Buying and registering a car

I am about to purchase a secondhand car with 18 month CT and wonder what difficulties I may have in re-registering it and getting it insured.

Nothing to worry about in either case, it's all very simple ;-)

You should have no difficulty at all. Have recently purchased a 2011 vehicle, no CT of course, but once registered at the Sous-Prefecture the Carte Grise came by recorded delivery within a week.