Help Please, Selling a used car to France

[fatboy18]

Car is currently SORNED.

French person will be coming over to UK to purchase car fill out V5 Document and drive car to Ferry Port.

So what is needed?
There is no point in me taxing the car as its going out of the country,
Buyer will have V5 Document and export part will be sent to DVLA.
Car has personalised plate that will be transferred. And the car will have to be registered in France anyways.

Will french buyer need insurance to drive car from point A to port? What about road tax?

I have tried to find answers on DVLA site but cant find anything?

This is not a scam buyer, its someone I know personally who is a french citizen.

I just want to know what is legally required to get car from my place to his with him picking up car.

Thanks.

Edited by fatboy18 on Sunday 25th November 11:45

[sunbeam alpine]

Safest option for both of you would be to trailer it.

In the past I've used plates from one of my other cars to collect cars I've purchased. I arranged insurance on the VIN number. Using this system, the car had to have a valid MOT, which yours may not have if it's SORN. My greatest concern was that I had valid insurance in place - the consequences of an uninsured accident just aren't worth it.

I bought a trailer a few years back, never regretted it.

[Croutons]

fatboy18 said:

Car is currently SORNED.

French person will be coming over to UK to purchase car fill out V5 Document and drive car to Ferry Port.

So what is needed?
There is no point in me taxing the car as its going out of the country,
Buyer will have V5 Document and export part will be sent to DVLA.
Car has personalised plate that will be transferred. And the car will have to be registered in France anyways.

Will french buyer need insurance to drive car from point A to port? What about road tax?

I have tried to find answers on DVLA site but cant find anything?

This is not a scam buyer, its someone I know personally who is a french citizen.

I just want to know what is legally required to get car from my place to his with him picking up car.

Thanks.

Edited by fatboy18 on Sunday 25th November 11:45

What on earth makes you think anyone, regardless of their intentions, can drive a UK registered car on UK roads with no tax or insurance?

Do you think if your buyer ploughs through a group of school children with no tax or insurance he can stand up in court and say “but your honour, I was exporting the car”?

Seriously......

[ClaphamGT3]

Isn't it his problem once you've done the online change of keeper?

[sunbeam alpine]

Croutons said:

fatboy18 said:

Car is currently SORNED.

French person will be coming over to UK to purchase car fill out V5 Document and drive car to Ferry Port.

So what is needed?
There is no point in me taxing the car as its going out of the country,
Buyer will have V5 Document and export part will be sent to DVLA.
Car has personalised plate that will be transferred. And the car will have to be registered in France anyways.

Will french buyer need insurance to drive car from point A to port? What about road tax?

I have tried to find answers on DVLA site but cant find anything?

This is not a scam buyer, its someone I know personally who is a french citizen.

I just want to know what is legally required to get car from my place to his with him picking up car.

Thanks.

Edited by fatboy18 on Sunday 25th November 11:45

What on earth makes you think anyone, regardless of their intentions, can drive a UK registered car on UK roads with no tax or insurance?

Do you think if your buyer ploughs through a group of school children with no tax or insurance he can stand up in court and say “but your honour, I was exporting the car”?

Seriously......

I thought I handled this in my reply - tax can be linked to the number plate, insurance can be arranged on VIN number. I do agree however, that it could be easier for the CPS to pursue someone based in the UK should something dreadful happen, which is why I bought a car trailer.

[fatboy18]

I am annoyed that I can not find any clear information on the DVLA website on what should be a straight forward matter.

There is not the slightest intention of breaking the law here, I just want to know the procedure. that is all.

I can find information on exporting the car if I still own it (ie moving the car abroad to another home) but that is not the case here.

The comments of driving the car on the road without insurance are not needed.

When I imported my car from the USA I insured it on the Vin number before getting it registered in the UK.

I presume the new buyer from France would have to do the same thing? But I'm trying to find clear information, not hearsay.

Thank you.

[fatboy18]

Who knows what's going to happen when we leave the EU?

[fatboy18]

Thanks for your post Sunbeam Alpine. Its along the lines that I thought.

I trying to find information for the buyer.

[finlo]

I went to the DVLA in Swansea for an export certificate and they wanted me to tax it for a year to drive it to the ferry, I didn't HTH.

[Rushjob]

Insurance wise the French buyer will have arranged his own French insurance on the UK reg number in order to have the vignette displayed in his windscreen to show he has insurance once over the channel, this covers him in the uk too.
It's an absolute doddle to get french cover for an imported vehicle whilst you put it through the immatriculation (registration) process here in France. Once you've sold it it's really not your problem.

[MuscleSaloon]

Agree with the OP - a lot of it is a grey area as far as DVLA guidance is concerned. Obviously the driver needs his own valid insurance from the time he gets into the car period. It could just be easier to put a months tax on it if it is going to be driven in the UK - yes it might seem a bit daft for making the one journey to the port but could save some hassle with ANPR etc. I would give the buyer the full V5 as DVLA will not be sending a new one out to a non-UK address on a keeper change - plus him having it in hand will assist with French registration. You can still go online and do a keeper change putting in his name and French address but you will have to put a UK postcode in to complete it. One other thing to be aware of are any UK toll charges. The last one I sold to France ( about a month ago) generated a £70 penalty charge with a nice blurry pic of the car at the Dartford crossing - the car was on my Dart Charge account but it had a last minute plate change so a quick call to explain that to them and they were happy and just took the £2.50.


Stand to be corrected on any of the above but that's what I do / have done and never had any issues.

Edited by MuscleSaloon on Monday 26th November 09:56

[ilikejam]

Croutons said:

What on earth makes you think anyone, regardless of their intentions, can drive a UK registered car on UK roads with no tax or insurance?

Do you think if your buyer ploughs through a group of school children with no tax or insurance he can stand up in court and say “but your honour, I was exporting the car”?

Seriously......

Don't you just love the friendly, helpful users of the PH forums?



OP - the driver should arrange appropriate insurance cover with their own provider across the channel. I'm sure it's probably relatively simple.

You can pay car tax monthly by direct debit - I'd be tempted to do this just to get it taxed then it'll automatically cancel when you send in the V5 'sold' slip (think you can also notify them online now?).

The MOT could be an issue if it's lapsed while you've had it SORNed. If you think it'll sail through then it may be worth just getting it done and split the cost with the buyer. If you're not too far away from the port it I'd be tempted not to bother with it...

[fatboy18]

Well Imy now getting vehicle transported to the docks. Mot is still valid so no issues there.

Hopefully the trailer won't plough into a bus load of kids!