Buying a French car in France for use in France

[squareflops]

Duplication in the title aside the situation is as follows. My mum and her Swedish partner have recently purchased a place in France to retire, very rural in an area about an hour south of Le Mans, roughly equidistant between Angers and Tours. They're looking to stay there for the foreseeable future and French transport is required. The car will be used for bumbling back and forth to the shops in etc so only a run-around is needed (Peugeot 206/207 type thing or similar) roughly 2.5-3k worth.

Based on their experience trying to buy a car so far it seems that it's quite different to the UK style at least. From what I've been told there aren't really any 2nd hand car dealerships with anything approaching what they're after (everything's 10k+ at dealerships). When they approach a private seller the response 3 times has been "yes we'll transport the car to you with the paperwork, please have cash ready to give to the driver". This would be seen as a scam in the UK; I certainly wouldn't buy a car this way. Is this standard fare in France? Basically I'm asking for advice for the best way to buy a 2.5k car in France for a couple who aren't yet particularly oh fey with the nuance of the French 2nd hand car market.

Thanks in advance

[sunbeam alpine]

I think they will struggle to find anything from a dealer within the price range you mention. Customer protection law has pretty much killed the cheap second-hand car market over here*. I think you'd need to be looking at a minimum of 5-6k to get anything from a garage. I've never heard of the "we'll bring the car to you" method of selling, and it certainly sounds a bit scammy.

• I'm actually in Belgium, very close to the French border but I have a lot of contacts with garages in Northern France. All the garages I know sell cheap cars to buyers from Poland etc. as the obligations on them regarding guarantees etc. are much stronger than the UK

[squareflops]

Hmm interesting. Cheers for the reply bud. It does seem odd that there's a (presumably) huge portion of the market that isn't catered for out there. Was wondering if the delivery thing would be to do with the distances involved as France is a big old place but as you say doesn't really seem normal.

[ElectricSoup]

Try searching zoomcar:

https://zoomcar.fr/liste/index?q=peugeot%20206&amp...

[leyorkie]

Try Le bon coin and search for your area
Are they here yet?
Lots of local garages with cheap cars not dealers though so you need to drive round and look at what’s on forecourt

https://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/1658725984.htm/

I’m between Tours and Le Mans so not so far away if you want anymore information

[Kev_Mk3]

cars are not cheap in france. Maybe buy a LHD car in the uk and drive it over then register?

[rdjohn]

I live near Saumur, which must be close to where they are buying.

Like Leyorkie, I am happy to give them a hand. I have bought new and pre-owned from dealers and through Leboncoin. I have not experienced what you say. The biggest problem is spotting scams if selling through Leboncoin.

I also know a very reliable garage for maintenance, they also have cars to sell.

I am happy for them to PM me if they want help.

[magooagain]

There are also many many English Facebook car for sale pages in SW France. Some are dept orientated.

Some are LHD and some are RHD but allready French registered.

I think I'm right in saying that any car you buy must have at least 18months mot (ct) on it.

[squareflops]

Thank you guys, especially to the offers of assistance, that's massively appreciated. I'm going to pass this thread on to her so she can have a read and might actually take up the offer leyorkie/rdjohn as local knowledge is hard to beat

rdjohn (& leyorkie) I've heard her mention Saumur many times so think you may be quite local, she's near La Fleche. I'll be out there in 3 weeks to have my first look at the place.

A glimpse into the many challenges of French life for a Brit

Thanks again guys.

[rdjohn]

I think that in Sarthe, leyorkie will be ahead of me on local knowledge.

Just another thought, our cleaners have recently bought a couple of cars that I thought the price was way over the odds. That was because they are looking at paying €X/ month from a dealer rather than what you can buy for €10k cash.

This is what is currently available nearby

https://www.leboncoin.fr/recherche/?category=2&amp...

[leyorkie]

I’m near La Flèche 20kms,
Search leboncoin using La Flèche.
It shouldn’t be too difficult to find something suitable.

[Kev_Mk3]

leyorkie said:

I’m near La Flèche 20kms,
Search leboncoin using La Flèche.
It shouldn’t be too difficult to find something suitable.

as are we

[Pamviking]

Hi everyone.. Pleased to read about the response. Yes its us Squareflops are asking for... Never been in this forum before since im totally convinced i know it all ;-) ... However it seems like im on thin ice in France.

We used the marketplace in FB ,the autoscout and some oovvov thingy .. no luck so far just some odd answers likely to be scams.
we also driven past and asked a couple of dealerships without luck.

and yes .. we are just 5 minutes from Zoo La Fleche. I will try the suggestions received so far, but feel free to give more suggestions.

Regards .. Ingemar and Pam

[Scabutz]

Pamviking said:

Never been in this forum before since im totally convinced i know it all ;-)

Sounds like you'll fit right in

[squareflops]

Hi mum

Some great info so far. Hopefully will be a good pointer in the right direction.

I'm going before baby photos start getting shared

[leyorkie]

Here you go put up for sale on the 8th

https://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/1657090067.htm/

[Pamviking]

Thanks Leyorkie ... sent contact request on that and a nice c3 found in Tours

[leyorkie]

I’m assuming you have not bought before in France.
The carte gris equivalent to a v5 is signed with time and date of purchase, there is also a certificate of non gage which confirms that there are no outstanding offences or fines on the car.
I’m not fully up to date with the procedure since it went on line but if you get stuck just pm me
Stuart

[TFatC]

Looks like there are a few of us in the area then (I am just outside La Chatre sur le Loir) but my place is a Maison Secondaire at the moment. I know that to access the ANTS (online system to register the car) you have to be legally resident in France and provide your tax number. You can get someone to do this for you (but they have to declare you are tax resident on your behalf). They are currently clamping down on this with big penalties so a lot of garages are no longer offering the service. It is illegal to register a car in a country you are not resident in (not just France but EU wide) but has not been enforced in France up to now.

This means if your house is a second home (like mine) then you cannot legally register a car here in your name. Not massively enforced yet but some insurance companies are using it to wriggle out of claims. The only thing to do is keep a UK registered car here, but it has to be kept UK road legal, ie return to UK for an MOT each year and be taxed in the UK. Insurance can be problematic with this approach....

As with everything in France it is a minefield and confusion reigns, but that is part of what makes it France. I keep an MOT & Tax exempt car here, accept it is not insured when I am not here and usually drive here from Aberdeen anyway so have 2 cars to use.

I am here until the end of the month so if anyone wants to meet up or call in for a beer/brew let me know. Marcon Classic this weekend as well.

[magooagain]

I think it will end up being that you must be a French tax payer and home owner to be able to own a car in your name here.
Otherwise fiscally French.