A guide to registering cars in France and obtaining a carte du jour grise. A automobile is typically essential in France

1. Taking a automobile to France and registering it in
France
A guide toregisteringcarsinFrance and obtainingacarte du jourgrise.
A automobile is typically essential in France
Once you have got finallywadedthroughall the work,signedeachsheet of the sale documentsand
initialledkadditional itemsof legal paper,you'llbe able torelax.youhave gotboughtyourhouse in
France,ANdyou're able to beginyournew life asanex-pat(LivinginFrance).Before yourelax
utterly,though,have youeverconsideredaautomobileandregisteringit?virtuallyeverybodywants
one currently,andas such a bigamountof people move tothe Frenchcountry,or a minimumof to
little marketcities,aautomobile extremelyisasessentialasa home.Andregisteringit'sshould,
thoughit shouldbe same thatif you're transferyour automobile fromthe unitedkingdomtoFrance,
it's still attainabletostayyourUnitedKingdomof Great BritainandNorthernIrelandlicence and
plates(see ourarticle automobile insurance inFrance),forabrief whereasaminimumof.
RegisteringaautomobileinFrance involvesobtainingacarte du jourgrise (greycard) and new
Frenchrange plates
Andwithgreat care you're clearfromthe beginning,whatyou're attemptingtogetby registering
your automobileinFrance,maybe a carte du jourgrise witha brand new license numberforyour
automobile,thatyou'll be able tothenuse totravel andget some new Frenchrange plates.
RegisteringaautomobileinFrance caninvolve paper
Of course youknewthatyou simplywouldwishaautomobile andwouldwishtotravel concerning
registeringit.It'ssimplythatitpaledintounimportance aboardthe large enterpriseof shoppingfor
a house.Registeringaautomobile cannotbe assophisticatedasthat,surely?Well,noit'snot...
usually.Whatyouhave got to recollect,insomethingyouundertakefromcurrentlyon,isthatthis
can be France,andthingsar done otherwisehere.Forone factor,whereverone little bitof paper
wouldhave sufficed withinthe UnitedKingdomof GreatBritainandNorthernIreland,inFrance you
may wanta minimumof twenty.France isdrowningduringaoceanof paper,andregisteringyour
automobile isanothercall thatocean.Aslongas you're readyfor this,andbuild the game inblast,
youmay manage fine.
Take your recentautomobile toFrance orget a brand new automobileinFrance?
Perhapsthe primarycall that yousimplyhave tobe compelledtobuildiswhetherornot tostay your
UnitedKingdomof GreatBritainand NorthernIrelandautomobile,orwhetherornotit makes
additional sensetotrade itin andget a automobile inFrance.Toa precise extent,of course,this
reliesonwhatquantityofferedmoneyyouhave got.If cashisn't anyobject,thenit'smost likely
easierall spherical tosell yourrecentautomobilewithinthe UnitedKingdomof GreatBritainand
NorthernIreland,move toFrance andget a novel automobile.
Buyinga brand newFrenchautomobile- registeringiseasy

2. If you purchase a brand newFrench automobile inFrance,registeringandsoeverythingiseasy.The
dealercando all the work foryou, andissue youwiththe carte du jourgrise or gray card, that isthat
the equivalentof the logbookand isthat the certificate you're givenshowingyour automobilehas
beenregistered.the sole purposemaybe price creatinghere isthatit'smostlikelyinformeddo
because the Frenchdoand to shopfor a automobile that'sfactory-made inFrance,byone amongst
the most Frenchautomobile firmssuchRenault, PeugeotorCitroën.
Most cars driveninFrance ar factory-made inFrance
You will quicklynoticethata vastproportionof cars on the roads of France ar factory-made bythese
Frenchcompanies,andit'snot evenasa resultsof Frenchnational loyalty(althoughthisbeyond
questionmaybe a factor!).Frenchcars ar justso abundanteasiertoseekoutcomponentsforif they
are goingwrong,thenabundanteasiertoseekoutseasonedmechanicsfortoo!
Buyinga usedautomobile inFrance
The biggestsingle factorthatyousimplyhave tobe compelledtobearinmindof here isthat used
cars arexpensive inFrance.afast lookat the petitsannoncesorlittleadssectionsof native papers,
or a glance througha automobile salesmagazinecanshow youinstantlythatthe usedmarkethere
isway dearerthanin Europeancountry.it'sadditionallydearerthanthatof Kingdomof Spain,
therefore one attainable answerforthose thatsleepinthe southof the country isto buya
automobile inKingdomof Spain,thenimport itintoFrance.Of course,itthenmustbe re-registered
for France withinthe same mannerasa UnitedKingdomof GreatBritainandNorthernIreland
automobile.(SecondhandcarsinFrance,usedFrance.)
