The easy way to register your car in France
IT took Dave Marsland a couple of attempts. France it's all about paperwork. But get the documentation in order and French plates on a UK registered car is a doddle.
He bought his left hand drive in the UK at the end of 2007, insured it and drove it to France.
"Why bother?", you ask. "Why not just buy a French car?".
The simple answer is that, at the moment, it's much cheaper to buy a pre-owned left hand drive in the UK than it is in France.
Dave bought the car for £10,000 excluding VAT. The same car in France was around 21,000 euros, or £15,250, at the time.
Today, thanks to an increasingly weak pound it would cost the equivalent of £17,000. A colossal saving of £7,000 is good enough reason for most people.
Documentation: Don't leave home without it.
On purchase, the dealer in the UK should hand over three essential documents with the keys to the car. There are:
The DVLA registration document for the vehicle
A Certificate of Conformity
A receipt for the purchase
A reputable dealer will also have had an MOT done and present you with the MOT certificate. You may also be given a copy of the manufacturer's documentation.
These, however, are not essential for registration in France.
The Controlle Technique
Once in France, the car needs to go through what's known as a Controlle Technique (CT). This is the French equivalent to the MOT in the UK. Most test centres will do the CT while you wait.
It usually takes no more than half an hour. There's at least one test centre in every town in France.
For UK registered cars, you will be asked to present the DVLA Vehicle Registration Document.
Without it you will not be given the Controlle Technique.
Following the CT you will be given a certificate. You can safely assume that if the car passed it's MOT in the UK that it will sail through the CT. The MOT n the UK is far more stringent.
The CT costs about 60 euros.
Keep the CT certificate with the UK documents.
Request your French Log Book
The French equivalent of the Vehicle Registration Document is called the Certificate d'Immatriculation or Carte Grise. To get it you need to fill in a form called the Demande de Certificate d'Immatriculation.
You can either call into your local tax office, prefecture or sous-prefecture for a copy of the form or simply download it from the internet and print it off.
Click here to download the form.
For most people who don't speak French, this is the first hurdle. The form is in French. But there's a very easy way around this.
The vast majority of the information required on the form can be copied directly from the Certificate of Conformity that the dealer hands over on purchase.
Each feature of the car is translated in several different languages on the Certificate of Conformity, including French and English.
All you need to do is match the words on the form with those on the Certificate of Conformity and fill in the boxes.
For example, you will be asked for the 'Masse maximale de remorquable authorisee' on the form (maximum allowed weight of a fully loaded trailor in kilograms).
Now look for the same phrase on the Certificate of Conformity. Write the number, in this case the weight in kilos, in the boxes on the form. And so on.
Keep the filled in Demande d'Immatriculation with the other documents.
The System - Part I
So far, we've managed to avoid coming face to face with the dreaded French administration system.
Armed with all the above paperwork you're now ready to take the two headed monster by the scruff of the neck.
There are two outings you need to make. The first is to your local tax office (Hotel des Impots). The second is to the local Prefecture or Sous-Prefecture, in that order.
But beware. Depending on its size, it's not uncommon for a department to have several tax offices or sous-prefectures. You need to go to the one that serve your address.
If in doubt, save yourself a lot of time by calling into your local Mairie and asking where yours are.
That's where Dave made his mistake. In the Lot-et-garonne, where he lives, there is an Hotel des Impot in Marmande, Villeneuve-sur-Lot and Tonneins. There are sous-prefectures in the same towns. He thought because he happened to be near Marmande one day that he'd pop into the Hotel des Impots there. After all, they were all in the same department.
It turned out, because he lives near Castillonnes, that Villeneuve-sur-Lot was his administrative centre.
The System - Part II - The Quitus Fiscal
You need just one more piece of paper. It's called the Quitus Fiscale. This is a credit clearance document that states there is no money owed on the car you want to register in France.
To get it you need to visit the Hotel des Impots.
They will ask you for the following documents:
UK vehicule Registration Document
Certificate of Conformity
Receipt of purchase
Passport (or French driving license)
A domestic bill (gas, electricty, phone etc) as proof of address
You will then be given your Quitus Fiscale and can head off to the prefecture or sous-prefecture with a complete dossier.
Bear in mind that timing is of the essence. Administrative offices open from 8:30am - 12:00pm and 13:30 to 16:30 on most days of the week. So, don't leave the house at 11:00am and hope to get everything done in the same morning.
The System - Part III - The Carte Grise
Go to the Prefecture or sous-prefecture. The difference between the two is hierarchical. The Prefecture can have several sous-prefectures beneath it in various towns.
If you need your Carte Grise on the same day you should go directly to the Prefecture, usually in the department's capital.
If you're not in a hurry it can take up to two weeks to process the registration from the sous-prefecture.
Bring your cheque book.
Hand over all the documents mentioned above with a cheque. They won't accept credit cards or cash. If you don't have a cheque book you can give them a Post Office money order.
The registration fee will depend on the horse power of the car, usually mentioned on the Certificate of Conformity.
You're done.
If you went to your sous-prefecture with your application then your Carte Grise is sent to your Mairie. If you went to your Prefecture you are given the Carte Grise there and then after you hand over a cheque for the new registration.
The Mairie will notify you to come and pick it up. Once you've got the carte Grise you can insure the car and have your local garage make and fit your new French number plates.
