Not sure of the laws concerning driving someone’s vehicle, but getting back to the CT, I have a friend that drives around Europe in a camper that would not get a CT in France but flies thought an MOT in the UK. He is (or was before Brexit, not sure now though) legally able to drive in Europe as the vehicle is legal in the country in which it’s registered. So, I’d say, if your vehicle isn’t legal in France it’s not legal anywhere in Europe.
Ring the insurance company see what they say.
How so? My car insurance provides cover for people I wish to lend my car to as long as they have had a driving licence for over 2 years. Doesn’t mention that must be a French resident, a length of time, or that this must only be in France?
Yes the driving licence must be legal, so an American permit is only valid for a year in Europe, but I guess if one goes out and then back in to europe the clock restarts?
Is there smaller print below the small print?
Why would it not get a CT in France?
Hello, just saw this discussion, sorry to come in on it so late. It caught my attention because we have not been able to travel to France since March 2020, being Americans. Our house and car (parked in house’s garage) close to Cognac have been vacant and unused since that time. We can pay taxes/insurance/utilities etc online from 6,000 miles away BUT we can’t do a CT from here. The CT was due in July 2020. All the car keys are here with us, since we had no idea this situation would last this long. Still no idea when we will be able to enter France, since there is no box on the “attestation” that we can check that would allow us in (and clearly property ownership grants you no privileges). I’m guessing that when we are allowed to return the car will not start, and although we have paid the exorbitant auto insurance (for a car we can’t drive) the carte grise is probably sitting in our mailbox at the house. What kind of administrative nightmare are we in for (as regards the car) when we arrive? Any advice would be appreciated!
Hi Kim
This is my understanding of things… but I’m sure others will chime in with more ideas
The car is sitting in your garage, so the lack of CT is no problem at the moment… but you must keep it insured (at least minimum cover.)
Not sure I understand this bit of your post about the Carte Grise… but you won’t be able to drive the car if you don’t have that document.
However, whether or not the car starts and is able to be driven… is something you will discover when you turn the key… 
and (hopefully) it will only need the battery recharging/changing…
If it needs servicing, you will need it to be collected/delivered back… as you should not take the car on the public roads without CT… (servicing is probably a good idea before the CT anyway… but it’s up to you.)
However, as far as CT itself goes… (you’ll need the Carte Grise of course)
You can contact the CT centre and arrange a test, when you finally get back to France .
Once you have the appointment, you will be able to drive the car straight to the Test Centre… but nowhere else… until the Test is safely over and done with.
(I did this once, clutching the appointment confirmation, in case of roadside checks by the gendarmes. 
)
Hello, Stella - Thanks so much for your reply. I apologize for being unclear about the carte grise issue - I was referring to the comment in the thread that said insurance could be cancelled if the CT was not done timely. It occurred to me that we had no way of knowing if our insurance company had sent the new carte grise (January 2021) since we aren’t there to get the mail. I’m assuming that they know or can ascertain whether or not we did the CT last July- the facility that does a CT probably informs the insurance company when it’s done?
So we could possibly arrive back in France to a car that won’t start, isn’t legal to drive, and possibly doesn’t have insurance even though we paid it? I’ll contact the insurance company and see if they’ve sent the carte grise to the house, or if they are withholding it until they have proof of a CT. We haven’t done a CT on the car yet, last July was to be the first time since we purchased it. I’m concerned we will face some horrendous fine or suspension of driving privileges because this was not done. It could be several more months until we’re allowed in, and at that point the CT will be out of date a year.
Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated. I’m sure we’re not the only ones with this kind of issue. 
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I don’t think you mean the carte grise, but the carte vert - the little green square you put on your windscreen?
Do you have a friend locally who you could send keys to and who could take car to CT centre? Or supervise garage coming to get it?
If you have a confirmed appointment you can normally take a car to the CT centre as Stella says - but after a year…
your car will stay insured without a CT , if in doubt contact your insurance company.I would drop the cover to the minimum whilst you aren’t in france.