Registeringausedautomobile inFrance
If you are doinggeta usedautomobile inFrance,there'saprocedure thatyousimplycanhave to be
compelledtobearsoas to registerit.the selleroughttoprovide youwithall the prevailingwork,
togetherwiththe presentcarte dujourgrise,and a bill of sale.Youthenhave aroundfifteendaysto
use for a brand newcarte du jourgrise,as thiscan be notpassedfromownerto ownerhoweveris
off and replaced.the bestthankstohandle the workconcernedhere istogiftyourself atyour
Mairie,whereverthey're goingtonotsolelydoall the workfor youhoweveradditionallytellyou
preciselywhatit'll price.Some Mairie workerscanevenpostthe appliance foryou!Insome cases,
it's goingtobe necessarytoownthe automobile place throughthe Côntrole Technique (French
MOT) once more,thoughthe sellerismeanttotryand do thisas a routine a part of the sale if the
automobile isthe rightage towarrant it.
Importinga automobilefromthe unitedkingdomandregisteringitinFrance
If you opt thatyou simplywishtobringyourautomobile withyoutoFrance,thingsbecomesalittle
additional sophisticated.it'spresentlyattainable,althoughyou're aFrenchresident,tostayyour
UnitedKingdomof GreatBritainand NorthernIrelandlicence andUnitedKingdomof GreatBritain
and NorthernIrelandplates,forabrief time a minimumof,howeveryoumayneedtomodification
to Frenchplatesanda Frenchlicence eventually.YourUnitedKingdomof GreatBritainandNorthern
Irelandlicence isvalidinFrance till itexpires,whereasyou're allowedtostayUnitedKingdomof
Great Britainand NorthernIrelandplatesforupto 6 monthsif you're a non-residentof France,and
up to at leastone monthforFrench residents.The time allowedforFrenchresidentsmaybe

3. extendeduptoa mostof 3 monthsought to a vehicle have tobe compelledtobe approvedviathe
DRIRE. withinthe pastthese limitshaven'tgave the impressiontoare strictlyadheredto,however
insurance lawsar currentlyadjustmentandthiscouldnotbe the case.do youhave to be in any
respectunsure,i mightcounsel youare takingcurrentnative recommendationconcerning
registeringaautomobile,fromyourMairie withinthe 1stinstance,thenfromthe prefectureor
capital cityof yourdepartment.
A personal expertise
The continuance we tendtowe tendtore toldafterwe 1st came to France of 1 yearis sort of totally
differentfromwhatwe ar currentlybeingtold,thoughthere arstill manyalternativereponsesgiven
fromagentsaskedto insure Britishvehicles,evennow.Andinobserve,we've hadaUnitedKingdom
of GreatBritainand NorthernIrelandregisteredvaninsuredhere for6 years,havinghadno issues
withinsurance cowl oronce checkedbygendarmesetc.
How to re-registeraautomobile inFrance withFrenchplates
DoingsomethinginFrance isAN exercise inwork,therefore the veryfirstthingyouwishto
understandisstrictlywhatworkyouhave got to assemble withrelevancyregisteringaautomobile.
you'll be able toget an inventoryfrom the native officesof DRIRE(DirectionRégionale American
state l'Industrie,Americanstate laRechercheetAmericanstate l'Environnement),ormaybe aswe
tendto did,fromour insurers.Othershave yetagainfoundthe Mairie tobe extraordinarilyuseful as
regardsthistoo, howeverit'safterall,conditional the people involved.The stepsdelineate below ar
subjecttoregional andtemporal variations,howevergive anoutlineof aprobable sequence of
eventswithinthe registeringof aautomobile inFrance!
