'un vehicule" form - it helps to smooth the way!) & any other paperwork you can find. You might not need it all but you can bet you will be asked to produce something that you left at home! Some paperwork may require a bit of lateral thinking.
With regard to the CV charge, if you click on the site in my last post, enter the CV, the date of first registration & the departement it will give you the exact amount you will have to pay.
If you cannot produce a household bill or bank statement with your name & address on it you will have to get something from your landlord (if you are renting) or the marie to confirm your residency. Like the UK, it is an offence not to have your correct address on your documents. This does not apply if you choose to keep your UK licence to use here - which can open a whole new can of worms if you are stopped in the UK!
By the way, I am a registered garagiste.
The utility bill must be in your name too. I have a problem in that they want original paper versions but I mainly have on line bills and my wife has kept her name, therefore I cannot use one of her bills. Fortunately, I have just one I can use, which I used a while ago when I registered for local and EU elections here.
tony, the utility bill requirement is in order to prove that you live at that address so yes, you do have to live here.
One more thing - if the car is not in your name when you try to register it here, you will also need to get a "quitus fiscal" from the local tax office. This proves that no VAT is owed on it. So if you can ,it is best to change the V5 into your name before bringng it to France
@ Tony,
I covered the fee thing a little earlier & yes, it is payable by everyone when they register their aquisition of a new car:-
When you register a car in your name in France there is a one-off transfer tax to pay. This is worked out on the age of the car, the egine size - measured in CV (fiscal horsepower rather than the more familiar brake horsepower - a Citroen 2CV, for example has a fiscal horsepower of 2, thus the name), & nowadays the Co2 emissions. So a big 4x4 or large performance car will cost quite a bit more to register or re register than a little economy car. If you know the fiscal HP (which I think is uniquely French but should appear on the C of C) you can see what the cost would be by using this site - http://www.carte-grise.org/
If the car is over 10 years old the part of the fee is halved but that will be taken into account on the fee calculator on the website. By the way, you must put your correct address on the documents or you will fall foul of Code de la Route article L317-2.
I. - Le fait de faire usage d'une plaque ou d'une inscription, exigée par les règlements en vigueur et apposée sur un véhicule à moteur ou une remorque, portant un numéro, un nom ou un domicile faux ou supposé est puni de cinq ans d'emprisonnement et de 3 750 euros d'amende.
II. - Toute personne coupable de cette infraction encourt également les peines complémentaires suivantes :
1° La suspension, pour une durée de trois ans au plus, du permis de conduire, cette suspension pouvant être limitée à la conduite en dehors de l'activité professionnelle ;
2° La confiscation du véhicule.
III. - Ce délit donne lieu de plein droit à la réduction de la moitié du nombre maximal de points du permis de conduire.
@ everyone. I am very pleased that so many people are doing "the right thing" & not re-writing the laws to suit themselves! Fortunately tha Axa agent who claimed to be able to insure UK reg cars "for an unspecified time" due to a mythical mandate from Axa France no longer offers this service on his website as it goes against British, French & EU law to do so.
Thanks for your questions Tony this is a great forum to support one another. I think the cost of living in France and how we “make a living” crops up frequently, it is something I too am considering very carefully. Back on the car, it’s looking very likely that I will buy a car that appeals to me whether French make or not and will satisfy my needs, if its a LHD - excellent - if not, no worries I will drive a RHD either way it will be re-registered and I now have (thanks to the kind souls on here) enough information to ensure I get the correct paper work and take the correct procedures. Still a little daunting, but forewarned is always forearmed -). My cousin has a house in France so could use her address but I am hoping to buy property so would try and co ordinate the two (I am still in England ATM)
Brian, wish they were all like my OH's old one for her Fiat, in three languages because everything is where she comes from. That makes life so much easier.
This just fell in my in box - if they don't get your money one way, they'll get you another!
http://www.legifiscal.fr/actualites-fiscales/365-durcissement-du-bareme-du-malus-automobile.html
Thank you Mark -) I am learning a lot today
When you register a car in your name in France there is a one-off transfer tax to pay. This is worked out on the age of the car, the egine size - measured in CV (fiscal horsepower rather than the more familiar brake horsepower - a Citroen 2CV, for example has a fiscal horsepower of 2, thus the name), & nowadays the Co2 emissions. So a big 4x4 or large performance car will cost quite a bit more to register or re register than a little economy car. If you know the fiscal HP (which I think is uniquely French but should appear on the C of C) you can see what the cost would be by using this site - http://www.carte-grise.org/
Emissions bill? What’s this?
I am reading slowly through your posts and taking notes-) once again thank you all so very much for sharing your experiences. I was looking at citroens as thought it would be easier to maintain in France. I am actually a Nissan micra girl - loved my micra but sold it before I went off teaching in India for 5 months (got back in December)so am now car-less and carefully thinking about the future.
Sandy I currently live in sale, south manchester that is where the photograph was taken, I am looking for a home in the haute vienne, perigord vert area but this is for another posting… You are all really supportive on this forum, it is wonderful to know you are out there.
Hi Katie H, I did say "some" and it's not a "correction" if "some" are as much as 150€; ours were 100€ and 120€ for the car and the van. "some" - I am told, don't charge at all...
