Exporting Old Vehicle to France

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Parsimonious

Guest
My Misses is French. She visits her French Granny regularly with our 4 children. When I'm with her we need 6 seats ie we need a family carrier.

Also I adore the old Merc G Wagons (Boxey Jeeps). Now besides the maintenance issues I desperately need to answer some unusual car tax / VRT / car insurance questions...

I want to bring a G Wagon (1985 9 seats currently on Irish Plates) fairly much full time to France from Ireland. I am willing to bring the G back to Ireland about once a year. Longer term 6+ years away I would like to bring the G back full time. I live in Ireland.

A number of questions arise from my situation.

1 If an Irish reg'ed vehicle is subsequently reg'ed to another Euro country, then after some years that vehicle is re-reged back to Ireland is that counted as an import and therefore subject to VRT.

If that action incurs VRT (which under new rules will be thousands) then the following questions arise

2 Can I effectively insure a vehicle that is
reged in Ireland
insured in Ireland
based in France for 6 - 12 month periods.
ie will standard claims will be honoured.

3 Can I effectively insure a vehicle
reged in Ireland,
insured in France,
based in France for 6 - 12 month periods.
ie will standard claims be honoured.

4 How long does a vehicle need to be in France before you are obligated to register it in France. I believe it is 6 months however I'm told that if you drive it out of the country within 6 mths and re-enter that restarts the clock - How do you prove you have left the country in that vehicle.

5 Does anybody know how expensive it is to register a vehicle in France that is originating from another Euro country.

6 If a vehicle is out of the country for year long periods - do I need to tax it in Ireland during that period of absence. Many british retirees living full time in France drive British registered vehicles - do they still pay British road tax - even though the car is fairly much based in France full-time.

7 For Irish Car Tax purposes when does a vehicle turn classic and therefore is subject to reduced car tax. I believe it is 30 years but cant be sure.

Sorry for the detail, but simply wanting to move an old family carrier from one Euro country to another may be very awkward.

thank you
 
I got a positive response from VRT this morning. To export a vehicle (register in another EU country) and reimport it back does not incur any VRT on reimporting.

Just let the authorities know you are registering in another juristriction and keep your old plates.

I'm delighted it makes things a lot cheaper and simpler for me. remember there is no car tax in France.
 
To conclude this thread I have earthed up some 3rd hand info that may prove handy to others

Importing a vehicle into France is not very expensive but the import/registration process is a bit bureaucratic. You will need a French ‘MOT’ and a certificate of EU conformity from the vehicles manufacturer. There is a small tax to pay of about 400 Euros when you get your registration document. See
for details and discussions.

There is a UK company that specialises in insuring UK registered vehicles for British people living in France/Spain/Portugal etc. [broken link removed]
Do they do Irish Plates in France - Maybe??

Lastly France has a reputation for vendless bureaucracy. i'm told this is no different, so find a victim who has gone through the process to short cut any paperwork diversions.
 
I am planning to export a left hand drive BMW to France. It will be a nice road-trip to the South as I have a buyer. The car was previously imported to Ireland from America and as it is not easy to get a reasonable price for resale in Ireland, France has become our option.

Has anyone any further information as to the requirements in Ireland to deregister this car for export? Or is it simply a matter of delivering the car and leaving the new owner (dealer) to sort out the importation of the car under the French juristiction?

Any advice is welcome
 
I think parsimonious will be for a shock regarding the cost of exporting the vehicle.
My irish insurance company would only insure me for 30 days.
The french would not insure me without a french reg.
To get a french registration I needed:

The NCT (can't remember exact cost but <€100),
To pass NCT you need to get headlights to left hand drive lights (€350 for opel) Some people manage to avoid this somehow...but very very very few.
To get teh registration papers of the car requires you to pay an amount that varies with the type of car...for my 1.8 opel it was €350
You also need a certificate of conformity from the manufacturer...the cost varies with manufacturer...mine from Opel cost €150.
New plates were €35
So just just under €1000 for me.

Here's the fact-sheet from total france



Once you have all the documentation...you have to go walkabout to the local hotel des impots to get a letter...saying its a private import.
you need Id and various docs to do that.

Then you queue up in the vehicle registration office for a while...fill out the forms, pay the money and you're done.

I can speak french so didn't find it too bureaucratic.
If you can't if might be easier to miss something and not have all your documents together.

Regarding the BMW
You won't need to change the lights..but the registration costs will be higher...on the other hand second hand cars hold their value here in France.
 
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