In the UK a UK resident cannot drive a foreign registered car as my local (3 counties) roads policing unit twitter feed shows several stops of these every week.
So does the apply to a French resident driving a UK car?
Yes
To reply to your question. You can book your car into a French MOT testing station when you get to France. You should Insure with a French Insurer and we have AXA - who incidentally didnāt need our UK registered and MOTād car to be registered in France before insuring the car and trailer. We have since put it through CT and waiting for re registration.
A UK resident can drive a Foreign registered car on their British driving license. Car hire companies only supply foreign registered cars for hire.
I assume we are talking about a UK resident driving in the UK.
I donāt understand your last point - I have never been offered a foreign registered car when hiring a vehicle in the UK.
And your first point is just plain wrong.
There is a 6 month exemption period which applies in limited cases but generally requires the importer to not be normally resident in the UK and I think there are exemptions for company owned vehicles and hire cars which were hired abroad but thatās it.
we were trying to use an agent to deal with insurance etc, but we seem to be going round in circles. We think we will drive the car to Calais and get CT done. Then guess we have all the correct papers to complete the registration and insurance. Or am I wrong.
You havenāt actually said what papers you do have so hard to tell! 
Have you got the carte gris, and has the person that sold it to you done the necessary to give you a code to be able to re-register the car? They may be a lovely couple, but if they havenāt done the paperwork right it could be problematic.
It could be worth using the details on the carte gris to check the car status, here
https://histovec.interieur.gouv.fr/histovec/search
And have you tried to set up an account with ANTS to be able to re-register? I am no expert but if you are non-resident this could be another stumbling block.
Not to state the obvious but do make sure it is correctly insured before you drive it anywhere.
When you get to the stage of insuring it in France, the insurers normally ask for the date of the purchase, and if youāre taking out insurance to start after that date they may ask to see proof that itās been insured since the day you bought it. Under French law, a vehicle must be insured continuously even if itās not in use. That is another little French quirk, for you to keep in mind. So registering it first, and looking to start the insurance when it has already been registered in your name for a few days, if it hasnāt been insured during those few days, could be an issue.
This was the question Billy? it wasnāt about driving in the UKā¦ it was a question about getting insurance for a french registered car which is going to be left in France. Hence my answerā¦
This was the question Billy? it wasnāt about driving in the UKā¦ it was a question about getting insurance for a french registered car which is going to be left in France. Hence my answerā¦ Nothing there about driving a french car in the UK.
Car hire is not the same situation at all. Very different position when one owns the car.
Presumably this UK reg car was in your name? So again not the same as someone seeking insurance for a French reg car that is not in their name. It can easily be done with the right paperwork of course. We have just done it ourselves, insurance was just a phone call, but had to prove our status to get a new carte gris.
Right, OK, sorry - your reference to āUK residentā confused me because if you arrive in France with the intent of staying permanently I think you are technically French resident as soon as you touch French soil although people fudge the issue with the 90 day Shengen āgraceā.
Absolutely.
What a complicated world we now live inā¦did the Brexit numbskulks really comprehend, I think not!
We have a car we bought with us in mid 2019, re reg it as required to insure it hereā¦donāt know how people run around on uk plates for years, they just need an accident to be āU S C W A Paddleā
Early next year I want to take to back to UK for a friend to sell so will then buy a LHD car in France. Its a 5yr old RHD Audi A6 Avant and I donāt think Iāll find a (Brit) buyer who want to buy it here so will have to take it back.
So what taxes, if any, will I have to pay to re- import it to Uk, bearing in mind VAT was paid when I brought it in 2017.
Nice car
Love Audis. Before we became tax res in Franc we had an Audi A6 Quattro estate, which was brilliant for bringing loads of stuff down from the UK every summer (including an entire 5 piece bathroom suite). However, once down here f/t, our needs changed - 4x4 remained good, but larger wheels (for going off the highway for oncoming vehicles), higher ground clearance and being able to see over hedges became more important. Also the amount one needed to get in the back decreased. Rightly or wrongly, I think Audi SUVs look a bit out of place in the countryside. Weāre currently switching from a BM X3 to a BM 1 Xdrive and Iām hoping it wonāt be too unSUVish for our needs.
I think my ideal car would be a small electric 4x4 SUV with a range of 500+ kms and a German quality interior in leather (but my soft S African OH would also insist on heated seats).
Suspect when, this combo arrives at an affordable price itāll be Chineseā¦
Heated seats are wonderful, when itās freezing outsideā¦
1 Like
Youād be really surprised! Worth advertising at least to sav the hassle and expense of returning it to the UK>
@Mat_Davies ā¦A6 S line Quatro Avant 180 bhp 2Lt diesel 52,000 miles reg Oct 2016, in Monza Redā¦could be yours Sir for ā¬21, 500 anytime after 01.01 2022!
If only I could afford it!
I had an A6 Avant as a courtesy car for a weekend when my TT was in for repair at the dealership - it was huge and nice to drive.