Moving to France

[Wife2Frog]

Benefits of taking own car when moving to France compared with buying one in country.

I think you will eventually need a french car there is some rule about only using a right had drive for a certain period
found this on google
An official at France's Interior Ministry said that British tourists could drive their UK-registered car in France for up to 12 months – as long as they have the right to stay in France for that length of time. However, a spokesperson for French customs said they could drive in France for up to six months.
I believe though not 100% sure that you have to register car in france after 6 months and do their equivalence of an MOT
if you are moving permanently to France you need to be sure though not having to buy a left hand drive car for 6-12 months will help on the financial side

You can have a foreign car for as long as you wish, but have to register it in France and get the relevant paperwork within a certain timeframe ( gouv.fr ) will have the details.

@Wife2Frog

I’d stick something like “importing UK car to France” into you favourite search engine and then trawl through the results (making sure the info is recent, especially with regard to the rules post Brexit)..
It can be done short term but there’s a whole load of faff involved if you’re planning to take it over long term and do everything correctly (French insurance, French CT- the MOT equivalent).

If I can add some more hands on practical type advice in addition to admin…

Driving a RHD in France is all very well if you are going to be driving mainly on autoroutes and are going to invest in the standing payments you need to run a transponder so you don’t have to have arms like rubber to reach across to pay at the toll booths..

The novelty wears off pretty quickly if you are going to have use a card regularly at places like toll booths and car park exits and it’s really not a lot of fun trying to overtake on the normal and minor roads if you are wrong sided.

I think you will eventually need a french car there is some rule about only using a right had drive for a certain period

This isn't correct. We lived there for 11 years and I only ever drove RH drive cars.

As @AnnaDelvorkina says, you do need to register your car in France, get French plates, French insurance and have a CT (controle technique - equivalent to MOT). French CTs are valid for 2 years.

It is a very straightforward process and there are lots of online groups which can help.

Cars (even second hand) in France are £££££££££s.

The main thing to be concerned about is your licence. If your photocard expires and you are living in France you cannot renew it using a UK address - plenty of people still do, but it isn't legal to do so (same with insurance/MOTs!).

There was a mad rush a few years ago to get people to switch to a French licence. It was a nightmare with systems crashing, departments being overwhelmed and people left without any form of licence - not sure what the situation is these days. I used to belong to a FB group run by Kim Cranstoun, not sure if that is still running as it is no longer relevant to me, but worth having a look.

Cars (even second hand) in France are £££££££££s.

Agree, completely different market from the UK and to my mind maybe the only reason for seriously considering hanging on to a RHD if moving UK>France.

FWIW we tried hanging on to a RHD for about a year when we moved across but we found it was such a PITA from a practical POV we got rid as soon the economics made any sort of sense.

BTW the licence renewal system is still not great, but it has improved.

BTW the licence renewal system is still not great, but it has improved

That's good to hear - it was an absolute shitshow. My application got returned as they were snowed under with applications.

Back in the UK now so have a shiny, new and legal photocard :-)

You have to start the French registration process within one month of moving here. Having said that, I know people still driving on UK plates with no MOT and therefore invalid insurance after ten years.

Post Brexit it's very expensive to import a car, partly because they tax on the French value.

No restrictions on RHD.

I know people still driving on UK plates with no MOT and therefore invalid insurance after ten years.

Shame that’s still going on..it was fairly obvious that there were a couple, of cases of that close to us up but not seen the vehicles recently.

@notimagain I've been amazed how many British don't think rules apply to them, even down to not filling in tax returns!

Just get a French one. You'll have enough bureaucracy to deal with without adding car importation into the mix. Plus you only need to CT every other year. I can recommend using Carte Grise Café to simplify the registration process if you do a private purchase.

We sold our UK car and bought a new one in France. You can bring your RHD car with you, but the associated paperwork is a real hassle. As said above, second hand cars in France are expensive and have high mileage due to the journeys the French do. We bought new (for the first time ever).

Re licenses. You can drive on UK licence (DH does), but if it’s due for renewal and you renew in the UK, or it was issued after the Brexit WA in 2021, then you can only drive on it for a year before swapping for a French. Much easier to just swap for a French one, which is what I did. It took a few months, so if your licence is due to be renewed soon, I’d make it one of the first things you do. The process is fairly easy.

