Yes, when I lived in Turks & Caicos there was a thriving industry in secondhand cars shipped over from Japan - being right-hand drive and mostly in good nick they worked well in the Islands (British Overseas Territory so we drove on the “correct” side of the road).
Most of them were white Toyota Corollas or similar, as that paint colour reflected the sun well and didn’t show the inevitable coating of sandy dust quite so much.
I bought a Toyota Hilux Surf from one such importer - it had a Bob Marley sticker in the back window which I took to be a good omen.
There was no fuss about Certificates of Conformity out there - just pay your 35-55% import duty and 7.5% Customs Fee and off you go.
(Mind you we didn’t pay any income tax so that was how the Government made its money).
That’s really interesting as it always seems to be suggested that importing a non-EU spec car is going to cost you your first-born and a large chunk of your three score and ten.
Ah, I think there is non EU spec and non EU spec cars. Cemrtainly on VAG cars one can request a non-cormity certificate against a vin. This shows what is missing from the EU spec, and whatever is missing and replaced is signed off by DREAL and a France specific certificate is issued. As the Porsche spec is fairly uniform, maybe it is easier. Anyway it works, saved lots of money for a like-new car, what is not to like!
At the point of entry into France you must declare your personal effects to the Douane and that includes your car. However you will be pleased to know that providing the car is yours and it is listed as your personal effect then there is no tax to pay, otherwise it is 10% of the value plus 20% VAT.
The €2200 quoted by porridge seems very high. This is how it is calculated:
Regional tax
Tax for the development of vocational training measures in transport
Tax on polluting vehicles
Fixed tax of €11
Fee for forwarding the registration certificate
On Facebook there is a group called REGISTERING VEHICLES IN FRANCE The expert is Mark Rimmer who has helped many a Brit to get their vehicles registered. If you send him the details including the place where you intend to live. I am sure he will help and give you the current price for registration.
If you love your car don’t sell it unless the cost is outrageously expensive. I imported my Land Rover County 110 (before they were called Defender). I’ve had the Landy from new and this August it will be 39 years old.
Hi yes i did the online check thing with the i formation i needed and it came in at 545 euros which I’m happy to pay that in order to keep my car . I hope my land rover lasts as long as yours !! Thank you for the help
Hi, I bought a LHD car in the the UK, which are less that the equivalent RHD. Bring that over to France and register it here . If you come to sell it there is no problem and you will lose little money because the price of 2nd cars is expensive here, plus as others have said, you will have a top spec car. No road tax and insurance covers any driver over 25.
When we moved (pre Brexit) I seriously considered selling my Skoda in the uk and buying in France
However mine was valued at about £5-6k in the uk and to get a lhd one (with only half the spec of my uk Superb) in France started at £14k
So the uk car crossed the channel - no
Problems whatsoever; customs at La Rochelle passed it almost without looking at it; sailed through the ct and had no issues with ANTS
Now we may have been lucky, and were moving permanently at the same time, but there were none of the horror stories I’d heard about changing lights etc
I know sometimes it’s pain having to lean across when getting a car park ticket but it’s a minor inconvenience
Driving a rhd car in Europe wasn’t an issue since I’d been doing it for decades
Different Dechet places have different arrangements…
Re carparks and péages…
Recently, we’ve sat behind LHD cars here in France… sometimes seen that the LHD driver cannot reach the machine/card thingy… and has to get out to do the necessary… just like I do.
We are all so different in what we choose to do… that’s what makes Life interesting
@Renee-ralph-blanche - this advice from @DrMarkH is extremely to the point.
Having a RHD car makes you stand out as a foreigner and not embracing the French life.
Getting a RHD car serviced can also be difficult unless you have a very good garage that you know well.
I think it’s a personal decision - either works - but having driven LHD cars in a RHD country and of course RHD in LHD, I do prefer to sit on the “correct” side of the car for the country I am driving in!
ETA: a motorcycle is easier as it doesn’t have a “side”.
You just have to adapt your greeting signal to other motorcyclists accordingly - a nod of the head in the UK versus a v-sign to the left in Europe (or a shake of the leg as you overtake).
Motorcyclists are weird.
Apropos of nothing, the UK biker greeting has changed - when I first had a motorbike in the late 70s we always used to raise the left hand as an acknowledgement of another biker - I don’t know when it changed to a nod (which is not always easy to spot).
And no way are we going to do anything other than “stand out” and we’d be deluded to think otherwise. We became known as the locals with the 2 Airedales, who (amazingly) we took for walks rather than kept chained up in the garden, who drove a battered old RHD merc. So we were waved at as we drove by. Any problem? Locals would stop to help. These days, we’re just an anonymity in a LHD black Kadjar - could be anybody.
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lhd one (with only half the spec of my uk Superb) in France started at £14k