Prices in France

[lowdrag]

An old topic this, but I never cease to be amazed. Being asthmatic and having had a bad bout of bronchitis I decided to stop carrying my golf bag and to buy an electric trolley because I am looking to the future and I am no spring chicken. So I look up Powakaddy C2 and find it in Paris for €1,099. So I check the price in the UK and it is £550. We needed a new mattress after 20 years but the bed is UK king size, so we tried a few shops to see if they could help. Yes, we found one, but the memory foam mattress was - wait for it - €3,300. Again on line, found a perfect choice in the UK (based on "best buy" reviews by the Independent and Telegraph) for £600. Finally, and you'll all know this one I hope - paint. We need to redecorate the main lounge/diner after work having been done. 10 litres of Dulux emulsion at Do it All £12, here at Leroy Merlin, €69.

Everything was delivered today by a company called Channel Hopper, and having had one occasion when I used Shiply and never saw my goods (and everyone denied responsibility|) I was a bit uneasy, but I needed to have no such worries. Kept in touch all the time, email saying delivery between 0900 and 1100 in two days time, and bang on 1000 he was here this morning. Great service. I'll be using them again. No affiliation etc. just a very satisfied customer. Now where did I put that paint roller?

ETA;- and the charge for delivery was a very reasonable £210 VAT included. So a saving overall of several thousand pounds.

[paulwirral]

When I built my house over there I saved a huge amount by buying what I could here and taking it with me , i needed a pick up truck when I was there to do the build anyway so every time I travelled down there I took a truck load of whatever I needed with me .
One example I remember was skimming beads , 80p here €2.10 over there , I even took a flat pack kitchen with me , as well as a pickup full of plaster.
I even took bits and pieces of tools and the like for others I'd met down there .
I did notice it was starting to even out a little towards the end of the build , brick depot started to get somewhere near the price point of England on certain things .
There's something wrong when you can buy the exact same champagne cheaper in Tesco than you can in leclerc

[lowdrag]

Last year Carrefour were, to be fair, selling Nicolas Feuillatte at €12.50 a bottle if you had a Carrefour card. I bought several dozen and still have some in the cellar. It pays to shop around even in France. Last week Carte Noire coffee was €4.50 the three packets of 250 gms in Carrefour and €10 in Super U. But we are both right in that in the main any price on the internet is cheaper in the UK than in France. M&S pee me off by refusing to deliver to France saying I must buy from their french store. Not long back there was a £10 difference just on one polo shirt.

[rdjohn]

I am toying with the new Mercedes A-Class that was announced in Geneva.

A quick look at the UK website and you can compare it with the model it is replacing. Old model about £20,000; new model about £25,000. The effects of Brexit was my first thought.

Price of the new car in France €32,000 - That’s France for you, I thought, but the price in Germany is exactly the same. Could buy it a bit cheaper here in Spain, but then get walloped for import tax when I register it in Dept 49. Spec the car that you really want and Ouch!

So much for the single market.

[lowdrag]

Do what I did - wait until it is a year old and buy in Germany. I bought five years back a C-class estate from Munich. Full two years Mercedes warranty, one year old ad 15,000 kms, and the equivalent price here in France was €36,000. I paid €24,000 there. I still, have the car of course, not one problem at all apart from the usual servicing which I have done locally, and it runs like clockwork. Look on Mercerdes-Benz.de

[jas xjr]

Business opportunity for someone?

[rdjohn]

lowdrag said:

Do what I did - wait until it is a year old and buy in Germany. I bought five years back a C-class estate from Munich. Full two years Mercedes warranty, one year old ad 15,000 kms, and the equivalent price here in France was €36,000. I paid €24,000 there. I still, have the car of course, not one problem at all apart from the usual servicing which I have done locally, and it runs like clockwork. Look on Mercerdes-Benz.de

That way, you get the car that is available, rather than the exact spec you want. In fairness a 1-year old car from a dealer in France has a reasonable spec, or discount, and no import registration tax.

Of course with a single market, I should be able to visit a UK showroom and order exactly what I want, at the UK price, delivered to my preferred location. But things never quite worked out that way. The same car in the US would be massively less, despite tariffs and shipping costs.

Incidentally, how much, tax did you pay in Dept 72, it is usually a lot for cars less than 5-years old with petrol engines and reasonable power in 49?

There are plenty of sound businesses already. I bought a new Alfa from a garage just south of Lyon that brought them en mass from Milan on a transporter. I just traded my old one over the phone, at a huge discount. I think that Garages east of Dijon also do reasonable business in Porsches and BMW etc.

Elite-Auto are OK if you are happy with a 10% discount and selling your old car privately.

[pfsv427sc01]

Slightly off topic, but I am considering buying a secondhand 2-3 year old Ford Mustang and can get 5-8,000 Euro less in Germany than in France, but for a US imported model rather than a direct export by Ford. Assuming it has been registered in Germany, it should not be an issue getting it reregistered here in France, should it ??

[lowdrag]

rdjohn said:

That way, you get the car that is available, rather than the exact spec you want. In fairness a 1-year old car from a dealer in France has a reasonable spec, or discount, and no import registration tax.

Of course with a single market, I should be able to visit a UK showroom and order exactly what I want, at the UK price, delivered to my preferred location. But things never quite worked out that way. The same car in the US would be massively less, despite tariffs and shipping costs.

Incidentally, how much, tax did you pay in Dept 72, it is usually a lot for cars less than 5-years old with petrol engines and reasonable power in 49?

There are plenty of sound businesses already. I bought a new Alfa from a garage just south of Lyon that brought them en mass from Milan on a transporter. I just traded my old one over the phone, at a huge discount. I think that Garages east of Dijon also do reasonable business in Porsches and BMW etc.

