Buying a French car in France for use in France

[rdjohn]

Zulu 10 said:

TFatC said:

Looks like there are a few of us in the area then (I am just outside La Chatre sur le Loir) but my place is a Maison Secondaire at the moment. I know that to access the ANTS (online system to register the car) you have to be legally resident in France and provide your tax number. You can get someone to do this for you (but they have to declare you are tax resident on your behalf). They are currently clamping down on this with big penalties so a lot of garages are no longer offering the service. It is illegal to register a car in a country you are not resident in (not just France but EU wide) but has not been enforced in France up to now.

This means if your house is a second home (like mine) then you cannot legally register a car here in your name. Not massively enforced yet but some insurance companies are using it to wriggle out of claims. The only thing to do is keep a UK registered car here, but it has to be kept UK road legal, ie return to UK for an MOT each year and be taxed in the UK. Insurance can be problematic with this approach....

As with everything in France it is a minefield and confusion reigns, but that is part of what makes it France. I keep an MOT & Tax exempt car here, accept it is not insured when I am not here and usually drive here from Aberdeen anyway so have 2 cars to use.

I am here until the end of the month so if anyone wants to meet up or call in for a beer/brew let me know. Marcon Classic this weekend as well.

That’s interesting.

We have an old LHD Merc C Class estate that we brought out to France a few years ago and, at that time legally, went in person to the prefecture and registered it in our name at our French address.

We are not resident in France, and have no involvement in the French tax system.

The car lives in the sous sol when we aren't in France, and is ideal for airport runs and general day-to-day local mileage.

To lose it would be a bit of a blow to put it mildly.

Do you know whether the French government will actively seek to de-register any cars that are currently registered to addresses known to be second or holiday homes?

Does anyone have a reference to the EU regs that are sanctioning this? It does seem a significant restriction on freedom of movement.

My mate is in the process of buying a property in Spain and wants to register his 1970s 911 Targa down there as it’s a long treck to return for an MOT. Allowing folks to buy property, but not own a car seems an unreasonable restriction.

[WyrleyD]

I sold two cars this morning (my Jag XF and our old Kangoo daily driver), it was a nightmare in that you can only sell a car by getting two documents from ANTS and to get into ANTS you have register and get sent a private code to do this you have a tax number, it's taken me nearly 4 weeks to navigate through all this and the local garage who used to do this sort of transfer for folks at €40 a pop will now refuse to do it. The bloke from Bordeaux who bought the Jag said the whole system for buying/selling is crazy now. In order to cancel the car insurance I had to present the forms from ANTS that showed completion of the sale.

So, what I gather from all this is that if you have a car registered through the old Prefecture system but are not tax resident then it's nigh impossible to sell a car. I initially tried Vendezvotrevoiture (bandits!) and Carizy but both wanted me to have the ANTS forms before they would even come and look at the cars.

[rdjohn]

So, does that not simply mean that you need to go to your Prefecture? You can’t do it online.

I feel certain that it’s to do with procedure, not basic rights under EU regulation.

[WyrleyD]

Our Prefecture (Limoges) at least will no longer do it and just send you on your way saying do it on-line, in fact that department no longer exists there but I don't know if all the Departments are the same. I've no idea how the olduns with no computer skills are supposed to do it!

[magooagain]

You can't use the prefecture for any car or driving license business now. It's all done on ANTs.

There is a Facebook group that will help you through the process for Brits in France. It may be called. Help registering a car in France.

If you allready own a holiday home in France and have a car registered then carry on as you are.

[Pamviking]

So.. i´m back finally .. the admins shut everything down for new members so i have not been able to participate in the thread initiated by me.. never mind but funny how "a couple of hours" can be three days.

Well .. to continue our saga of buying cars this is how it developed. The three cars we so far identified in leboncoin.fr was a washout .. one removed the ad and the other two have not responded. But we did find one Kia Sportage north of mayenne in a FB group .... That one is going to have a visit tomorrow. Just some trouble of oil leaking turbo and uneaven rear brakes. The price is however a giveaway.

and yes.. we are resident in france.. registered for tax. The car is genuine french plated lhd ..shouldnt be more then presenting papers at the prefekture if we buy it.

anyway .. thanks guys for ideas and support.