1. Registeringaautomobile inFrance - countrybit!
Thisis the simple bit,asyou'll be able todo that inEnglish.we tendtowe tendtore toldto advise
the DVLA thatwe were forgoodexportationourvehicletoFrance,andobtainedfromthema
certificate of export,orV561. However,itlooksthatcurrentlyall youwishdois,before delivering
the V5C at the Prefecture,take the exportsectionfromthe V5Candsendit off to DVLA.Eventhis
can be notstrictlynecessaryalthoughbecause the Frenchauthoritiesarwrongfullyduty-boundto
tell DVLA thata vehicle hasbeenregisteredintheirterritoryinside2monthsof the eventwhichis
able to promptDVLA to formallyrecordthe vehicle asexported.Note thatthiscanbe the sole
notificationwhichisable to,as neitherAN exportcertificate northe take fromthe V5Car proof of
something.
2. Registeringaautomobile inFrance - Certificateof Conformity
Thisis an importanta part of registeringyourautomobile inFrance,andit'sthe one that looksto
offerthe foremostissues.Difficultieswill arise withuncommonvehicles,orcarsthat had been
foreigntoUK originally.The Certificate of Conformityis thatthe manufacturers'assurance thatthe
vehicle copieswithcurrentrelevantlegislation.Itwonttobe the case thata manufacturerwould
provide thiswhilenota fee andwhile notafuss,as longbecause the automobilewasarecognised
model,andhad a counterpartinFrance.currentlythere'stypicallyacharge of €131 in France.This
certificate shouldbe aningeniousdocument,notaphotocopy.If youcan, contact the auto
manufacturerandraise themto sendyoua Certificate of Conformitywhereasyou're still withinthe

4. UnitedKingdomof GreatBritainand NorthernIreland,asthismightthennotprice something,
althoughitwill dependuponthe manufacturer.youwillevenbe able totwiginFrench.youmay
have to be compelledtogive aduplicate of yourautomobileregistrationdocument(V5Cform) and
insome cases a cheque.
Difficultiestobe expectedinregisteringolderorunsual carsin France
Difficultiesarseeminglytoarise witholderoruncommoncars,or onesthatdon't have a similarin
France.Oldercars isalso issuedwithakindApproval Certificate,andyourdealeroughttobe able to
advise onthis.house ownersof "vehiculesAmericanstate collection"shouldgetacertificate of
attestationthatthe vehicle istechnicallycompliantfrom the FFVE(Fédérationfrançaisedes
véhiculesd'epoch).Andif yourautomobileisAN importtoUK, and there'snoequivalentmodelin
France,you'll have yourworkcut out. i'mpositive thatthere'sthe simplestwaytotry and doit,
howeveri mightnotadvise makinganattemptitunlessyouhave gotluggage of your time,endless
patience,aunrelentinglyoptimisticdispositionandarin nohurry inany respect.
3. Registeringaautomobile inFrance - modificationthe headlights
Change the headlightstomitt drivingposition.thiscanbe notlow-cost,andtherefore the temporary
stickers{thatyou|thatyousimply|thatyousimply} use once onvacationjustwon'tdo.you wishto
suitblocsoptiques,althoughcheckyourautomobilemanual toenvisionif youhave gotswitchable
lights1st.(The lightshave to be compelledtodipwithinthe rightdirection.) Mostsmartgarages are
able to dothat for between400-700 Euros, howeverbuildameetingpriorto.they'll evenbe able to
realize secondhandlightsforyouif asked.
4. Registeringaautomobile inFrance - the Côntrole Technique
Nowyouhave got the headlights,you'll be able togetthe CôntroleTechnique,thatisthatthe French
versionof the MOT. These ar performedatvirtuallymanygaragesroundthe citiesand villages.If
your Frenchisnice (LearningFrench) itdoesnotmatterthat youdecide onto use,however
otherwise,if yourecognize folksregionallythenwordof mouthmaybe a smartguide onthat garage
isprobablygoingto be useful toyouas a non FrenchspeakingBrit!If yourautomobile wants
additional workyoumayincline adeadline(itwasperiodafterIlasthadmine done) tocorrect any
issuesandre-test.The Côntrole TechniquepricesaproximatelysixtyfiveEurosandyoumay have to
be compelledtotake withyoutothe garage your Certificate of Conformity,proof of address(eg:a
utilitybill),proof of identity(eg:passport,youwill notwantit,howeverit'suseful torequire it
simplyincase) andyour blue V5C.
