Buying a Van in France

Cars / Motoring / Insurance
21

My car was CT’d post 01/01/21. Headlights were not a problem. Neither was the fog lamp/reversing light being on the UK/RHD sides of the car.

If necc - and I did buy LHD h/lamps for the Movano, tho’ never fitted them. £120 in p n p the pair from a German supplier. If you want original Bosch glass ones … £365 each! :scream: - changing them on a Trafic/Vivaro should take <10 mins per side, as per 2 YT vids doing it showed.

CoC was not required because the entry on the V5 at D2 [I have mentioned this before] is the EU type /conformity code. UK cars have had this entry on V5s going back years. As you see, my 2007 Pug had it. Mark Rimmer tipped me off that UK commercial vehicles started with D2 type codes circa 2010, so I just have to make sure I get one younger than that to avoid the CoC schtick.

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I’ve given up looking at FR s/h vehicle sales pages. The only ads that get anywhere near the detail of a UK ad - even the private sales - are the Dutch/Belgian/Danish. I’m not schlepping there for a van when I know I have an immense choice of well-described vans in UK at £ks cheaper than this side of the Channel and at far lower mileages.

The feature of FR private ads and many commercial ads is the pathetic dearth of photos and description. Some private ads have just one photo and very little detail of the vehicle. Most private sellers will not respond to any comms except the phone.

Jeepers! You can get 4 really clean Trafic/Vivaros for that in UK! Check these out. There are tons like this

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155624387005

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/374615719035

Bear in mind that these egs are in my budget range of <£4k and that 150k miles or more is no sweat for these vehicles. My Movano [a Renault Master with a Vauxhall badge] had done 180k miles when I bought it and it continued to run like a train for thousands more.

By adding £2k/3k you will get even better - i.e. lower miles. Very important if you are going to keep it in FR, esp if you carry animals - air con. Must have. This is where the extensive photos on UK ads is so valuable.

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This is a detail of a phot of the cab. Note the two buttons on the dash above the gear knob. Two buttons = air con. One button = no air con. Later models have a different layout of controls which might need a question to the seller if no mention in the ad.

Bear in mind that you will problaby want to remove the bulkhead, tho’ not till you have finished using it to do removals. Most vans have been ply lined. If it’s scruffy, use the original panels as templates to instal new.

If you buy a crew-cab, it will have side windows - good. There will be another row of seats which you will want to remove. Some factory original crew-cabs have a bulhead behind those seats. Out with the angle grinder …

If you get one with no side windows these are +/- £350 a pair in UK and easy to fit. Plenty of YT vids show how. In short you cut a hole in the side panel smaller than the glass pane, seal the cut edges, blat the supplied mastic round the hole and plonk the window in pos. Hold … and relax.

No Marmite, Jaffa Cakes, Horlicks, UK TV then :grinning:

One thing I like about RHD is having that much more visibilty to spot the dreaded ‘priority on the right’ merchant, steaming out of some piffling side road without the merest glance to his left.

Touching on the legal side - it is true that reg as resident in FR you cannot drive a UK reg vehicle and v.v. To be safe, buy a van in UK, do all your biz with it, and reg it to FR plates once all is settled.

You can get it onto FR insurance in the meantime, despite it being on UK plates. Consult @fabien. You have then 90 days to get it CT’d, as far as ins goes.

Vamos!

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22

I second JohnBoy,
Early in the year, I sold a car and bought another, the garage did the carte grise on ANTS for me, IIRC received the new CG 3-4 days later.

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23

Fair enough… :+1: :+1: :+1:

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That’s my experience too. Very quick turnaround on a new car a few weeks ago.