[magooagain]

The person selling the car has to go onto the ANT website and inform ANTs that the car is sold they will recieve a code to give to the new owner.
The new owner must have this code to have a new log book created for them. They new owner will firstly create an ANTs account to enable them to enter the code.

DONT go to the prefecture!

[WyrleyD]

The two new owners of my cars both came at the same time so did the whole ANT thing whilst they were here, they filled in their own details on the "Voiture Vendu" section and I printed out and gave them the subsequent code so that they could do their own ANT thing to get their new Carte Gris when they got home.

[magooagain]

WyrleyD said:

The two new owners of my cars both came at the same time so did the whole ANT thing whilst they were here, they filled in their own details on the "Voiture Vendu" section and I printed out and gave them the subsequent code so that they could do their own ANT thing to get their new Carte Gris when they got home.

That's a perfect way to do it.

[Pamviking]

Sorry guys .. i know people try to help me but i was blocked again .. as it looks there is someone abusing and the admin just blocks all access for new members... since im a new member i therefore getting blocked without reason. Can not participate in a forum where im only being able to respond twice to a thread in one week .. useless for me .

Goodbye and live well

[squareflops]

Looks like mum has had enough PH already! Normally takes at least a month.

I'll update with any relevant info re the registration process just as closure.

Thanks again all.

[WyrleyD]

magooagain said:

WyrleyD said:

The two new owners of my cars both came at the same time so did the whole ANT thing whilst they were here, they filled in their own details on the "Voiture Vendu" section and I printed out and gave them the subsequent code so that they could do their own ANT thing to get their new Carte Gris when they got home.

That's a perfect way to do it.

There was slight hiccup with one of the cars when the new owner tried to get the Carte Gris, it turns out that the car was registered in both my and my wife's name and only I had signed the form so there was a bit of faffing around to sort that out.

[Sebastian Tombs]

Bumping this topic in the hope that someone can answer a couple of questions:

We'll be signing our Acte de Vente in mid-November and moving into our French house. At this point we are going to need a car.

1. My parents-in-law are French resident so have access to ANTS. Can they register a car on our behalf and have it registered to us, not them?

2. Is it possible to walk into a dealers and buy a cheap 2nd hand car and drive it away?

e.g If one can get insurance online or over the phone are you allowed to drive a newly-purchased car without the green insurance token in the windscreen?
If I buy an older car with a FNI immatriculation am I allowed to keep those plates on it until my new SIV immatriculation arrives?

[rdjohn]

A car is registered to an owner at an address. So your in-laws at their address is not a problem, but then you pay again to re-register it in your name, at your address - this is not a cheap solution.

While I was building I registered a car to the address of a plot of land - I did not have a post box at the time. I have sold a car privately and I received a bankers draft and they drove it away to and re-registered it, to their address.

Buying from a dealer has a bureaucratic process, so a few days pass, provided that you have an address.

Perhaps your Notaire can suggest a solution. What you want must have happened in the past.

[Joe5y]

Off topic slightly but funny to see so many people living near me (or at least where I live half the year). I have a place near Doué-la-Fontaine and have a car there for when I fly over.

https://www.leboncoin.fr/ is the site I use to buy and sell items and a friend who buys UK cars (normally S2000's and the like) who lives in Cernusson (Vihiers) also uses this site with great success.

[Magooagain]

You won't need an ANTS account if you buy from a garage as they will register it for you if you ask.
You will need at least a utility bill with your name and address on it.
You may also need ID etc.
As has been said already you won't be able to buy on the spot and drive away. Which then gives you time to insure it.
You will be able to insure it on its registration as that won't change,provided it's on the new type of reg plates.
When buying the car from the garage ask for a copy of the log book(carte Gris) in order to aid you in insuring it.

But if you want an instant car ready to drive when you arrive then as said above it a different pain.
A hire car or van would be easier for the interim period.

[Sebastian Tombs]

Will my house title deed be good enough as proof of residence while we wait aeons for our first utility bill or carte de sejour?
Not sure of the timescale for when I get my first actually useful bit of paper!

[smifffymoto]

Your notaire should give you something that will say you are the owner of your house,with and without the price you paid. It is important you get this as your deeds could take a while.

[Magooagain]

You also have to have the house insured at the time of signing the final acte.
As Smiffy says the Notaire should give you an attestation of ownership, but ask for it also.

Who are you using? Boursier?

[Sebastian Tombs]

Thanks, that’s really useful info

And yes, Boursier.