5. Registeringaautomobile inFrance - tax certificate
Nowtake all the workyouhave got congregate to date and attendyournative Centre desImpots,
explainingthatyousimplywishtoimportyourautomobile.If the automobile isolderthansix
monthsand hasdone overthree,500 kilometresthenyoumaynothave to be compelledtopayany
tax.you maybe askedforyour currentmileage.the aimof progressingtothe Centre desImpots
withall of thiscan be to geta certificate,the QuitasFiscal,whichwill show thatthere'snoduty
collectable onthe vehicle.Inourcase the work neededtoresultthisenclosedthe unitedkingdom
Log Book,V561 certificate of export,proof of residence inFrance (utilitiesbill etc.),originalinvoice
fromthe acquisitionof the vehicle showingthe name of the previousownerandtherefore the worth

5. paid,Côntrole TechniqueCertificate,andtherefore the Certificate of Conformity.we tendto
additionallyrequiredproof of ouridentity,therefore we tendtotookourpassportstoo.it's
additionallyanhonestplan,like anyofficialdomexercise inFrance,torequire onaround5
photocopiesof everything,simplyjustincase.
Please note althoughthatthoughthiswasthingsinourcase, I perceive thatcurrentlythe sole
documentsyoutrulywantfor the Quitusar,V5C,an acquisitioninvoice (notextremelyneededif V5C
isin yourname),proof of identity(passport),Certificate of Conformityandproof of address.Some
wouldadditionallysaythatonce addressingFrenchbureaucratsit'sgoingtobe bestto figure ona
minimalistbasisbyatthe start providingsolelywhatdocumentsyourecognizeorbelieve tobe
necessaryandsolelyprovidingothersonspecificrequest.The thinkingbehindthisbeingthe lessyou
offerthemthe lessthere'sforthemtoargue over!
6. Registeringaautomobile inFrance - the carte du jour grise at last!
Finally,weigheddownbyall of yourbitsof paper,you're currentlyable toattendthe préfecture to
formthe registrationandreceiveyourcarte du jourgrise.youmay have to be compelledto
complete aDemande Americanstate Certificatd'Immatriculation(adownloadable kindisonthe
marketat http://vosdroits.service-public.fr/particuliers/R13567.xhtml),payyourfee thenthe fun
begins.(Regardingthe fee,bearinmindthatsince 2008 there'sa tax collectable hereon1st
registrationof anyautomobile withahighgreenhouse emissionemission,variedfromtwohundred
Euros to concerning3000 Euros, lookingonthe emissionof the automobile andtherefore the
departmentit'sregisteredin.Carsregisteredfordisableduse don'tattractthistax.) youwill be
lucky,andreceive yournewregistrationlike ashotor a minimumof a probationaryregistration
certificate...(really,there arreportsof thisoccurring - see purpose fourin our"Your Comments"
sectionbelow!)withinwhichcase off youattendgetyournew platesandcontemplate yourself
French!Sadly,however,thiscouldall take alittle longer.There are reportsof caseswhereverfolks
have had to come back home,carte du jourgriseless,andwaitwithbaitedbreathforafew seeksfor
La Poste toshowup withthe abundantrequiredandonerouswondocuments.
What youwant to be readyto own withyouto formthissimple onyourself isyourCertificate of
Conformity,Quitusbusinessenterprise,Contrôle TechniqueCertificate,proof of identity(eg:
passport),proof of address(eg:utilitybill oryourhouse purchase Attestation),V5Candatlast the
Demande Americanstate Certificatd'Immatriculationkindcompleted.
Please note that{theycan|they're goingto|they'll} keepyourV5inconjunctionwiththe
QuitusFiscaleandthereforethe Certificate of Conformityhoweverwillhandyoubackthe
exportationslip(section11) that youwant to sendto the DVLA immediately.(See http://www.carte-
grise.org/importation_vehicule_angleterre.htm.)
7. Registeringaautomobile inFrance - modificationyourplates
Nowyouwant to modificationyourplates.Garagesare able todo that for youfor atinylow fee,as
longas you have gotwithyou yourcarte du jourgrise.

6. 8. Registeringaautomobile inFrance - modificationthe CôntroleTechnique data
All youmay wantis here isyourcarte du jourgrise (or the probationarykindif youhaven't
nonethelessgotyourcarte du jourgrise),Contrôle Technique Certificate andafew kindof ID (eg:
passport).{youcan|you'll|youmay} have tobe compelledtotake these tothe garage whereveryou
had yourContrôle Technique done andthattheywill alterthe registrationplatedataonyour
certificate,typicallyfornofee.
9. Registeringaautomobile inFrance - dynamic yourinsurance certificate
If you have got Frenchautomobile insurance youmayhave tobe compelledtohave the amounton
your insurance certificate modified.
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