Cost of registering a UK used car in France

[Prawo Jazdy]

I'm looking for an idiot check from someone who has done this before.

I moved to France recently with work and brought my 2008 V70 D5 with me. I'd like to keep it, so have looked at registering it recently. I live in the Rhone (69) department, and used an online calculator to work out how much it would cost me for a first registration. It came back with an eye-watering figure of EUR8500. After a bit of experimentation, it appears that the problem area is a CO2 output of 203g/km, as 8,000EUR is assigned to that. If I put in a value of 120g/km, I pay no CO2 tax.

I'm wondering if I'm suffering from trying to do this with only basic French knowledge and have missed something. It seems a bit mental that a fairly ordinary family car is considered so vile that it warrants a bill of more than the value of the car just to change the number plate. Obviously if that tax is correct then it'll be on the ferry back home and I'll buy something here, but I'm living in hope that I've made a mistake somewhere.

I'll visit the prefecture tomorrow but thought I'd check on here while they're closed.

Cheers!

Edited by Prawo Jazdy on Sunday 29th May 12:38

[rdjohn]

I am pretty sure if your car was already a French car you would find the tax is somewhat less.

You are, in effect, also paying import duty, but that is not allowed within the EU.

[Magic919]

I'd say it's a mistake to regard this as first registration.

[trunnie]

If you're using the gov't simulator here
https://www.service-public.fr/simulateur/calcul/co...
then you want vehicule d'occasion. If you click on the question mark for premier mis en circulation then it says that the date first registered abroad is the one to enter.

The system is different in France, in the UK there is tax on the price of a car and annual road tax. Here, there is no annual road tax, so they take their cut up front. You will find that there is a reduction for the CO2 given the age of the car, but you'll still be paying a lot. On th ebright side MOT's are every 2 years...

[55palfers]

Thank God we are in the EU, just imagine how much it would cost if we weren't.

[Prawo Jazdy]

Rappel de vos informations

Démarche : Immatriculation d’un véhicule d’occasion (changement de titulaire du certificat)
Genre national (J.1) : Voiture particulière (VP)
Date de mise en circulation (B) : 29/12/2008
Puissance administrative nationale (P.6) : 12 CV
Energie (P.3) : Gazole (GO)
Réception communautaire ? : Oui
Taux d'émission de CO2 (V.7) : 203 g/km
Département : Rhône

Coût du certificat d'immatriculation
Y1 - Taxe régionale : 516,00 €
Y2 - Taxe formation professionnelle : 0,00 €
Y3 - Taxes sur les véhicules polluants : 6,00 €
Y4 - Taxe de gestion : 4,00 €
Sous-total arrondi : 526,00 €
Y5 - Redevance d'acheminement : 2,76 €
Y6 - Taxes à payer : 528,76 €

That seems a lot more in line with what I was expecting! Trunnie, that was the site I was using, but despite comprehending the explanation under the (?), I still managed to select the wrong option as Magic919 expected.

The downside is I now have to retreat from my mind palace and stop mentally spending money on interesting LHD replacements. Also that I now have to enter a world of paperwork and associated extra expenditure in a language I don't really understand...

Thanks very much for the replies everyone.

[trunnie]

And don't forget the costs of getting the certificat de conformite from the manufacturer's agent in France, the time at your local hotel des impots to get the quittus fiscal (which should be free) and the cost of the control technique - all of which you'll need to get registered in France. Have a look a Search in this forum for full information on the process.

[Terryg4]

And the Headlights!

[magooagain]

Take note that you may be able to keep it uk registered if on your log book it has a category K then I D numbers beside it.
If so the French mot man can get all the info he needs for a ct pass. You may just need lhd headlights and an ok from your insurance company.

I am now putting on my tinfoil hat ready for the fall out.

[Prawo Jazdy]

Pah, headlights? Volvo were way ahead on that one. 10 minutes in a service station car park after getting off the ferry and I had pulled the headlights out (no tools required), flicked the little levers across (no tools required) and reinstalled the units. Hey presto - LHD xenon headlights. How great is that! If only the rest of the assimilation process was dreamed up by Swedish engineers.

No special category on my V5 I'm afraid, but thanks for the thought.

I have enquired already to Volvo about the CoC - I think I was quoted £94. As for the CT - I read somewhere that if the MOT was less than six months old I could use that, but that sounds too good to be true.

Depending on how much all of this adds up to, plus the likely extra insurance cost of driving RHD in Europe, it might still be more sensible to buy something here.

Thanks again.

[crossy67]

The registration fees are calculated based on the CV (fiscal power) calculated, never been able to find out how this is calculated. Then there is an eco tax. This is 100% of the registration tax when the vehicle is new and reduces by 10% year on year until it's 10 years old where it's 0%.

As far as I'm aware the K number is on all reg docs from 2007 so you should be okay, the French CT stations are being much more reasonable about this lately. Take it along to a station with the car and ask them. If it's not applicable then you'll need to get a COC.

The order of things to be done are as follows.

Change headlights.

Get CT (if you can without a COC).

Go to your local Impo office (tax office) to get a quittas fiscal to prove there is no tax to pay. For this you'll need the CT, receipt for purchase of the car if you can, UK reg document and EDF bill (the most important bill in the world).

Take all your paperwork (with your quittas) to your local prefecture or sus prefecture with this form filled in.

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=...

(opens up as PDF) together with a cheque for your taxes.

Get new reg doc in French in a week or so, job done.

[zbc]

Prawo Jazdy said:

I have enquired already to Volvo about the CoC - I think I was quoted £94. As for the CT - I read somewhere that if the MOT was less than six months old I could use that, but that sounds too good to be true.

The MOT/CT thing is true but it's a relatively recent change so be prepared to argue.

[trunnie]

And a UK MOT is in English, so a French bureaucrat may well reasonably require a certified translation, whose cost may be more than that of the CT, let alone the delay. It may be simpler to save the argument and get a CT.

[leyorkie]

You do not need a CoC if the details of that model are on the central system.
I would go without one and if they won't issue a Carte Gris then get a COC.
It's £90 for a piece of paper that they keep on file.
The last 2 cars I've registered were done without COC.

[trunnie]

I'd agree with you. The only snag was a long wait in the Prefecture to visit 3 different counters (one for a quick check that all the papers were there, another to pay and a third to take all the details), but otherwise it's something that I'd do again if the exchange rate made it interesting to buy in the UK.