Importing a UK Kit Car into France

Importing a UK Kit Car into France

Author
Discussion

mark099

Original Poster:

8 posts

227 months

Saturday 8th November 2014
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Hi All

Do any of you have any knowledge or experience of doing this? I am looking at importing a UK Kit Car into France. I just need to know the correct path (I know there are many in France lol) regarding IVA'd cars etc. I know the IVA is above the French standard and that UK MOT's are now legal in France.

Any ideas?

Thanks

mikey77

707 posts

195 months

Saturday 8th November 2014
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If you have a sniff around the motor threads of Brit forums like French Entree and AngloInfo I think you'll find that it doesn't seem to be an easy process.

Marcellus

7,163 posts

226 months

Saturday 8th November 2014
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I'll willingly be corrected on this but i think if you've not got a certificate de conformity then you're into a whole realm of pain!

Bon courage!,

Fatt McMissile

330 posts

140 months

Saturday 8th November 2014
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These French specialists offer a service: http://www.kitcarfrance.fr/import.html It won't be cheap though.

At a track day a French guy who had an Atom on UK plates told me that it would cost him €5K to register it, the registration charge would be about €1300,the rest would probably be testing etc. He trailered it around.

Steve

pfsv427sc01

84 posts

155 months

Saturday 8th November 2014
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I will be going to our local Prefecture on Monday to try and complete the final step of getting my Cobra Replica registered here in France.

I have been supplied a document from the kit supplier via their local French agent, who assures me that with the correct information in the correct format, it will prove successful.

I have already been to the Service de Impots to get a certificate proving no import duties are due. I have had a Control Technique ( their equivalent to the MOT) done last week. So, with all this paperwork, I am told all will be ok !!!

Wish me luck and I will report how I got on !

Cheers
Paul

pfsv427sc01

84 posts

155 months

Saturday 8th November 2014
quotequote all
I will be going to our local Prefecture on Monday to try and complete the final step of getting my Cobra Replica registered here in France.

I have been supplied a document from the kit supplier via their local French agent, who assures me that with the correct information in the correct format, it will prove successful.

I have already been to the Service de Impots to get a certificate proving no import duties are due. I have had a Control Technique ( their equivalent to the MOT) done last week. So, with all this paperwork, I am told all will be ok !!!

Wish me luck and I will report how I got on !

Cheers
Paul

Marcellus

7,163 posts

226 months

Saturday 8th November 2014
quotequote all
pfsv427sc01 said:
I will be going to our local Prefecture on Monday to try and complete the final step of getting my Cobra Replica registered here in France.

I have been supplied a document from the kit supplier via their local French agent, who assures me that with the correct information in the correct format, it will prove successful.

I have already been to the Service de Impots to get a certificate proving no import duties are due. I have had a Control Technique ( their equivalent to the MOT) done last week. So, with all this paperwork, I am told all will be ok !!!

Wish me luck and I will report how I got on !

Cheers
Paul
Fingers crossed for you Paul..... I had a friend who was trying to import a nissan patrol from Belgium and had a nightmare.

mark099

Original Poster:

8 posts

227 months

Sunday 9th November 2014
quotequote all
Thanks guys. Yes I know about Kitcar.fr. I have emailed him several times but he has never responded

If he can do it, it must be possible though. It's just finding the correct route

Good luck with the Cobra and keep us updated on this thread.

CoC should be accessible if I need it, just need to understand what else is required

Thanks

emss

82 posts

155 months

Sunday 9th November 2014
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Hi,

Registering a Uk car in France vary from simple to overcomplicated...

If the car is ECE type approved, the COC and quitus fiscal are the only extra documents required (base : ID, certificate of residence, cerfa 13750*03 & 13754*02, available online).

If the car isn't ECE type approved, your mileage may vary.

The following page, on sevener.fr gives some explanations regarding procedure and required documents :
http://sevener.fr/article.php?id=318806&ref=65...

In short, the car will have to pass tests to ensure compliance with french regulations, the whole mess is called the RTI (similar to IVA, but the french way, overcomplicated, and dependent on the goodwill of the staff in charge of the case). The lesser differences to an already registered type, the lesser tests to pass.

An ECE directive (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2007:068:0015:0024:en:PDF) should have relaxed the process, but it seems that transposition in french law is still not effective (I'd really like to be proven wrong).

Éric Masson

Edited by emss on Monday 10th November 15:15

pfsv427sc01

84 posts

155 months

Tuesday 11th November 2014
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Well, drove an hour to the Prefecture only to find they were closed due to the Public holiday on Tuesday !!

Will try again next Monday and let you know how I get on, assuming they are open smile

rdjohn

6,369 posts

202 months

Tuesday 11th November 2014
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No1 rule in France; check calander for public holidays!

Forget May and August completely. Then rule out every Wednesday - mums have to look after the kids.

Boxing Day can be a very good day for positive outcomes.

mikey77

707 posts

195 months

Wednesday 12th November 2014
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Check before you go on a Monday. Half of France is now shut on Mondays (especially in the morning) since the introduction of the celebrated 35-hour week.

Marcellus

7,163 posts

226 months

Wednesday 12th November 2014
quotequote all
and check the calendar for any religious holidays anywhere in the world even if it's some unknown saint in the outer hebrides as the chances are they'll be paying their respects too with a day off.... then if any of these days off are a Tuesday or Thursday then forget the Monday and Friday as there's no point working fro one day and then beinmg off again... so if the bank/religious holidays fall on and Tuesday and a Thursday in the same week they'll take the Wednesday as well as the Monday and Friday because..... well because they're French!

