Hi,

I hope you are correct but I had to prove to AXa that I wqas actively trying to obtain a Carte Gris. It is not the insurance companies who are clamping down but the government I believe.

Good luck.

Regards

Matthew

 

Keep the US plates on for 12 months . Drive on a US driving licence & with your US insurance with over seas green card . Thats what Brits do. That way you have lots of time to sort it out . Unless I was going to be permenantly domicliled in France / Suisse . I'd leave Jag in USA , lease /hire a local Peugeot / Citroen for my time overseas...

 

That's what a lot of Brits USED to do, but the authorities here are getting tougher and the insurance companies in the UK will not cover you if you no longer have an address in the UK, ie you've moved house to France.

 

Dear all,

I am very interested by this thread because I own a 2009 XF V6 3.0, purchased last year in Dubai (where I still live, but going back to France this summer) and I really would like to import the car in France.

I contacted Jaguar France who informed me they cannot deliver any "certificat de conformité" and they strongly recommended not to import the car, because I could end up not being able to register it at all.... (however they didn't provide any explanations..)

Dave, you seem quite aware of this, would it be possible to get in touch ?

Is there anyone on this forum who actually imported a Jag from Dubai or other non European country without even a partial "Certificat de Conformité" from Jaguar France ? What kind of changes might be needed on the car (it's a LHD) ? I heard that Dubai cars do not have catalytic exhaust.. how much could this cost ?

Also, once the car reached France, can I keep the UAE export plates for a while and insure the car ? I'll try and call AXA..

Thanks in advance for your useful advices,

Hervé

 

Bonjour from France and welcome to the forum. Jaguar France are right in saying that they will not be able to provide an EU Certificate of Conformity, because you car was not 'built for the EU'. You can import your car into the EU, but it is going to be a PITA: you will need to obtain a single vehicle conformity certificate and this can take months.

I imported my XKR from the UK and this is relatively painless, once you know the procedure (I have lived over here for 25 years, so I know how the French like to operate), but in your case it might be a lot simpler to sell your Jag in Dubai and buy another one over here.

In answer to your last question: you can keep the UAE plates on the car as long as you don't drive or park it on a public road. For that, you will need provisional W plates while you wait for all the documents to come through. This can take months and the W plate is only valid 30 days, I believe. You might also have problems getting insurance over 30 days as they will require a Carte Grise (V5/logbook) and definitive registration documents after that. See, it's a minefield!

 

Thanks for your reply. I have tried to sell it in Dubai, but what I get for it is about half of what it's worth in France (even though I don't intend to sell it, but if I want to buy an equivalent one in France it will be much more expensive..).

So.. I'm ready to start the import process if 1/ I am 100% sure that eventually, I'll be able to drive it and 2/ it doesn't cost me more than 2 or 3 thousands euros (excluding the shipment which costs about 3k€).

I guess you are referring to the "réception à titre isolé or RTI" of the vehicle, which I had spotted, my problem is that I have no way (apart from your experience) to know how to avoid a refusal of the RTI.. And these people are unreachable... I'm going to France next week, I might go and visit them directly..

thebiglad was referring to a first step of importing the car first in the UK, does it help ?

Thanks again,
Hervé

 

Salut Hervé, I too think you are going to have problems with your car regarding importing it into France.

But I have a question which is at the base of all of this: where was the car 1st registered? In Dubai or somewhere within the European Union?

If it was 1st registered in any country within the EU that's one thing, and should be relatively straightforward, if it was 1st reg. In Dubai, it's another.

A Friend a mine bought a beetle whilst living in France and the origin of the car was the USA where it was built. He was able to get a partial certificat of conformité which merely listed the differences between an EU spec car and his own. This contrôle was performed by DRIRE.

But the single most important element is where the car was 1st registered as this will give it's market spec.

If you would like to PM me your VIN number I will try to do further investigation for you?

à la vôtre

David

PS I do not believe that registering your car in the UK before registering in France will help you IF it was first registered at new outwith the EU.

 

Hi Dave,

Thanks for your reply. For some reason I cannot mp, so here is the VIN : SAJAA06D59FR19161.

The car was first registered in Dubai and always stayed in UAE.

Cheers,
Hervé

 

@hdelplan, if you will be in France next week, go and visit a DREAL (note spelling) office in the department where you want to register the car.

