Value of 2nd hand RHD cars in France......should I take it back to the UK?

Cars / Motoring / Insurance
1

I think I am likely to be selling my RHD Fiat Punto team ed. 1998, about >90,000 miles on the clock, two careful female owners (including myself). Has been very reliable (have driven there & back to the UK, from the Dordogne on 3 occasions over the past couple of years, without any problem. Passed it's MOT, had a basic service (oil filters etc),& was fitted with a new cambelt in April, taxed until April 2016....Bodywork a few scratches etc.but no rust problems. Nice, cheerful mid Green Metallic finish and has a sunroof and new Stihl (?) locking roofbars.


Would be a great 1st car for somebody and I may end up offering it to my younger relatives at some point....


It's been a great vehicle...good for carting stuff around in and with the seats down the capacity for this is very good. I'm very fond of it ..(him - reg. starts VGB -> 'very good boy') and would like to keep him as a runabout in the UK...but that looks likely, not to be possible....(although, I haven't given up on that completely)...


I am undecided whether the best option would be to sell it here ... (even though the headlights would need to be changed and it's RHD, it shouldn't have any problem re the cert.of conformity).....I have not found it being a RHD to be a problem at all.....but I have always avoided Paris (which I think would be a 'challenge' too far), when going to & from the UK, even though I am very used to driving all over London....OR to drive it back to the Uk for the last time (which I would quite enjoy)...


I do know that 2nd hand cars hold their value much better in France.....Does that hold for RHD's at all ?


In the UK I have had a quote for around £450 value -wise.....

2

Thanks for this,but have bought a French registered '2 careful owners', cheap but good, RHD from friends of mine who have upgraded....so I won't be needing this (hopefully) for a few years...

It looks as though a family member will be collecting the car and taking it off my hands....

3

We used one of the several LHD car web sites available and got a nearly new LHD car last month. They took our older model RHD as a trade-in and it was more or less same as Glass's guide for vehicle prices. New vehicle delivered to the door here in France and all paperwork attended to. Google "The LHD place" or "LHD-car.com". They are both based in Nottingham, very helpful.

4

If you would be going back to the UK anyway, I would sell it over there as it's not French registered. If you would be making a special trip back, given petrol and ferry costs, I would see what I could get for it over here.

5

Thanks John,

I had 'forgotten' about the necessity for new plates as well as lights....

6

A RHD car with French plates of the age of your car would probably have a similar value here as in the UK. A UK reg car would be worth less as the new owner would have to bear the cost of buying and fitting new lights etc. It’s probably worth advertising it on a few expat web sites and see if you get any interest.