Registering TVRs in France

[denzil]

Thinking of buying a Griffith in UK and would like to register it in France. Does anyone have experience of this and know of any potential problems and ways to minimise them?

[Johno]

Perhaps start here ....

http://www.tvrcarclub-france.net/forum/index.php

Then consider the new French importation tax, or first registration tax. The lack of any certificate of conformity for the Griffith (they did one for the Chimaera) and therefore the need to develop a relationship with your local Drire who will have to inspect and pass etc . . .

It's been done, the French Car Club can help, but it can take a long time. I've heard of 2yrs to get there. Others much quicker. It's not a consistent application by different regions/offices etc . . .

We're only here for 2-3yrs so I just didn't pursue it as its not worth the aggravation, I would if we were going to be staying. Buying a Griffith already registered would be a lot easier, and although initially more expensive will possibly work out cheaper in the end.

http://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/467647988.htm?ca=...

That could be a real gem, original nose, low mileage etc. . . . A rarer car these days. Depends which one you want, 4, 4.3, 4.5 (hens teeth) 5 or SE.

I see you've had a 4.3bv before, so you know what you're looking at. . . . By the time you've bought and swapped lights, fecked about getting it through emissions etc a FR registered may just be easier . . . Not a big choice though.

Edited by Johno on Thursday 16th May 23:30

[denzil]

Thanks Johno,

That's got to be worth a look, although I did start looking over here at first and decided that it would be very difficult to find a nice one with them being so rare.

I'm in discussion with a UK dealer who have said that they've done the bits for French import before and that they can supply a CoC and change the lights. At the moment any purchase would be subject to being as near as possible to being able to bring it across and get it registered straight away. Do you think there will be more required than the above? When I moved here I registered two LHD cars from UK with CoC, Quittuce Fiscale, CT and V5 and had no problems. I appreciate the Griffith is a bit different.

Regards

Mark

[Cunning Punt]

denzil said:

I'm in discussion with a UK dealer who have said that they've done the bits for French import before and that they can supply a CoC and change the lights.

Oh? Care to share the name of the dealer? If they really can get a CoC for a Griffith, that would be fantastic. All you should need to do is change the front lights, possibly swap the rear fog/reverse, replace the speedo if it doesn't have km/h on it, and present the CoC/quittus/CT/V5 at the prefecture.

However: I suspect what you'll get is a UK type approval certificate, which is meaningless as far as French authorities are concerned (it shouldn't be meaningless, under EU law, but that's another debate...). If it's a proper EU CoC you'll be fine, but I'm sorry to say that I doubt it will be.

Do join tvrcarclub-france as posted above, there's lots of good info there. Some people have found import specialists who can get cars without CoCs (e.g. Cerbs etc) registered through IVA - and fast. At a price, bien sur.

[denzil]

Not sure if I should name the dealer at this point! Only spoke to them yesterday about CoC and they said they can do it. I'll take them at their word until I know otherwise, I guess, but if they come up trumps I'll make it known as its invaluable gen.

I'm quite early on in the whole thing and wanted to ask questions to see who might have some good info. GlynMo has just regd a 98 Griff in France and used a third party, as suggested by Cunning Punt, and I'll definitely keep that option in mind as we go on. It seems a good way if this method fails (which it probably will!!).

Thanks for all input; it's very gratefully received.

ATB

Mark

[Marcellus]

If you do get a CoC make sure it's in French.

I got one for a Land Rover which wasn't in French and it was rejected...... Amazingly within a day I was able to go back with one in French which was accepted without question. <cough cough ms word cough cough>

[denzil]

Brilliant! The magic of word processors. Wouldn't consider it myself .

[Johno]

This is a good read ....

http://www.frenchpropertylinks.com/essential/regis...

We registered a passat with CoC, no issues really. But I do not believe there is a CoC for the Griffith, Type Approval yes, and then you're into discussing your vehicle de collection with the Drire.

Also consider the first registration tax, introduced in 2008, it could be pretty expensive for a Griffith, which adds even more to the costs, I think it has been. Raised recently as well and is based on emmissions.

[mikey77]

Just in case you get confused on-line, DRIRE is now DREAL

[Russwhitehouse]

I matriculated a brand new, European spec, Harley Davidson V Rod a couple of years back. Bought brand new in UK. The hassle and ineptitude I encountered was unreal! Despite the best efforts of Harley Davidson France to assist, the beaurocracy was astonishing, to the extent that it became apparent the French themselves had no idea what they were talking about, and so decided to just make it up as they went along to get rid of us. One department even told us we had to have a plaque with various information mounted on the bike after some sort of bogus inspection ( bear in mind this is a European bike) .After an inter net search we got in touch with the company that makes all the various plaques for the French authorities, and a very nice man told us he had never heard of such a thing! We eventually got in touch with DERA in another department who told us our local office was talking nonsense and agreed To phone tHem and straighten things out, which to be fair they did. All in all it took months to sort out and became very evident it depends where you live in France as to the competency of the authorities and their ability to either help or hinder. All I can say is good luck, I wouldn't bother with it again. I have a bike and a car I keep on UK plates , have never had any hassle and I've been here for ten years.