Bringing your car to France

[le2012]

Sorry to overdo the subject ... I was following David's posts until he decided not to bring the Mercedes. (We were hoping to import our Mercedes Wagon). Could those of you with car (and French import) knowledge give an opinion on which of the following would be most likely to be accepted as an import?

1999 Mercedes E320 Wagon (US model)
1988 BMW 535is (US model)

1969 Alfa Romeo Giulia (originally registered in Italy, imported to US in 2003)

Thanks for your help.

Leslie

[MataMata]

Originally Posted by le2012

Sorry to overdo the subject ... I was following David's posts until he decided not to bring the Mercedes. (We were hoping to import our Mercedes Wagon). Could those of you with car (and French import) knowledge give an opinion on which of the following would be most likely to be accepted as an import?

1999 Mercedes E320 Wagon (US model)
1988 BMW 535is (US model)

1969 Alfa Romeo Giulia (originally registered in Italy, imported to US in 2003)

Thanks for your help.

Leslie

Without further information it's difficult to predict how the Merc and BMW might fare but. The Alfa on the other hand should be a piece of cake.

As it's over 30 years old you will be able to register it as 'vehicule de collection' with an attestation from the FFVE instead of a C of C.

Definitely best of the 3 IMO too.

[le2012]

Originally Posted by MataMata

Without further information it's difficult to predict how the Merc and BMW might fare but. The Alfa on the other hand should be a piece of cake.

As it's over 30 years old you will be able to register it as 'vehicule de collection' with an attestation from the FFVE instead of a C of C.

Definitely best of the 3 IMO too.

Thanks. Our favorite, too! The Mercedes is a very USEFUL car, as we can haul in it. The Giulia, although it APPEARS small, is actually a wonderful roomy car. We haven't driven it much since moving to the midwest for the past 1.5 years. It would be great to have it out on winding roads, beautiful scenery.

Leslie

[rynd2it]

Originally Posted by le2012

Sorry to overdo the subject ... I was following David's posts until he decided not to bring the Mercedes. (We were hoping to import our Mercedes Wagon). Could those of you with car (and French import) knowledge give an opinion on which of the following would be most likely to be accepted as an import?

1999 Mercedes E320 Wagon (US model)
1988 BMW 535is (US model)

1969 Alfa Romeo Giulia (originally registered in Italy, imported to US in 2003)

Thanks for your help.

Leslie

The easiest way to discover if the car will or may not comply is to contact the manufacturer in France and ask for the Certificat de Conformite - all they need is the VIN.

If they say YES you are OK to bring it, any other reply is risky, possible but risky as the modifications that could be required could be very expensive.

My 2003 (German built) Mercedes definitely did not comply.

Cheers

[Bevdeforges]

A couple of further points on bringing over a car (even a German one) purchased in the US - mostly related to US car standards vs. French/European:

You mention having a "roomy" car (not sure which one you're referring to) - depending on where you'll be in France, there are some amazingly tiny roads, with stone walls on either side. It's bad enough with the European sized SUVs here, but I can't even imagine some of the larger US cars trying to navigate some typical French roads. It's common for one car to give way to another - but sometimes there is barely room to pull off to the side to let a large car pass.

I remember when the US was switching to unleaded gas and established the smaller size gas nozzle and receptacle for lead-free gas. In France they never changed the size of the nozzles - and all gas nozzles are the same size. Not sure how the smaller US size receptacle would work with the full sized European nozzle. (Or perhaps that would be one of the things on the car you'd have to replace.)
Cheers,
Bev

[rynd2it]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

A couple of further points on bringing over a car (even a German one) purchased in the US - mostly related to US car standards vs. French/European:

You mention having a "roomy" car (not sure which one you're referring to) - depending on where you'll be in France, there are some amazingly tiny roads, with stone walls on either side. It's bad enough with the European sized SUVs here, but I can't even imagine some of the larger US cars trying to navigate some typical French roads. It's common for one car to give way to another - but sometimes there is barely room to pull off to the side to let a large car pass.

I remember when the US was switching to unleaded gas and established the smaller size gas nozzle and receptacle for lead-free gas. In France they never changed the size of the nozzles - and all gas nozzles are the same size. Not sure how the smaller US size receptacle would work with the full sized European nozzle. (Or perhaps that would be one of the things on the car you'd have to replace.)
Cheers,
Bev

Mercedes E class is a BIG car by French standards and I second Bev's remarks, I drive a Peugeot 407 Wagon which is smaller than the E class and even it can be a pain to park and navigate country roads, my wife has quit driving because of it.

The gas nozzle is not an issue - I measured the US one back whenever and checked it against the French (and UK) sizes, it'll fit.

But your big issue is the registration and if the guy will sign off on it. You HAVE to have the CdC, read the full thread for all the issues I found on my CLK500.

Cheers

[RayRay]

Originally Posted by rynd2it

The easiest way to discover if the car will or may not comply is to contact the manufacturer in France and ask for the Certificat de Conformite - all they need is the VIN.

If they say YES you are OK to bring it, any other reply is risky, possible but risky as the modifications that could be required could be very expensive.

My 2003 (German built) Mercedes definitely did not comply.

Cheers

David

You're an absolute wizard when it comes to specific, actionable information. We were hoping to bring over our MINI and this, hopefully, is what it will take to find out if it's possible.

Thanks!

Ray

[rynd2it]

Originally Posted by RayRay

David

You're an absolute wizard when it comes to specific, actionable information. We were hoping to bring over our MINI and this, hopefully, is what it will take to find out if it's possible.

Thanks!

Ray

Thanks Ray, it did take quite a bit of research to come up with all this and a lot of help from others on here as you can see by the dialog.

Bon chance

[le2012]

Thanks to all of you for the incredibly helpful information and good support. You have saved us a LOT of time and given us "heads up" on things we would not have thought about in advance.

Leslie

[monza]

Hello everyone. Thanks for all the info on this. I am currently resident in France and a couple of weeks ago I bought a BMW in Germany and drove it to France to get it registered. I have bought cars in Germany before and registered them in France with no probs, it's just a tedious process.

Anyway, back to the BMW, fully registered in Germany, TUF (MOT) certificate, all in order. Got to France, phoned up BMW France for the conformity letter, just be told that as the car originated in the US it will not comply!!! I explained that it was registered in Germany under european law and that all the work was already done - headlights, etc.... Their response? France only cares of the origin of the car!!!! So much for the idea of a European union with free borders!!!!!

So they are charging me 250 euros to send me a letter of non-conformity - great :-(

Any, I have to take the car to the DREAL for inspection but have been warned to not count on it passing!!! To register for inspection is about 150 euros!!!

Next step is to wait for an appointment for the inspection. Cost of this will depend on the number of hours they decide they need to inspect the car. I am guessing 200 to 500 euros!!!!

Then a 3 week wait for the answer. Either no - export the car within 3 months or Yes - change this and that. The cost - who knows.

Needless to say, I am amazed at this, and more at BMW. Just unbelievable.

Anyway, I thought I'd share with you as I am committed and there is no way back for me!

Vive la France - not in this case ;-)