French reg' car - or buy Brit reg' car / and then reg' in FR

[LDN]

I know it can be hassle to change the car over to the French reg' - to then leave the car in France. But... it seems that French cars are more expensive than the equivalent here.

If you buy a relatively modern car; is it really that hard to re-register in France?

[LDN]

Russwhitehouse said:

It's not that much hassle particularly if the car is fairly recent. I bought my 2010 Merc ML in UK and had no bother re registering and saved a fortune by not buying the same car over here. Being right hand drive presents very little inconvenience either except with car park ticket machines and auto route toll booths.

Thanks for replying. Yes, I was hell bent on buying a French reg car to avoid any hassle but... seeing the prices, I'm thinking twice !

[LDN]

Good points ^

[LDN]

It's a cheap car we want; that can live there and be left garaged for when we go and for guests to use. We have no choice but to drive over every trip, as we have a dog... so we always have a car with us - but we just want a relatively old, small, 4x4 that can live over there. Even something like an X3 or an old Qashqai / Xtrail / Rav4 /etc seems a hell of a lot more money over there - and I was all set to buy a French car as I did not want the hassle of conversion... but I am thinking twice now. If I can save a few grand on a car I think suitable - then I suppose the hassle of conversion may be worth it... I see suitable cars here for around the 2k to 5k mark. I can't find anything at all for that amount, over there.

[LDN]

Is there a site for French reg cars here in the UK? Anyone that specialises in them? I couldn't find anything in the Anglo info site but maybe I missed something?

[LDN]

Thanks Andrew; and everyone for feedback. I am in France now and still looking... we are 1.5 hours from Geneva and someone has suggested we look at cars there as the Swiss 2nd hand market is more like our own and there are some deals to be had. I am looking but need to research more. If I bought a Swiss car that will live in France, used on a British license; would I be able to use a UK insurer; I guess not as they would need access to the records regarding MOT or its equivalent.

A UK MOT station over here n France would make an absolute killing! We have an old Jeep that would be perfect here but having to drive it back once a year purely for an MOT, would be a nightmare.

[LDN]

I doubt anyone is really interested but I like to see these type of threads have a happy ending... So this week, we found a RAV4 only one hour away; an honest private seller. Permanent 4x4 and all the toys. 2005 and a high 178,000 km on the clock... but new turbo and clutch done not long ago; brother in law is a mechanic; looked it over and it's as straight as a rake. Picked it up yesterday. Here she is in all her glory. She'll live here in the Alps all year round (lucky her; I wish I did)!

[LDN]

It's funny how a cheap high miler can have a personality that is easy to connect with. We came over in an ML and you'd think it would the choice for driving about in, but I just love the little Toyota; I think I've fallen for her

[LDN]

It's true; high miles are less an issue here. The French keep the cars for longer and their whole second hand market is so different to the UK

[LDN]

Le Pop said:

Interesting LDN, I have a RAV4 2004 D4D and I had a few problems before I discovered that it is VERY sensitive to the fuel used. Now I only use premium diesel from Total (Excellium) and it's fine. Be aware, if you start getting engine check codes (P0627 if I remember correctly) generated and you are just using cheap supermarket diesel then this is very likely to be the problem. Since I changed to Excellium I get about 10% better mpg and it only costs a bit more than the cheap crap. Just sayin'...

Thanks for the tip and duly noted. I appreciate that. I have read the D4D's aren't the best engines and even read that the petrol was the one to have - I don't doubt we will have the odd problem come up as she's seen better days but so far so good. I have a soft spot for RAV4's in general as I had a first gen one on hire in Tanazania once; the hire companies loved them; must've gotten to know them well as these things all had stupid miles on the clock; talking 250k upwards; doors hanging off - this was no AVIS or the like; in any case the little thing got us through every journey and even a trip into some bush. No extreme off road stuff but taxing trails and dirt roads; I absolutely loved it. So this, years later, feels like a return to the Toyota fold. Ive bought my brother in law a Haynes manual for it - as a not so subtle hint at the work that may lay ahead!

Edited by LDN on Friday 15th January 20:22

[LDN]

Fatt McMissile said:

It's a good looking car, a pal of mine who has a couple of extremely desirable cars, more often than not uses his wife's RAV4; he told me that he was surprised how nice it is to drive.
We were set to buy a newish RAV4 in 2007, and a couple of trendy friends, younger than us, did the oh no, hairdresser's car thing and I took account of this and bought a 140 TDI Passat SW. Wish I'd stuck with the Toyota, the VW was lovely on long trips and a proper barge, but a catalogue of faults, all but the injectors - just changed FOC at 210K KM - not admitted by VW in Europe.

When we came over here in 2000 we bought a Toyota Picnic, a funny looking car but turned out to be just what we needed. Two years old and with 100K it had been a taxi in Nantes. When our daughter had a small but final accident (for the car I hasten to add) in it 8 years later we had put a further 275K KM on it and other than servicing, it had cost us 12 euros for a seat belt clip. Notably, the Toyota dealership treated us as valued customers throughout our ownership. If the accident hadn't happened I'd probably still be driving it.
Enjoy, and tell M.Douglas? he can take his advert down now
Steve

I had an older Passat and I had that many odd problems with it that it did make me question the whole VW thing... sure it was mostly bad luck on my part. Re' the RAV4 - it does drive nice I must say... before buying it, I test drove a Daihastu Terios (amazing little thing but wouldn't be doing many motorway miles in it!) and a Fiat Panda 4x4 (which I was really excited to try; great reviews and well respected) - I didn't click with either of them. The RAV4 was cheaper and felt more grown up; the Fiat may well have been the most capable but I wasn't feeling it. The Terios I nearly bought; engine warning light and lack of oomph put me off. In my experience; a Toyota or Honda is always a safe bet for mile munching workhorses!

[LDN]

Le Pop said:

LDN said:

(RAV4 stuff)

I am a fan of RAV4s too, but only the old mk1 shape. Those are pretty much bullet proof, well built and go on for ever. However in my experience the newer models are more car-like (rather than proper 4WDs) and are not as well built or reliable.... Having said that my D4D is now on 177k miles and running fine on premium diesel (touch wood!).

177k miles!? And I was nervous about the same amount of KM on the clock. A good sign