vehicle rental/lease

[tigersharkjs]

Hello:
My husband and I are planning a 6 month trip to France as a trial for living there. We are wondering if anyone has advice on renting/leasing a vehicle in France over that amount of time. We are coming from the USA, so there is no question of bringing our own vehicle! We have tentatively arranged a 2 month rental in Limousin (between Poitiers and Limoges), and a 4 month rental in St-Marsal, near Perpignan. The one rental firm I quicly checked, Auto Europe would cost about USD 1,000.00 per month!!! More than the cottage rental per month. Surely, there must be a better way? Thanks!...Janice

[Bevdeforges]

Not entirely sure how it works, but you may want to consider buying a vehicle (new or used) for that period of time. Assuming you have your visa situation sorted, it is supposed to be possible to purchase a car without having to pay VAT on it. You get special license plates that are good only for the duration of your stay.

I think you'd have to arrange for it through a car dealer, as the deal seems to be that you resell the car to the dealer at an agreed upon price - and then the dealer resells it as used.

Like I said, I'm not sure how the details work out, but I have seen a few of these "temporary plate" cars on display on a dealer's lot here. Perhaps if you contact some of the car companies.
Cheers,
Bev

[tigersharkjs]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

Not entirely sure how it works, but you may want to consider buying a vehicle (new or used) for that period of time. Assuming you have your visa situation sorted, it is supposed to be possible to purchase a car without having to pay VAT on it. You get special license plates that are good only for the duration of your stay.

I think you'd have to arrange for it through a car dealer, as the deal seems to be that you resell the car to the dealer at an agreed upon price - and then the dealer resells it as used.

Like I said, I'm not sure how the details work out, but I have seen a few of these "temporary plate" cars on display on a dealer's lot here. Perhaps if you contact some of the car companies.
Cheers,
Bev

Hi Bev:
Thanks! Yeah..the visa thing..we don't need one as long as our stay does not exceed 6 months as I understand it. Perhaps some other expat members would jump in and share experiences? I'll try googling some car dealers.

[pavot]

My understanding of the visa situation, from reading all of the information on the Frency embassy websites in the US, is that the six months can't be continuous. I believe its only 3 months at a time, for a total of 6 months per 12 month period. If I'm wrong, I'd sure like to know that. No doubt some other members have more information.

[Bevdeforges]

I was wondering about that in your case. You need a visa if your stay will exceed 90 days. That's part of the Schengen agreements, and just coincidentally the part of the immigration law I happened to run afoul of when I first came here almost 15 years ago.

You should probably contact your closest French consulate to see about getting yourselves some visas. Things can get very sticky without them, trust me.
Cheers,
Bev

[tigersharkjs]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

I was wondering about that in your case. You need a visa if your stay will exceed 90 days. That's part of the Schengen agreements, and just coincidentally the part of the immigration law I happened to run afoul of when I first came here almost 15 years ago.

You should probably contact your closest French consulate to see about getting yourselves some visas. Things can get very sticky without them, trust me.
Cheers,
Bev

Yes, my mistake! I gleaned the 6 month deal from this forum, actually! So, do we have to leave the EU, or just leave France? I will check into the visa, of course, as it's no big deal to get one! I sure wish they worried more about "illegals" and people looking to work undocumented, etc, than a couple of old folks looking to come and spend a lot of their money enjoying France! Sorry, had to throw in my rant!

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by tigersharkjs

I sure wish they worried more about "illegals" and people looking to work undocumented, etc, than a couple of old folks looking to come and spend a lot of their money enjoying France! Sorry, had to throw in my rant!

The same rant applies to most countries these days - especially the US. Feel free to rant away!
Cheers,
Bev