Buying a French Car

[Doris]

i'm not talking popping down to your local renault dealer here, rather popping across the Channel and buying a car in France.

I have some friends who run a chalet over the ski season and who currently need a new car to be their workhorse over the winter. I'm sure there are people here who have experience of buying cars in France... so are there any pitfalls to be aware of, issues with registration / insurance, etc. etc. etc.?

I'm guessing they'll go for used rather than new so any info will be much appreciated.

Cheers
Dx

[Grand_Fromage]

Second hand car + alpine location + winter = eek

I helped my mum buy a car in France about 20 years ago and the paperwork seemed endless. It came from a dealer rather than a private sale, and that made the process a lot easier than it might have been. I'll leave others with more recent experience to advise on detail, I'd just say that it wasn't too bad a process, just a lot of French form filling.


 

[lofty]

buy in germany.much too expensive in france.if you buy from a garage you can then get export plates with insurance.then register it in france.save loads of money.the germans also look after their cars better than the french.tell your friends to try mobile.de and scout 24 for cars in europe.germany best bet.

[LuxExpat]

As Lofty suggested - have a look at autoscout24.de

As you have an address in France it shouldn't prove too difficult to register locally and go through controle technique.

[lofty]

nearly forgot.most german cars run winter tyres in the cold months.so you often get a set of narrow steel wheels with m n s tyres.to register in france you get a certificate of conformity from the manufacturer in french.pay the appropriate tax to the center d impots.get the new certificate immatriculation (v5) and vola.be a bit carefull of some of the russian small car dealers.