Elite-Auto are OK if you are happy with a 10% discount and selling your old car privately.

This is Europe, so no import duty, the dealer gave me one month number plates to drive it home, then it cost about €500 to register the car. That was it, apart from the train fare to get to Munich and then drive it home. If you are set on a personal specification then you are stuck, but I just bought one of 12 that Mercedes were selling off. It had GPS, radar parking, auto box, and that was about that. I chose the colour from what was available. The dealership was enormous with five levels, and an enormous choice from classics to yesterday.

https://flic.kr/p/25hJvuh

[Ej74]

Is there not rule that states you need to have owned the car for 6 months prior to importation

Malus tax seems also to be very steep if you import a car

[Fatt McMissile]

Imported cars are charged for registration in the same way as if they were new, ie more than s/h cars.

I've been looking at buying a replacement 1 yr old Passat estate, and at first glance they seem much cheaper in the UK because I'm looking at the cheapest ones there rather than what I actually want and have priced here. Also I couldn't find any for sale in the UK or France with xenon or led headlights ( I find driving in the dark more difficult these days) whereas there's quite a few in Germany and no more expensive than those lower spec available in France.

My problem is that we have to transfer the readies from the UK to buy it and I know that the day after I do they'll cancel brexiit. the pound will fly, and I shall be regretting it for months afterwards!

You don't have to have owned the car yourself for six months prior to importation EJ, but it must have been already registered for more than six months to avoid being charged VAT.

[lowdrag]

A comment on importing from the UK. Xenon lights, from what I've seen, can be switched to LHD and RHD. I looked at buying a Skoda from the UK and was given a very useful tip. Skoda Aldershot deal a lot with the army and sell LHD. However, if the requirement is six months ownership before importing the car that's not much use.

[Fatt McMissile]

If buying new in the UK (probably same in other countries) to export you can get a refund of VAT, "You’ll need to get a V561 certificate of permanent export. Apply for one using form V756. The address to send it to is on the form." Then pay VAT in France so you don't pay twice.
Cars bought for export usually have a red line around the number plates?

Regarding the LHD/RHD headlights, it would pay to make sure on that before buying a UK car, as the price for a pair of xenons, bi-xenons, or LED headlamps for a newish car is eyewatering.

edit: You can't switch bi-xenons L/R

Edited by Fatt McMissile on Wednesday 21st March 16:29

[Ej74]

Thanks

I am being hit with a large malus tax for the import of my exceedingly non CO2 compliant car !
This car is a replacement for the Ariel Atom which as you may know can't be registered in France

The malus tax has increased by 2k over the last year
I must always remind myself the used price on the particular car in France is circa 30k Euros more

When you say registered - so it simply registered to whoever or to yourself six months prior to importing - having dirty thoughts about bring a 7 series over with me as well !

Cheers

[Fatt McMissile]

Don't do anything that could cost you money without doing some proper research on French government websites. Taking advice from me is like taking it from a bloke you've just met in the pub Thanks, mine's a pint. There's a lot of bs on this and most other French help forums, and some of it may be mine......

However from a French government website:
En matière d’échanges intracommunautaires est considéré comme véhicule neuf un véhicule ayant moins de 6 mois ou ayant parcouru moins de 6 000 km au jour de son importation en France et comme véhicule d’occasion un véhicule qui a plus de 6 mois et a parcouru plus de 6 000 km au jour de son introduction en France.

Note the 6000KM too.

I also noticed that the six months ownership before import applies to importing from non-EU countries, plus strings:
avoir résidé au moins 12 mois dans un pays situé hors de l’Union européenne ;
avoir utilisé le véhicule à titre privé depuis au moins six mois avant le transfert de résidence ;
avoir acquitté toutes les taxes douanières et/ou fiscales exigibles dans le pays de provenance ou d’origine du véhicule.

The quotes are from the government website https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr

[lowdrag]

Ej74 said:

Is there not rule that states you need to have owned the car for 6 months prior to importation

Malus tax seems also to be very steep if you import a car

Not so it seems. I paid for the Mercedes C class by bank transfer, caught the train, and drove it home the same day. I needed the quitus fiscal to prove that VAT had been paid in Germany, I needed the other form (forget the name) to prove that the registration in Germany had been cancelled (came with the sales docs), I paid for the carte grise and it was all over in a couple of hours. The car was one year old, 15,000 kms, and a Mercedes staff car, came with a two year all inclusive Mercedes warranty, and all I had to do was get the plates and take off the German ones. And most importantly €12,000 cheaper than in France.

[Fatt McMissile]

"Is there not rule that states you need to have owned the car for 6 months prior to importation"
Let's add "in order not to be charged TVA"
From countries outside the EU, yes. From inside the EU, no.


"Malus tax seems also to be very steep if you import a car "

For registration purposes/charges an imported car is treated as a new vehicle, understandably because it is new to France. Malus tax depends on the emissions of the car in question.

[magooagain]

Ej74 said:

Thanks


This car is a replacement for the Ariel Atom which as you may know can't be registered in France



Cheers

Last June I was participating on a hill climb and there was a French plated Atom there ,also have seen a couple at the Val de Vienne circuit on French plates.

[Mike-tf3n0]

Have imported three cars from the UK over the years, the most recent in 2015 and before that in 2012. These last two were put through the CT and reregisterd immediately on arrival in France, no mention of six months ownership in either case.

[Ej74]

Missed the boat - statement from Ariel importer France "You can import an UK Atom to France, no problem for this, but there will be no solution to register it in France (it's impossible to register Atoms here since about 4 years)."

On another related note how does track day insurance work here in France - I've seen the public liability insurance but what about damage to your own car