I presume you speak French, the DREAL will be able to tell you exactly what is required for your area, and yes, this is France and requirements can vary.

In theory you should not have a problem: providing that the car is equipped as standard with EU emissions and safety equipment.

From according to French Gov't guidelines, you may have been badly advised by the official you talked to, see end paragraphs in this link.

Acquisition d'un véhicule d'occasion à l'étranger - Service-public.fr

But, your cost equations, need thinking about. Transport, taxes, charges, and if you have to install a full catalytic system on a soon to be 5 yr old Jag.....

Even if as you say the price is not high in Dubai, don't think for one minute that you will get top dollar on a 'grey' import here in France, if you choose to try to sell the car in the future.

If you are planning on keeping it for the duration, then OK. Cheap Lux car + some charges may = lower than local market prices.

My last non EU import was a rag top merc AMG 500 from Japan, shipped to USA, onward to UK, registered by the agents in UK, then here in France, I was involved in the French bit.

What I would recommend is that you contact and possibly pay a localized Dubai car export outfit, they will most certainly have experience in shipping/registering exotica in the EU, and can take away all the pain.

 

It won't actually be worth anything in France, because it won't have the carte grise, etc.

 

Hi,

It can be done! I purchased a Jaguar XK8 here in France where I spend about six months of the year. The car had been built for the US market and came back into the UK in 2008, it was then purchased by a French resident who kept the UK registration K11 DVD. It was always my intention to register the car in France and I managed to insure the car with AXA but after several months they indicated that I had to get the car registered. The process is complex but as long as you have original documents you will be able to register the car. I got a partial CoC from Jaguar France, Jaguar UK and US were no help at all. As others have said get the CT first. Once I had the CoC I made and appointment with the DREAL and he inspected that car thoroughly, he did not like the bumper marker lights/reflectors and the fog light tell on the switch did not work. He did not want to see the car again, photographic evidence would suffice!! I took the bumper lights out covered them with sellotape, painted them the same colour as the car put them back in and took the photographs, I replaced the light switch and again took a photograph. I sent the documents back by email and he asked a couple of questions and then a few days later in came the Certificate. Back to the local prefecture who up till then had been very helpful bur suddenly they could not help. (I think I got there too early for them 8.30). I went to the department prefecture and made one mall mistake I took a photocopy of one document and was refused the Carte Gris. I went back later in the week and within ten minutes had the carte Gris and ten minutes after that my number plates. It can be a tortuous process, but it can be done, this is the second car I have registered in France, the first was a Reliant Scimitar GTC and as Reliant have long gone, I had to provide all sort of different documents. If I can be of any further help please do not hesitate to contact by the forum or PM. The authorities are clamping down on cars with non French plates and insurance companies are refusing insurance if the car is not registered in France. I drove the Scimitar for over a year on UK plates, could not do that now.

Regards and good luck

 

Further to Matthew's post above, you should also be aware that the French authorities are clamping down on gas guzzlers and cars emitting high levels of CO2 (like our XK8/Rs). Basically, they want to discourage people importing more 'dirty' cars into the country. This site can help you calculate the cost of obtaining the carte grise.

 

Bonjour,
Je souhaite importer une XK8 des USA.
Pour obtenir le fameux certificat, Jaguar me précise que je devrai faire peser le vehicule plein et faire frapper le N°VIN sur le chassis, à côté du N° existant.
Est-ce bien tout ce que je devrai faire ?

 

Il faut passer par DRIRE ou DREAL pour obtenir un attestation d'identité du véhicule.

Cordialement

David

 

Bonjour Hervé, pour prendre un attestation d'indentité, il faut passer le véhicule par DRIRE ou DREAL pour un contrôle.

Cordialement

David

 

Hervé, David,

All posts on the forum in English please.

Merci à tous,
Graham

 

Sorry Sir !
I apologize, but my English is so bad ...

 

Sorry boss, I was just trying to help Hervé. Won't do it again, promise.

Dave

 

Hervé,

Votre Anglais est meilleur que mon Français. Je parle le Français comme une vache Espagnole!

..... and now back to English for all of us.

Graham

 

Hi, i insured my xk8 with an English speaking Allianz agent over the phone. I just got my French paltes after two years........... I think they had a deadline to get it registered in France, but they never bugged me about it :-)