The thing is compared to paying road tax every year for your car, a one-off fee of 150 odd euros to enable you to bring your already cheap import into France is, surely, insignificant considering how important your mobility is? You can't have it all ways, after all! I do think it is an expensive bit of paper but many things for cars are outragously priced. A clutch master cylinder for my Volvo is 150 euros & it is two bits of moulded plastic, two bolts & a little rubber cup. Without it, though, the car is very difficult to drive!
Let's face it, if you are struggling to find 150 euros in order to have a car then you really need to adjust your priorities! Or walk.
It depends on who you get on the desk! Usually, it is not necessary if the V5C is already in your name but if you have just bought the car & the logbook is still in the previous owners name the French authorities would usually expect to see this form even though it is not a requirement in the seller's country. You can fill this in yourself & then send it to the previous owner to sign (although I usually sign on his behalf!).
A certificate of conformity can be had from the manufacturer or the importer here, usually for a fee, or if you are lucky some UK dealers will supply free of charge, but not many! There is a website with the interesting name of EuroCoc.eu who will also provide this service.
The French Government website gives this information:-
RE Cert of Conformity- we got one free of charge-from VW I think the first ones free- just check -to sure to be sure. have a wee beer on me if you succeed....
Can't help with the new DRIRE etc address, but a bit of info for others. The charge for a certificate of conformity varies between manufacturers. There was no charge for our S/H Honda when we brought it over in 2009, and no charge by Citroen when we bought a new car in UK last April. So if you know you're bringing it to France check the likely charge at the time of purchase.
Despite what some may say a C of C is still a French requirement. I help people register their cars all the time as a garagiste & as yet have had no rejections! It is trouble free but it is worth paying the necessary for the right document as things will go smoothly!
This is what you need.
1)UK log book V5C or Export Certificate* .
2)European Certificate of Conformity
3)Controle Technique (if car is over 4 years old)
4)Quitas Fiscal â certificate showing that there is no import duty to be paid.
Yes. Re registered a UK registered Fiat monospace three years ago. Got the "attestation d'homologation " COC from Fiat France took a couple of days and cost around 100 euros. I don't think DREAL will be terribly interested in a standard type Nissan but will want you to go through the manufacturer's homologation department.
I have just bought a UK registered Nissan over here in France and now need to get a certificate of conformity.
Nissan UK would charge me ÂŁ111. I have read in the post above by Greg that DRIRE will do it for âŹ67 or so but the links are no longer valid as since 2010 it has become DREAL/DRIEE/DEAL and everything has changed.
Has anyone any experience of obtaining a certificate of conformity in the last few years ?
Ok, follow-up⊠I havenât spoken to my friends, but a quick Google turned up this - I think this is probably the government body concerned: http://www.drire.gouv.fr/
Certificate of Conformity you can get from the government for a fraction of that cost. I canât remember the departmentâs name (annoyingly, but I can ask our friends who found out about it). They have an office in Montpellier, and will surely have other offices all over the country - my guess would be one per region, since Montpellier seems to serve all of Langeudoc-Roussillon. It was just a case of filling in the form and paying something like a 30⏠admin fee for his '98 MG-F. Similarly, our classic Fiat - Fiat France were going to charge us something like 150⏠for a certificate, until we found out the FFVE will issue one for a 30⏠admin fee too! (That was thanks to a Survive France user, who told us that one.)
In short, the car companies will do it, but you donât have to get it from them - they wonât tell you otherwise and they will rip you off with an exorbitant admin fee. Donât give BMW a bloody cent!
The lights, all you need to do is get a CT prior to registering - if youâve found a garage whoâll pass it with stickers, great. Sod BMW, get your Certificate from the French government and get your CT done with the stickers. Frankly, I think the needing the certificate for a CT is nonsense too. We were told that by the garage we first took our Fiat to, but we went to the garage our friends use and he tested it without blinking. No certificate required. They seem to make it up as they go along. A bit more shopping around and youâll probably find a garage who donât want a Certificate and will pass it with stickers on the lights. Our friends in NĂźmes did, so it does happen. =)
Let me try to find out the name of that department for you for the certificates. I think Iâve got a form somewhereâŠ
Ok I was too hopeful⊠We need a certificate of conformity for our carâŠBMW want 170 euros to do the paperwork & they insist that we go to a BMW dealership to confirm it is in KM & get the lights changed over to European dip lights (1700 euros plus labour).
The annoying thing is the car is LHD & was originally built & registered in Germany so at some point the lights must have met european regsâŠ
We need the Certificate of Conformity for the Controle Technique & whilst weâve been advised now by a local garage that the car can pass its CT with stickers onâŠbut thats no good if BMW wonât issue a Certificate of Conformity with the stickers on!
I think weâre going to have to put our hands in our pockets unless we can get hold of a second hand set of BMW Xenons headlights for a 2002 540i. Anyone know what the french is for scrapyard?
Having moved here in DrĂŽme last September the re-registrations of our two cars and three motorbikes were all done by post. The necessary forms were obtained at the Mairie who, when they were completed, sent them off to the Prefecture. A couple of weeks later we got a temporary registration document from the Prefecture followed only a few days later by the Carte Grise from the central registration office in (I think) Charleville-MeziĂšre.
Documents required were as detailed by Greg Harvey in his initial post, but for a postal application photocopies of passport and EDF bill were accepted. Only problem, not the registration system, was as alluded to by Greg â for the two older bikes (1992 and 1979) no Certificate of Conformity was available from BMW(GB) before we left UK so we had to apply to BMW(France) for a substitute. For this they required, in addition to various info about tire size and other ephemera as well as engine and frame number, a statement from the local dealer that a right-hand dip headlight was fitted and that the speedo recorded KPH. For the 1992 bike no trouble (both MPH and KPH) but the 1979 bike speedo recorded in MPH only. With no success sourcing a second-hand speedo locally I paid up for a new one. Still, we got there in the end! Oh, for info no CT is required for motorbikes.
In all this I got a good English-speaking contact at BMW (France) Service Technique & Homologation section (covers cars as well?) if anyone needs it.
One of our neighbours went to the prefecture in Beziers (Languedoc R) and waited 1 hour (whilst she grabbed a coffee & croissant) then was told it was all ok & now in progress. 5 days later Carte Grise was delivered to La Poste at our Mairie for her to collect.
It must vary from region to region. My wife actually did (unbeknownst to me) call the Prefecture here in Gard in an effort to avoid going down there. She was told there were certain things that you could do by post - but not even - that you could do at the local Mairie and they could post (which is far less hassle than going to Nimes, but still not direct by post). One of those things was renewing a carte grise due to a change of address, but she was told to register a vehicle in France for the first time she simply must go and queue.
So I guess itâs a case of find out what your Prefecture permits, since it seems they are all different. In Gard they make you go and stand in line. =(
I see - just a covering letter saying what your intention is, etc.
I just checked the website of our prefecture, nothing obvious. I Googled a search instead, putting in their site, and got back a load of forms which looked promising, but when I went to download one of the Carte Grise forms I just got a load of error messages and no form. Our prefecture donât even answer the phone, so if you need any assistance, forget it - you just have to go. I guess service varies from region to region, but I donât fancy our chances with Gard, to be honest.
Iâll get my wife to check the site too, as she went to French school whereas my French is still a bit rubbish. Maybe sheâll unearth something better.
Thanks for the tip anyway! Certainly worth exploring!
