Bit of a head scratcher - sold la maison last week - I still have my French registered car- in France. not really sure what to do with it. 6 months remaining on insurance and C.T. - Insurer has said just to advise them when I get somewhere permanent and they are happy to use my apartment in UK for correspondence, temporarily (I would like to haul it back and perhaps re-register it ) - I am more concerned about the legality of using it for a few weeks whilst in a guest house though - officially a non-resident ? Barry
Personally I wouldn’t give it a thought. You’re all street legal IMO.
Hi Barry and welcome to the forum.
Your post is a little unclear (to me at least)… are you in the throes of moving back to UK permanently or in the throes of finding another home in France?
You have a car registered in France and are currently living in a French Guest House… having recently sold your French property … and that does NOT suddenly turn you into a non-Resident.
You talk of “a few weeks”… a few weeks until what ???
Your car is perfectly legal for you to drive here. Although you will need to change the address on the Carte Grise when you finally get a permanent address in France…
If you are moving back to UK … then you would need to rethink the car registration when you get it back there…
I reckon other folk will chime in … but, , on the face of it… I really cannot see any problem.
Hi Stella,
Thanks for the info . My home , for 16 years, was always "maison secondaire " despite paying tax fonciere and tax d`habitation. I still work fulltime in the UK .
I have not yet made a decision on where next to buy and my car insurers have stated to let them know when the new address is found .
So I am now a non tax resident , though I never was -work wise . I am on vacation after the house sale , in a guest house , not residing ,and I am out of there this weekend .
Its just a bit complex to me . as to how much longer I can legally drive my car , and perhaps take it back to the UK, in a week or 2, I would assume there is no grey area , despite my insurers reassurance. I could never have sold it - pre- house sale - no way - in case the sale fell through, and then I would have had no transport and so I hope that there is an official period of grace to allow you to legally drive your car between change of addresses, ?Barry.
Ah… paying Taxe Foncière and Taxe d’Habitation… does not make you a Resident here in France.
Living here and declaring your French property as Residence Principale, declaring your Worldwide Income to the French Authorities… etc etc …all that goes to making you Resident.
sounds more likely you have been “holidaying/visiting” France over the past 16 years…and no reason why not… one of the benefits of being part of the European Union … 
Thus, your situation is unchanged… you are still visiting/holidaying here in France until you go back to UK… and then you can take the car with you…
Best go back before the end of the transition period though… (later in 2020, not this week… 
)
It’s been discussed previously - although many have managed it, it is not actually  legal to register a vehicle in France if you only have a maison secondaire there.
Hi Paul- Well both the house and the vehicules over many years, have been insured by the same established insurer , and the house has always been referenced as “la maison secondaire” for those purposes .
if it wasn’t legal , I don’t think we could have been insured - Brian
No point in worrying about anything at this stage in the game. Enjoy the rest of your holiday and tootle off back to UK with the car… 
The insurer won’t look at the circumstances in detail (the cynic in me would add until it is a way for them to avoid payout).
However, when registering a car in France it has to be at your primary residence (AIUI - as I said it has been discussed a couple of times on SF) and that cannot be a non-French address.
Many people have managed to do it, of course, but that does not make it legal, merely easy to slip through the cracks.
As Stella says, at this stage, it is a can of worms best left unopened.
Paul… should the Gendarmes become involved (spot check, whatever)… they will see that the vehicle is insured and that the person has sold the property marked on the CG and is in the throes of going to UK…
So… I don’t think we can call this a can of worms… let Barry/Brian have a peaceful few weeks/days/whatever… no needless worrying.
However, I would advise ANY driver to take extra care on the roads in the coming weeks… what with bad weather and clamp-down on drink-driver/speedsters etc…
( I count some of the local Gendarmes among my friends… but woe betide me if I transgress… )
Agree totally.
There must be a good few Brits in this particular boat - I wonder if the French authorities would sanction anyone who has registered a car at a maison secondaire, had it regularly CT’d, correctly insured etc - if ever there was a “victimless crime” this would be it.
From what I’ve heard… an uninsured car is a major no-no (even if it never goes on the road)…
almost punishable by Madame Guillotine… 
but there are more urgent areas of concern at the moment… so folk should just behave properly and keep a low profile…
Well, Its insured until march 31 and C.T. until June - my insurers have said no problem to continue driving until a new residency given - B !
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You will need to get it registered in UK… when you get back there… if you buy a property here… mmmm… that is between you and your Insurer…
Take care. Do not confuse a residence with residency they are two different things.
I believe that part of the confusion was that pre ANTS the application process asked for proof of your residence, an address linked to your name. The implication seems to be that under the new online system proof of residency is needed. I can’t check that as I don’t have access to ANTS but I do know that that is the case when applying to exchange a UK driving licence for a French permis.
I’ve also read, a while ago, that contrary to the EU norm the French authorities actually preferred cars left at the second homes of etrangers to be French registered. Perhaps that was because it made it easier to check upon the legality of the vehicle being used.
It’s also worth noting that if you take your French registered car back to Britain that, as a British resident, it will be illegal to drive it at all until you have completed the registration procedure, have the V5 in your name and the U.K. number plates and insurance for the car.
Thanks for info 
I’ve sent you a private message.
cheers