One other thing to do, if you get a French car, is register it with the database to avoid getting billed if you drive within the ULEZ zones in Greater London.

We bought a French-registered LH drive car from Chesham Left-hand Drive Centre (pre-Brexit; don't know what might have changed in terms of formalities but Ash knows his stuff). We were able to get it insured (through a French insurance broker) so I basically turned up on the Tube, bought the car and drove it to where we were staying in the UK and then a few days later drove it back to France.

I did have to sort out the carte grise within 5 days of arriving in the country, but it was straightforward enough (disclaimer: I speak fluent French).

Getting our French driving licences was a lengthy affair but we got there in the end.

From a road safety point of view, I would hate to be driving a RH drive on our local roads on a daily basis. Nothing to do with the gearstick (which I actually find easier in a LH drive) but to do with road positioning, overtaking, etc.

We imported our uk car to France relatively easily- but we were here before Brexit.
Now you will have to pay import duty plus vat - you have to report to the Duannes either at the port or your local office asap. The amount you pay will depend on their valuation of the vehicle, which could be higher than you paid. It's 20 % duty plus vat.
Then you have to organize insurance- your uk insurance stops the moment you become resident in France. Most insurance companies (there are offices with English speaking staff) will insure your car while it is being registered. Ours did the registration for us for a small fee.
To be registered the car will probably need a CT (mot equivalent).
You will need a French certificate of conformity which can cost €€€. We are able to use one from the uk dealers , but not now, because Brexit.
You may have to fit new headlights / reversing lights if they can't be adjusted.
If you can't get a certificate of conformity, then you will have to get it checked by DREAL which will cost €€€ and takes time.
There are registration fees which vary on the size, type, age and value of the car. Plus if the car is under10 years old you may have to pay the Malus tax, depending on the amount of pollution it creates.

When we imported ours, pre-Brexit, the insurance company charged iirc about €50 ,the CT was €70, no import duty, registration fees were around €350 and no malus tax as the car is over 10 years old.

There are online calculators to work out how much it will cost you.

There is a very helpful facebook group called Registering vehicles in France - I recommend you having a look on there.

Changing your license is different now after Brexit- so I recommend the group Driving in France - French license application, run by Kim Cranston.

If it's a used car, you're currently resident in the UK and you've owned the car for 6 months+, there's no import duty/tax to pay if you are moving to France permanently.

The customs side of things one can be a bit of a minefield and chapter and verse (or close to it) will be on French government sites.

AFAIK there is a 6 month rule that is relevant to EU state > EU state moves, moving from ex-EU there can also a complication if a vehicle is going to be used for both business and pleasure…

www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F492/personnalisation/resultat?lang=en&quest0=0&quest=

Cars are expensive in France but so is the import tax which is payable on used cars in order to register them ( you have to do this after 6 months) Compare the cost of buying in France with the tax which would be payable on your vehicle, it depends on the engine size and pollution. Look at 'le bon coin' to find the price of used cars.

When my parents moved to England they brought their left hand drive car. It was a nightmare, as anyone trying to get out of the passenger seat was in the middle of the road. We had a few near misses as kids don't look particularly effectively when getting out into a flow of traffic. I really wouldn't suggest it as a good idea long term.

Copied and pasted from elsewhere:
Importing a car: the costs
If you import a car from outside the EU, which includes the United Kingdom since Brexit, you will have to pay import duties and VAT on any car, even if used. Import duties are 10% on the value of the car, VAT 20%. Please note that if you move to France (permanent residency) with your own car, you won’t have to pay those.

Also, I asked this exact question in France last week, and was told there's no duties or tax in this scenario.

From our experience and to be fair, even car people that we know, it is such a right royal palaver to get it through the CT, importing a UK car here is a bloody nightmare. Even a friend who tried to bring a european car over, the specs of RHD cars are so different that it actually costs more than it is worth to make the changes needed. A friend just drove his Audi back to the UK, for an expert to look at it, and it cannot be upgraded and will have to be sold back in the UK and they have to get one over here.