Unless of course they're Swiss or anyone on the office is Swiss in which case you need to check the Swiss calendar as well.

It's a wonder that they get anything done..........

Lost soul

8,712 posts

189 months

Wednesday 12th November 2014
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The door for non type approved cars is well and truly closed , or will be very shortly

lowdrag

13,032 posts

220 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
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I've bought two cars in Germany (far cheaper than in France) and the most important thing is the "radiation de la plaque numerologique". The proof that the German plate has been cancelled in other words. Other than that a simple breeze to do, if you follow the rules.

For anything that isn't "homologated" here, beware. I can't register my Lynx XKSS so she stays on UK plates, and has done for 15 years. Some kit cars, like the Martin Cobra, are homologated, but if you want dodgy wavy bodywork and a Mondeo V6 engine, that's up to you. Tried to help someone import one of the "continuation" Lotus 11's from Argentina, but that was worse than a nightmare, even though the are no different than a Lotus 7 to a Caterham 7.

pfsv427sc01

84 posts

155 months

Tuesday 16th December 2014
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Ok, so sorry for the delay in updating but the battle continues.

As I previously mentioned, I have had the CT done along with the necessary document from the Servic de Impots and went down to the Prefecture.

Due to the V5 not having anything under the " Variation" or "Type" category, I was referred to the DREAL for an inspection. We went straight to the DREAL office, on the other side of town, and spoke to a nice lady who took all the documents including the V5, the CT, the Servic de Impots doc, the invoice to show that I had purchased the parts as well as some photos that I had in the file. She also helped fill the form in and told us to wait for an appointment.

2 weeks later we got a phone call from the DREAL inspector who speaks no English and our French is poor enough to piss him off. However, we had an appointment for the next day and he told us to bring a translator.

This is the most important bit. Getting someone who is French and who knows the process to come with you is essential.

The Inspector was much more friendly to our face and went through the paperwork and inspected the car. His main concerns were ensuring the E mark on all lights and glass. I had several lens and the headlights to replace and, instead of demanding I return to prove they have been changed, he told me to photograph them and email across to him. The other points were the Chassis Plate needed to be changed to show the front axle, rear axle and total weights and the Chassis number had to be re stamped onto the chassis on the right hand side, not the left as in the UK ! He checked the engine number but did not request I start the car nor make any Technical checks. It is more for the paperwork correlation.

He then confirmed he was to send a letter to VOSA requesting confirmation of the standards used to test the brakes, mirrors, exhaust emissions, noise and radio suppression.

This is where I have nearly gotten screwed by the DVLA. Despite giving them all the details including the date, location and certificate number for the SVA test certificate, the DVLA claim my car, although registered in the UK for 13 years, had never passed any form of road approval including an SVA !

They are now investigating but have already told the French that they have no record of any formal inspection. So my French contact is frantically trying to avoid the Inspector insisting on a fresh full test in Paris at a cost of around Euro 2,000, until the situation in the UK records can be rectified.

All in all, this is very stressful with the UK seemingly losing my records and the French appearing to be prepared to be helpful. I will keep going but a test in Paris is a non-starter for me so keep your fingers crossed.

Paul

lowdrag

13,032 posts

220 months

Tuesday 16th December 2014
quotequote all
Please don't get me wrong, but as a fluent French speaker and knowing the French bureaucracy it amazes me not. Which is why for 15 years since I moved here my cars have stayed on UK plates. Being totally honest, as you have found importing such a car, is a "cauchemar".

A common lawyer

319 posts

135 months

Wednesday 17th December 2014
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Good luck with avoiding the full whack, it involves a whole bunch of testing! Different rules in France (inevitably) about things like visibility; see the imported westfields for what I mean, mirrors on hideous great big stalks...

Expatloon

216 posts

164 months

Saturday 20th December 2014
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lowdrag said:
Which is why for 15 years since I moved here my cars have stayed on UK plates.
What a puerile excuse !

Registering both modern euroboxes and older cars via the FFVE is childs play even for those who's language skills are not as well honed as you say yours are.

I think we can all take an educated guess as to why you illeglly stay on UK plates even if you're not big enough to admit it.

lowdrag

13,032 posts

220 months

Saturday 20th December 2014
quotequote all
Well, thank you for the compliments, and a happy Xmas to you too! Actually, having had my cars a long time I am rather attached to them, and the plates too. Both cars are fairly well known in the Jaguar community both here and in the UK. And as regards your insinuation, which no doubt refer to radars, I still have my UK licence which under EU law I am not required to change to a French one.

I did go to the prefecture about the XKSS but was told not a prayer, and haven't pursued the matter since. Anyway, I wonder how much their eyes would have rolled if, having originally registered it as a Lynx D I then told them it had become an XKSS.They would have thrown the book at me. I discussed the matter with Cecil cars too, who had another Lynx for sale, and they were emphatic that it would have to stay on UK plates but that they had a tame insurer who would insure it in France. As regards the E-type, after over 30 years I am somewhat attached to her as she is thank you very much.

If it is now as easy as you say it is to register a re3plica here, the news doesn't seem to have reached the Sarthe, but I am at an Xmas meeting in the morning and will discuss with friends there.