When I buy a second hand car off a bloke in France, usually presumably, like UK, I would fill out my Name and address on the registration form and send it off to French DVLA....
But as a UK resident, would I put or give the seller my UK address? And what would I have to show DVLA Swansea that the car is mine? and to be registered in UK.
Basically, can you tell me what I can expect to be the normal procedure, for buying a used car off Joe Bloggs or Jean Dupont and bringing it home within the same week.
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www.dvla.gov.uk/vehicles/exptimpt.htm
They tell you everything there. I did it from Spain. It isn't hard.
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I'm told you have to avoid someone who goes by the name of J. Chirac..:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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A colleague moved to France last year, and in her experience the dealers are much more trusting.
In her halting French she chose a Megane, but as she did not have the cash in her French account at that point asked the proprietor to reserve it. 'Pas probleme' avec shrugs - you take car, pay when ready!
Upshot is colleage takes car and imediately drives back to UK, untaxed uninsured and unregistered. Everything has of course been sorted out since, but still I do like the idea of 'Pas probleme'!
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Don't want to be negative,but does carte grise and control technique mean anything?
I am not so confident that the process would always be as simple as described.
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The seller of a used car in France has to supply a chit proving that there is no outstanding finance on it - easily available from the Prefecture of whatever departement he or she is in.
That, of course applies to buying and selling within France. Not sure if it would mean anything to the DVLA.
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Not sure if it would mean anything to the DVLA. You'd be surprised, they are very well versed in the ways of the motoring world. Helpful lot the ones that helped me out with the Landie. Good solid advice.
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Did you bring in a used vehicle bought from a private seller?
The DVLA link only talks about brand new cars, and old cars which have been in the posession of the personal importer who has been resident outside UK for more than a year.
I will be buying privately so what do I do wth the French registration document, which will presumably have the Jean Duponts name and address?
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The guy I spoke to in DVLA didn't have a clue.
He said to bring the French document with Jean Duponts name on. But I can see numerous problems with this
1. If the system is anything like the UK system, Jean Dupont will not want to give me the document because he is supposed to send it to FDVLA with my name & address on, and all I will have is a small tear off bit......assuming it's similar to our system.
2. The Small tear off bit I will have will not have all the emisssions data written on it.
He finished off by saying and you'll need the Customs and excise forms and have to pay the duty........
I said "what duties, surely not VAT there won't be any VAT because it's a used car...do you mean some other duty?" He said there will be VAT and gave me a customs number to phone. I said I don't think so but I'll discuss that with them I suppose.
I phoned customs and they said there would be no import duties or VAT if it's over 6 months old and/or more than 6000 km on the clock. I didn't ask what if it is 3 years old with 5000km? Unlikely I know....but it could happen.
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Emissions data would be on the certificate of european conformity.
Pretty certain they wouldn't give you the grey card as they'll need to hand it back to french authorities (to prove the car is no longer in there name).
In terms of customs you may just need to make a declaration - thats what I had todo when I imported a trailer into Luxembourg from the UK.
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Surprised no one has come along who has already done this. The following page might be useful as a guide to the documents you should expect to see.
tinyurl.com/n6r3f
I live in a francophone country which has adopted old French rules so these suggestions below may no longer apply. As I understand it, you agree to buy the vehicle and obtain the carte grise, current contrôle technique (MOT) certificate and the certificate de non-gage showing no outstanding debts/fines. If necessary you go to the local prefecture (used to be the mairie) and get the last of these. At one time you also got someone at the mairie or perhaps just a notary to witness a certificat de vente but this doesn't appear necessary (perhaps advisable though) in France any more.
As you are not re-registering it in France you can depart for the port, bearing in mind that UK authorities may wish to know the original VAT status of the vehicle, bearing in mind its age and provenance. Anything relating to its new sale would be useful unless the carte grise makes it clear it was registered new in France.
Lastly French car insurance extends to the new owner of a just-sold car until midnight on the day of sale. Doesn't apply, of course, if the seller has no insurance. Nor do I advise doing anything on the way to the port which might draw the attention of the police to your new acquisition. You may be whiter than white but proving it could take some unbudgeted time.
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Harmattan,
Thanks for some more info, I like the French insurance thingy, I wish we had the same here in UK, and thanks mike hannon.
I too am surprised no one knows the procedure, but then It's not a common thing to do.
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