Mark. I just (mid Sept.) bought a ‘demonstrator’ Citroen from Cazes. The car was just what we wanted; good trade-in on 2 cars, so we went ahead. When we picked up car few days later, it was on ‘WW’ plates. It had never once been mentioned that the car had actually been a demonstrator IN AUSTRIA. Hence we were told that it had to have WW plates until new F…plate ready.
Do work vehicles cost more than cars to register?
no, all fixed on fiscal power
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Only asking because they are really pricey second hand even more then normal cars are In France
The UK does not leave the single market until 31st December 2020.
OK, If you want to play semantics -
The UK continues to participate in the single market (and thus the Four Freedoms) and customs union until the end of the transition period in December 2020 but to all intents and purposes has left 
Veronique,
It isn’t just crooks. There are a lot of people who “think” they are doing the right thing but just don’t understand the law in the UK and in France works – whether that be car registration, taxation, wills/inheritance, whatever….
Using a SORNed car over here on UK plates can end up with the registered keeper prosecuted in the UK and France. One of many things that could end up being an obstacle to getting a post-Brexit CdS.
Grahame Pigney
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Grahame it seems the law is perfectly clear about the obligation to import your car, if it is foreign and you live here. From my experience of interpreting for the powers that be, I think plenty of Britanniques just don’t accept that the rules apply to them, more than make honest mistakes, at any rate. I think they just think they are not going to get caught or that by the time they do it will be worth it, because they will have saved X amount.
At the risk of being tediously repetitive, may I stress it is not my circus and not my monkeys because I’m just a French person with a French job, driving a French car, paying her French taxes etc etc etc. I am in no way directly concerned unless one of these dodgy uninsured cars bashes into mine.
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Veronigue,
As a Brit and knowing plenty of Brits I would disagree that all Brits that ignore the rules are crooks and are ignoring the rules deliberately. The rules in France are difficult to understand for many of the French I know, and the French I know are equally likely to ignore the rules as they apply in France. Uninsured, unCTed cars are just as likely to have French owners as.
I understand what you are saying about your circus and your monkeys, but that is because I’ve lived in France for 20 plus years, the phrases don’t translate directly into English.
Grahame Pigney
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Only 99.99% of them. 
There is no excuse as the rules are very clear, I regularly see two Brit reg’d cars in our local supermarket who think that by putting the Department number on the plate they’ve complied with the law, priceless.
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It is a Polish expression, actually, which has passed into contemporary English.
That is the whole point of idioms, they don’t translate directly, which is why one might use them,translated, with humorous intent.
I first heard it in the UK from an English person who is probably quite a lot younger than you are.
In French we would just say “ce n’est pas mon problème /mes oignons/Je m’en tape/j’en ai rien à battre/je m’en tamponne le coquillard” etc. So no circus, no monkeys, alas.
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Timothy,
So you are saying that of the 400,00 UK citizens living in France some 399,960 are crooks.
That only leaves 40 UK citizens resident in France who are not crooks, statistically that means that you are saying that only one person in each of your and my households is not a crook.
Gobsmacking is the only word I can find as a comment on your assessment of your fellow citizens.
Grahame Pigney
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Mmm… seems clear to me that Tim is talking about 99.99% of the Brits who ignore the rules… and he did wink as he said it… which makes it a tongue-in-cheek comment…
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Thanks Stella, spot on as usual.
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How come the uk newer switched to the Europen style of plates with the font and the stars with the country letter
Because that would be, well, too European, and while we’re on that one… why on earth don’t all the European countries change to nice British style plates…! 
and isn’t it about time that they (continentals!) started driving on the left too…?! 
Registering your trailer is not worth pulling your hair out! Here is what I did:
I went to the tax office and declared my trailer and my tractor as moving goods and they did not want any more tax from me, because the horsetrailer and tractor were in my posession for more than 1 year. But I also took the original invoices for the trailer and the tractor as well as the COC with me.
Then you talk to your insurance company for insuring the trailer and they will provide you with an insurance ticket, which you take to CG office.
In Caen there is a place called the Carte Grise Cafe and they did the paperwork for me.
So no reason to became a wick wearer!
Trouble is many english & probably others tend to pick & choose what they want to believe when it comes to french rules & will interpret the blindingly obvious to suit themselves.
A case in point is the requirement to provide proof of domicile for certain processes & the provision of an EDF bill, for example, is all that is required.
The issue here is that the EDF bill is confirming the location of your domicile but if you are meant to show where your domicile is but you live (are domiciled) in the UK then to submit the bill as proof would be incorrect. Some try to claim that you are providing evidence of your domicile in France, thereby showing a complete lack of understanding the meaning of the word.
Some, in an attempt to justify the fraud, will quote text from all kinds of legal dictionaries but at the end of the day it is what the french authorities mean that matters & they refer to you being fiscally resident.
This is why newcomers who are not yet fiscally resident (registered income tax payers) or in the french health or social security systems, cannot complete vehicle registrations using the ANTS system - it is not open to non-doms such as those with holiday homes. The website notaires.fr has this -
Comment le domicile fiscal est-il définit en France ?
L’article 4 B du Code général des impôts définit la notion de domicile. Il énonce qu’une personne est considérée comme ayant son domicile fiscal en France en fonction de trois critères alternatifs :
- Si elle a en France son foyer ou son lieu de séjour principal ;
- Si elle exerce en France une activité professionnelle, salariée ou non, à moins qu’elle ne justifie que cette activité y est exercée à titre accessoire ;
- Si elle a en France le centre de ses intérêts économiques.
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That is a definition of fiscal residence not ordinary residence. You can be ordinarily resident in France but not fiscally resident & vice versa. The two terms are separate & unconnected. It’s not necessary to be fiscally resident in France to register a vehicle.