You won’t be fined for no CT while the car is in your garage.What do car restorers do when projects take years to complete.
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I’m confused.
You received your carte gris when you bought the car and that is the only one you have. Your insurance company will have requested sight of it when you first insured the car, nothing more.
As Stella has said, as long as the car is currently insured which is a legal requirement whether driven or parked then you have nothing to worry about.
It sounds like you have the car safely locked up in your garage so your only issue will be to wake it from its slumber when you are eventually allowed to enter France again.
Too late now but perhaps a key holder for car, and house?, would have been a good idea.
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I have been in the situation where CT testing was impossible… for a few years… due to car not being road worthy.
I actually mentioned this to my local Tester when there about another vehicle… and he assured me that there was no problem.
and I’m relieved to note that the CG is not “missing in action”… but the insurance renewal bit might well be very damp, hiding in the letter box…
Hello, John, my error. It’s been a year and I can’t recall what the tiny square of paper that you insert into the sleeve on the windshield that the insurance company provides each year is called. I’ll contact them and call it a “ticket”, I’ll see what they say. It’s been difficult communicating with them via email for the last year. I haven’t received answers or even responses on occasion.
We did have a key holder at the beginning but she was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer and couldn’t continue; the next one we had also wonderful but she was working full time with a daughter and a second child on the way and she didn’t have the time anymore. Small village, many lovely older neighbors without Internet or email. We were looking for someone to take it on last late Feb/early March but COVID disrupted our search and we had to leave. But you’re right, we need to find someone.
We’ll just have to rent a car until we can get ours started and checked. And perhaps buy a scythe to cut down the weeds so we can get to the car 
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It’s the vignette d’assurance auto , and is green.
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We have Americans who visit their HHome every year (apart from 2020 of course).
They lease a car for the whole summer and find this works well … collect it at the airport and bomb on down south… then leave it back at the airport on their last day…
They change their choice of car according to how many members of their family will be descending on them during any particular holiday…
You might find that is something to consider at some stage in the future.
Thank you!
Thank you, Stella. We used to do that every year before we purchased the house. We only came once a year for a few weeks and leasing a car worked well. But now with the house we go more often and it is more practical to have our own car. If COVID continues to disrupt travel, we’ll see, we may have to revisit our plans.
Ah… makes sense if you are a frequent visitor…
Sadly, our American friends can’t get over for more than a few months each year… they really miss their lovely holiday home… and we certainly miss them.
Just a point on the insurance while inactive Kim, I have had a car like that in my garden for a year and do not intend to drive it again (was going to sell it till C-19 got in the way) and after receiving a ridiculous quote from my insurer got one from another at a fraction of it at €90 pa.
Perhaps the way to go and, as the law has changed fairly recently, changing half way through a contract is sometimes possible and easier.
Thanks, David - I didn’t know the law had changed on that. Not being able to cancel an insurance contract at any point and switch to another company is another difference between the U.S. and France. And unfortunately, trying to find another insurer for the car from 6000 miles and 9 time zones away is not easy or my idea of a good time. We had to renew our policy in January and it was an insane amount. I still have not received any correspondence back from the insurance company. Typically if they are being difficult, we go there in person and I have a little heart to heart with them in French while my husband sits there and looks mean, which produces better customer service for about 3 months. We’ve been gone almost a year now and they are completely ignoring me.
On the bright side, all of the demands of in person negotiating for renovation work or insurance or whatever keeps my French in good shape. My husband and I miss our house, our neighbors (French and various other) and our French life very very much and it is painful not to be able to visit. Never thought property owners would have no right to enter France. Never mind me, I’m just winging (whinging?) such a fun British expression.
Thanks for the info. Any other tips, feel free to share.
If you are struggling with your insurance people have a word with @fabien he is amazing, very knowledgeable with English speaking staff.
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It is indeed, we often call it the “carte verte” just to confuse Americans (joking of course)… like we call the beige certificate of ownership the carte grise as it’s France and it wouldn’t be fun is everything made sense