If you have SORN your car in the uk, presumably your main residence is in France.
Why don’t you just resister the car in France? This is easy to do, I used Carte Grise Café in Caen. They do the leg work and it’s not expensive.
You will need to get a CE cert from the manufacturer. Just give them you VIN. Mine took 3 days to get.
Swapping the reversing light and rear fog may not be easy. I have a Duster and all I did was dismantle the rear light clusters, swapped the red and clear lens, cross wired from one side to the other, and reassembled, job done. It took me about 1 hour.
Once registered get the CT, if it fails on the rear lights you have 2 months to correct the problem, and in France you can drive the vehicle normally during that time. CT is valid 2 years here.
Hope this helps.
You will of coarse need insurance. I use CA Britline.
I don’t think this is compulsory.
I don’t know if you’ve already seen my post about Joe’s website 201recovery. His details are on there.
Thank you. Yes, I spotted that and have sent him an email.
If by CE cert you are referring to an EU certificate of conformity, it is not a compulsory requirement & is only needed if the complete TVV codes are not already on the original registration document. In fact submitting one for RHD vehicles can result in ANTS demanding an RTI certificate from DREAL.
This can be galling if one has just paid up to 350€ for a COC!
I got close to needing a DREAL inspection as detailed here The fun of importing UK 2nd Hand Car to France post Brexit
If a right hand drive vehicle is registered in France it is is compulsory since Brexit.
My first CT was done when still in Europe and the CT center said don’t worry about it, but when I had the last one in July 2021 it was a fail and I was told the lights need to be changed. They do however accept corrective stickers on the head lights.
My cert of con from Renault cost nothing. They were very helpful.
Peugeot/Citroen are 220€, Fiat 350€, Hyundai & Kia free, etc.
COCs for UK cars tend to have the phrase “can be permanently registered in Member States having left hand traffic and using imperial units for the speedometer and imperial units for the odometer” Which in turn often triggers this response from ANTS - “merci de nous retourner un PV de RTI (Procès Verbal de Réception à Titre Isole). En effet, le COC est destiné à l immatriculation pour les pays dont la conduite est à gauche et qui utilisent les unités métriques et impériales: ce qui n’est pas le cas de la France. Cordialement.”
Newer cars (post 2010) tend to have the TVV information on the V5c already.
@Dubber
You were very fortunate, friends of ours who re-reg their car here for just the 12 months had to have their lights changed and it cost them €1800. The insurance companies (they tried several) all demanded the car should be able to meet French CT standards (discussed in other SF thread) and four test centers rejected stick on patches as acceptable light conversions. These lights now for sale…see SF for sale and wants…but with no takers nor from other numerous other ads 
…so an expensive experience.
Luckily my Audi A6 estate (still for sale) has switchable ones 
It was a comment on the CT I had recently but not a fail - my car failed due to mismatched tyres on same axle which have since been replaced. I am taking it back for retest this week - I will report back with the result.
You were very lucky not to have DVLA clamp it. They run detection vehicles with 4 way ANPR cameras and don’t miss much.
The drive to an MOT exemption really only applies for a reasonable distance from where the vehicle is kept, personally I’d pre book an MOT within 20 miles of the port and get a confirmation, also carry the phone number of the garage just in case, avoid one thet requires driving on major routes to avoid ANPR, just to save yourself extra bother, then make for the nearest post office brandishing your MOT and tax it pronto
You can do it online as soon as you have the MOT pass.
The regulations for a CT allow for stick on adjusters on the headlights.
Hello everyone,this has nothing to do with returning a car to the UK,but with my driving licence. Excuse me please for jumping on board, I’m hoping someone will be able to help me. Could someone tell me how long it takes between applying with ANTS to change a UK licence for a French one? Thankyou in advance
A friend started in August last year. It is still pending.
@penny
why not post on one of the threads about Licenses… try this one and you’ll find a useful Group link, who might be able to help
Can you tax without an MoT?
BTW that was a reply to Larkswood who suggested taxing before getting on the ferry