Towing a trailer in France * Help*

[H4HOW]

Hi All ✌

Looking for some friendly advice from a continental PH'er or someone with good knowledge of road law in France.

This summer I'm heading to the South of France for a long overdue holiday followed by a slow journey up to Lake Como to attend a wedding, heading back to the UK after the wedding.

The original plan was to drive my Huracan Performante from my home in the North of England to the SOF however, the thought of 1000 miles there and 1000 miles back in carbon bucket seats (with the wife) does not errrr, how to say.... "remplis moi de joie."

SO. After considering having the car hauled there and back via road freight for a fee of roughly £6000 which would not be my preference, I would like to know if it's possible to tow a trailer carrying my Lamborghini?

My research leads me to believe that subject to the total laden weight of the trailer not exceeding 3500KG i can legally do this on a standard license, is anyone able to confirm this for me?

Thanks In Advance

[LandieMark]

Everyone has B+E now. I would get a replacement license before towing abroad though in case you get stopped.

If you've not towed before then get some practice. I would load the car backwards to keep the weight on the nose of the trailer which aids stability. Car trailers can be awkward buggers stability wise.

[H4HOW]

Hi Mark,

Legally i can tow this load in the UK but I'm unsure if this crosses over to France. A google search doesn't really bring back any firm answers back and I've no idea how i could find out for sure!

[LandieMark]

The license will carry over, but I would get a replacement to ensure the category is on there.

[Carbon Sasquatch]

Your UK licence covers you for France - if in doubt ask your insurance company to confirm.

What do you plan to tow it with ?

As above - get some practice in. I found that I needed quite a bit of nose weight to make it comfortable towing a heavy trailer.

[Axe wound]

What they said. Although I'd also add that assuming money isn't a problem it might be worth using an 'enclosed' trailer - BJT Race Transporter 6 is probably the sort of thing you're after.

And don't bother towing it with anything short of a 4x4 with a proper engine.

[H4HOW]

Carbon Sasquatch said:

Your UK licence covers you for France - if in doubt ask your insurance company to confirm.

What do you plan to tow it with ?

As above - get some practice in. I found that I needed quite a bit of nose weight to make it comfortable towing a heavy trailer.

Towing with a big twin cab 4x4 so no problems there.

Thanks for the advice all

[GAjon]

Assuming you don’t already have a trailer and tow car and you are thinking of hiring.

For that distance I would explore hiring a car transporter van rather than pull a trailer.

[Cold]

H4HOW said:

Towing with a big twin cab 4x4 so no problems there.

Check and double check the towing weight allowable by your twin cab. You may be getting close to its legal limit with your car inside a covered trailer.

[MrTJl]

Hi sorry been a long time since I’ve been here,
So just to throw a spanner in the works me and my b’inlaw have just been over to France for a “Touring Rally “ down to Menton,Monaco trailering the car over the via the shuttle to Troyes and then started the rally,on finishing re trailered and headed back home collecting our boarding passes at the tunnel and then got stopped by customs (French) and asked for our paperwork ,handed over v5 etc and then asked for the ATA Carnet paperwork!!! This resulted in 3.5 hours of interviewing and a fine of €150 euros for not having the correct paperwork (them saying car on trailer is freight/ goods!!) then sent us off to Calais to get it (Sunday evening!! Closed ) so another night, so to cut short the nightmare we had to leave car trailer behind at a friend’s house and return home, can’t find out much what to do apart from getting a Carnet £300+ or take car off trailer and driving home separately, still ongoing from 14/ March
Regards

[Bobupndown]

Is there not the option of a motor rail in France on their SNCF? Car loaded onto train and travel in comfort to SOF?

[Miserablegit]

Fly your wife out and home

put on a pair of big boy pants and have a cracking drive- take a friend and they can fly home

Record the trip on PH for the benefit of the rest of us.

[RizzoTheRat]

Bobupndown said:

Is there not the option of a motor rail in France on their SNCF? Car loaded onto train and travel in comfort to SOF?

The Calais service stopped a few years ago, not sure if they still do one from Paris. I think the Germans still run one to Italy and Austria but not sure about France.

[leyorkie]

MrTJl said:

Hi sorry been a long time since I’ve been here,
So just to throw a spanner in the works me and my b’inlaw have just been over to France for a “Touring Rally “ down to Menton,Monaco trailering the car over the via the shuttle to Troyes and then started the rally,on finishing re trailered and headed back home collecting our boarding passes at the tunnel and then got stopped by customs (French) and asked for our paperwork ,handed over v5 etc and then asked for the ATA Carnet paperwork!!! This resulted in 3.5 hours of interviewing and a fine of €150 euros for not having the correct paperwork (them saying car on trailer is freight/ goods!!) then sent us off to Calais to get it (Sunday evening!! Closed ) so another night, so to cut short the nightmare we had to leave car trailer behind at a friend’s house and return home, can’t find out much what to do apart from getting a Carnet £300+ or take car off trailer and driving home separately, still ongoing from 14/ March
Regards

There will be more of this thing happening
In theory all spare parts carried have to be identified and checked when returning back to UK and as a car on a trailer is goods VAT could be liable or some sort of waiver system.
There was a post when Brexit was being discussed regarding taking race cars over with tyres and parts and you have to prove they are not for resale just temporary importation.
Not seen any paperwork to cover this scenario but your post did not surprise me.
I have a house in France and I’m glad it’s fully furnished moving goods across the border is not what it used to be.

[MrTJl]

Yes I’m afraid we will, the ATA Carnet is the temporary export/ import of goods you can find details on gov. Website but still not very explanatory on how it works being your own road car, and if you do get stopped the fine is based on value of car/goods, and you can go down the RED route if you want and pay import duty based the cars value !!! And that will cost a packet .

[SuperPav]

Yes, transporting a car at the border is a nightmare at the moment unless you physically drive the vehicle over which seems to fall under some weird grey "look the other way" approach and not follow the whole ATA Carnet requirement.

As the car is (presumably) fully road legal etc. then I'd recommend driving it and the tow vehicle with empty trailer over the border separately, then loading it at the other side.

[bqf]

Get the train from Paris to Nice - I did it with my Ferrari a few years ago - excellent journey

[grumpynuts]

Just stick to the original plan and drive the thing there and back.What's the point in having it if you don't use it.

[NDA]

Miserablegit said:

Fly your wife out and home

put on a pair of big boy pants and have a cracking drive- take a friend and they can fly home

Record the trip on PH for the benefit of the rest of us.

Which is what I always did for Mediterranean jaunts in sporty 2 seaters. It worked well actually.

Take a few days meandering through France - use booking.com for hotels (always works for me). Pick up the wife in Nice 3 days later. Drive together to Italy... return to Nice after the wedding (you're heading that way) and see her back at home in a couple of days.

Trailering a Lambo through France is going to be a major ball ache. I trailered my Vanquish from Guildford to Brooklands once and was exhausted. Hahahaha.

[iguana]

Blimey who quoted you £6k!?

Wasn't me, thats a lot!