France has one of the simplest systems for import requirements in Europe. It is also quite cheap. In Germany you have the additional burden of a certificate to prove the car has not been previously stolen. In the UK there is an additional £100 fee plus the car has to have a speedo in MPH as well as KPH & the rear fog light has to be on the correct side. This on top of all the usual requirements. You still need a C of C. In the UK one has to pay £150 odd every year for a round piece of coloured paper to put in the window of one's car so to pay a one off fee for the C of C of a similar amount to avoid that here should be a cause for celebration but so many seem to begrudge the payment!
@Sandy. Why did you go to DREAL? If you had the C of Cs for the cars there is no requirement for a DREAL inspection.
The Service-Public.fr site has all the info on car regisration. To Import a used car from another EU country the instructions are thus;-
Pièces à produire
Pièces à produire suivant que le véhicule provient d'un pays de l'EEE ou non
|
Véhicule en provenance d'un pays de l'Espace économique européen (EEE) |
Véhicule en provenance d'un pays n'appartenant pas à l'EEE |
|---|---|
|
Quitus fiscal délivré par la recette principale des impôts attestant que la TVA a bien été payée en France. |
Certificat de dédouanement 846 A délivré par un bureau des douanes français. |
|
Justificatif d'identité (ou une copie en cas d'envoi par correspondance) en cours de validité de chaque personne souhaitant figurer sur le certificat d'immatriculation. |
|
|
Justificatif de domicile (ou une copie en cas d'envoi par correspondance) ; s'il y a 2 acquéreurs, il faut fournir le justificatif de domicile du propriétaire dont l'adresse va figurer sur le certificat. |
|
|
Procuration, si un tiers fait la démarche à votre place ou si un des co-titulaires fait la démarche pour l'ensemble des co-titulaires. |
|
|
Demande de certificat d'immatriculation établie au moyen du formulaire cerfa n°13750*03 |
|
|
1 des 3 exemplaires (original) du formulaire cerfa n°13754*02 de la déclaration de cession du véhicule rempli, qui comprend un certificat de vente signé par l'ancien propriétaire et le nouvel acquéreur du véhicule |
|
|
Ancien certificat d'immatriculation du véhicule (si le document a été conservé par les autorités administratives du pays étranger, il faut fournir une pièce officielle certifiant que le certificat a été retiré ou bien un certificat international délivré par les autorités du pays étranger) |
|
|
Règlement du montant de la taxe due
|
|
|
Si le véhicule a plus de 4 ans et n'est pas dispensé du contrôle technique, la preuve de ce contrôle. Celui-ci doit être effectué en France dans les 6 mois qui précèdent la date du dépôt du dossier de demande de nouveau certificat d'immatriculation, ou dans les 2 mois si une contre-visite a été prescrite. |
|
|
Justificatifs techniques de conformité :
|
Attention : dans certains départements, la préfecture (ou la sous-préfecture) demandant une copie de la pièce d'identité du vendeur, il convient de se renseigner avant d'effectuer la démarche.
Hi Elaine
I've bought two LHD cars in the UK - first one was from a dealer my husband found on autotrader - see my blog post Car Troubles actually since then the car has been great - it had only had 1 driver from new - was originally bought when the person worked in Germany then moved to Spain finally it went back to Basingstoke with the owner and he traded it in for a new RHD car. It needed a good service and some TLC but it is a cracking car and we paid less for it than it is still worth now if we were to sell it in France almost 4 years later (granted we have spent on fixing a few bits). The car actually had a switch which turned the lights to european setting but the BMW garage in France didn't know this and tried to charge us for a whole new set of left hand lights! Luckily through lots of research online we avoided this.
The second car we bought last year is fab too. Though we had a lucky escape - see my blog Lucky Escape buying LHD from LHD Specialist . The car we were looking at turned out to be ringed.
The car we eventually bought was a LHD VW Touran - 1 owner - originally used in Gibraltar then brought back to UK (South East again) and we agreed to buy it from the dealer (off Autotrader) before he'd even collected the car (subject to AA inspection). This car came with a spare set of headlights and dash so we could change them over to European.
So my thoughts:
LHD in UK:
Often some great bargains to be found but if like us you are buying from a distance or indeed for extra piece of mind get an AA inspection carried out - it is worth the money and if the AA inspector finds a problem they will likely stop the inspection and refund most of the inspection fee (like in our case).
Don't forget the HPI check in the UK..but for overseas registered vehicles you need to be careful - I recall a case where when the buyer went to register the car in France they found the seller had sold it without clearing the HPI in France.
Definitely check the lights set up - can you switch them over or do they need replacing completely? How much will this cost? This one was a shock on our first one until we found the switch...thankfully the second car came with a spare set.
I don't have experience of buying in France because for all the cars we looked at they appeared very very expensive for the same model/year/mileage so we looked in the UK instead and waited it out.
Good Luck!
I have to agree with the grumbles I hear about the rip-off cost of some Certificates-of-Conformity. Someone in the marque's head office will do a few mouse clicks, choose "print", stick the A4 sheet in an envelope and post it to you - a month later - for 50 to 150€.
Grrrrrrr!
Fiona, as Mark says, you cannot have a car registered in UK logbook to a French address - just look at the government website and that will be immediately clear. Katie seems to have said it all, which was my OH's old car's case to a tee except that it already had a COC because of its Swiss origins and no €1800 emission bill (thank goodness).