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Correct, although specialised brokers like me have often negotiated a tolerance on the theoretical limit of 90 days. It’s usually more like up until the renewal date of the policy (so 1 year) but don’t tell anyone about that as you’re supposed to have it imported way earlier than that :wink:

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26

Fabien, my dear old stick, we do not expect the supremely difficult from you and your team - we expect *miracles! : :rofl:

27

Skim read this post, so apologise if I am repeating anything. Don’t forget that the vehicle needs to be imported as part of your move and listed as one of your possessions . I seem to remember you need to prove ownership for some period prior to importing it, otherwise , if it is a new purchase, it is subject to TVA and import duties based upon it’s French equivalent value.
Legally, as a second home owner, you cannot register a vehicle in France. Lots of people do it because the system of registration is based on a degree of trust. You are required to legally declare that you are a French resident and proof is often done via utility bills. So second home owners who French register vehicles for their second homes have to fraudulently declare their second home is their primary home ( so could be caught out as they should be completing an annual tax return !) So a bit of forward planning , could save you the 32% TVA and import duty on a UK van. Then only apply for French registration once you have made your move to France

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28

Actually, we’ve posted the info elsewhere on the forum… a while ago.

Either last year or beginning of this…
The Question was officially raised “high-up” the French chain of command… and the reply was clear…
Non-Residents who own a 2nd Home in France can French-register the Vehicle against their French Address and then leave it here in France for holiday use.

It’s the Vehicle which is “Domiciled” at the 2nd Home Address… and not the Non-Resident 2nd Home Owner…

(this applies to all foreign 2nd home owners, not just Brits, of course.)

The vehicle must have current CT and current Insurance… or not legal on the roads (as per normal…) and even a “stored” vehicle must be insured… :wink:

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29

Hi,

Leboncoin is best place to search.

We’ll soon be selling our top spec Peugeot Expert 2017 van.
It’s a beautiful red colour automatic panel van with 3 seats in the front, 2 electric sliding side doors & a tail gate.
We bought it in the UK so it’s RHD and reregistered it so it’s now french registered (pre Brexit).
So if you decide to move back to the UK it can be imported back to the UK without paying taxes.

PM if you are interested.

Richard

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30

A tip on Le Bon Coin - you can search for professional sales in your area, rather than all sales. That way you can find a local garage that has interesting vehicles on sale at the moment, and check its reputation before heading there. They can handle all the paperwork and it’s a lot less hassle than a private sale, plus if you are lucky you’ll find one that gives you a 6 month or one year guarantee and will deliver freshly reconditioned with the controle technique already done for the next 2 years.

Do check the reputation - one local garage that looked attractive at first sight turned out to have an odd mix of five star and one star reviews on Google and some very worrying comments in the reviews. I thought I had better give it a miss!

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31

I’ve managed to get the hang of the LeBonCoin search facility, it’s not bad to be honest but as someone else pointed the site is very poor, lacking in photos, detailed vehicle description etc in comparison to say AutoTrader in the UK.

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Le Bon Coin is not for the fainthearted or impatient.

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33

You’re absolutely right about the shortcomings of Le Bon Coin. French estate agents are much the same. There seems to be a fear of giving out any paperwork. However, if a garage has two or three vehicles I’ve found they will usually give you more details if you ask.

The other thing I use LBC for is free stuff. I have acquired some really nice furniture that people needed to get rid of when they were moving. But you do need a bit of patience.

(Come to think of it, I also picked up my chabrette and my bassoon on LBC. But that was a bit of luck.)

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34

Absolute bollocks. The owner has to be domiciled in France, not the vehicle, in order to register it in France, so you can’t do it beforehand becoming resident here. This doesn’t preclude the insurance, CT requirements and, depending on the vehicle, it may need to go through DREAL.

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I think you’re the one spouting bollocks @Seedmart

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There is really no need to swear, nor to express your disagreement so forcefully. The site tries to maintain dialogue in the manner of polite dinner party conversation, not a punch-up outside a Wetherspoon pub.

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37

Not that one knows what one of those might be…

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Indeed. I’ve heard stories about them but have no desire to enter one!

39

Snobs the lot of you!

What a fantastic achievement. :grinning:

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40

I just refuse to give that man a penny of my money, nothing to do with snobbery.