Needed help with importing non-EU Defender to France

Thornegator · Oct 23, 2019

Hello all,
I have been searching around and found some helpful threads, but not the answers to my questions yet....
My family, myself and my 110 are relocating from Australia next year and I would like some help to better understand the situation with bringing non-EU vehicles into France. I understand that a CoC in needed to start the process and that it can be the main hurdle in the process. What I am curious about is how the system works; to my understanding it can be a case of who you ask for help on what given day will dictate the success you have in the process. Is this true? Does anyone have advice or people I should talk with?

Thank you,
Taylor

Shippers · Oct 23, 2019

Number 1 thing to do is get an agent to sort it for you... I have no experience in France but a UK vehicle into Portugal is a nightmare.. .COC can be a problem depending on how helpfull dealers are.. Online suppliers don't provide the full paperwork and not accepted here but don't know about France...

Thornegator · Oct 23, 2019

Shippers said:
Number 1 thing to do is get an agent to sort it for you... I have no experience in France but a UK vehicle into Portugal is a nightmare.. .COC can be a problem depending on how helpfull dealers are.. Online suppliers don't provide the full paperwork and not accepted here but don't know about France...

Thank you Shippers! An agent it is, first order of business.

Shippers · Oct 23, 2019

Have tagged @Datatek and @frog hopper they're both France based might throw some advice your way...

frog hopper · Oct 23, 2019

Hello matey, all I can do is tell what happened with me. Bare in mind this was 12 odd years ago.
I imported a LHD Disco into France, 1st hurdle was getting the CoC (certificate of conformety) which I paid through the nose for from a main stealer near to me, I have since found out that I could have got it from LR direct far cheaper.
I then had a problem with the LPG system, in that it had to be certified by the Ministery of Mines because it was a potential explosive risk (dont ask!) as it happened the system had been installed and certified less than 12 months before, so although they didn't like it (cos it was done in the UK) they had to honour the certification.
I then had to have it tested in the same way as an MOT in the UK.
I could then compile a dossier to include proof of ownership, proof of residence, proof of identity, loads of forms basically begging for my arse to be kicked, but all went well and I was successful. This even though the Disco was originally registered in the Sultanate of Oman, but in the meantime it had been imported into the UK.

Right then, that's that load of sh1te out the way. Nowadays the system is similar in that you still need all the paperwork, and a CT (mot) but you now take your dossier to a garage or insurance co who do it for you, this because in their wisdom the authorities have made it compulsory to make the application via the internet. This has meant that there is a market created to help old duffers like me who have trouble jumping through all the hoops that can appear on an online form. There is of course a charge for this but it's currently around €20. It is possible to do it all yourself, but I can assure you, the French take great pleasure in making the whole thing what could be called "A significant emotional experience".

It may be that your best course of action would be to import it into the UK first, to at least get it into the EU community as it were, but I expect you can see a potential here for more grief. Have a look at Angloinfo online, there should still be some helpfull details on their website.

Anyway, good luck with it all.

Shippers · Oct 23, 2019

Thanks @frog hopper ...

Ian M in France · Oct 23, 2019

frog hopper said:
Hello matey, all I can do is tell what happened with me. Bare in mind this was 12 odd years ago.
I imported a LHD Disco into France, 1st hurdle was getting the CoC (certificate of conformety) which I paid through the nose for from a main stealer near to me, I have since found out that I could have got it from LR direct far cheaper.
I then had a problem with the LPG system, in that it had to be certified by the Ministery of Mines because it was a potential explosive risk (dont ask!) as it happened the system had been installed and certified less than 12 months before, so although they didn't like it (cos it was done in the UK) they had to honour the certification.
I then had to have it tested in the same way as an MOT in the UK.
I could then compile a dossier to include proof of ownership, proof of residence, proof of identity, loads of forms basically begging for my arse to be kicked, but all went well and I was successful. This even though the Disco was originally registered in the Sultanate of Oman, but in the meantime it had been imported into the UK.

Right then, that's that load of sh1te out the way. Nowadays the system is similar in that you still need all the paperwork, and a CT (mot) but you now take your dossier to a garage or insurance co who do it for you, this because in their wisdom the authorities have made it compulsory to make the application via the internet. This has meant that there is a market created to help old duffers like me who have trouble jumping through all the hoops that can appear on an online form. There is of course a charge for this but it's currently around €20. It is possible to do it all yourself, but I can assure you, the French take great pleasure in making the whole thing what could be called "A significant emotional experience".

It may be that your best course of action would be to import it into the UK first, to at least get it into the EU community as it were, but I expect you can see a potential here for more grief. Have a look at Angloinfo online, there should still be some helpfull details on their website.

Anyway, good luck with it all.

The new system is hard for the French to do on line, my son and his wife (who is French) took 3 attempts to change ownership of a French car, so for a import I think it would be near impossible, you might also have to pay some import tax as car comes from outside EU,you will need a paper from the tax office to say there is no tax to pay or that you have paid the taxes on it, other problem you might have is getting the C of C if it is not built to the same spec as the EU ones, might be good to check these things before shipping, If you can not get a C of C you can get a dreal inspection which will check to see if it complies
try looking at this
https://www.frenchentree.com/living-in-france/importing-a-uk-vehicle-and-registering-it-in-france/
and good luck hope it all goes well with the car and the move

Shippers · Oct 23, 2019

Should have tagged you as well forgot good advice...

Thornegator · Nov 3, 2019

Thank you all very much! Really appreciate the help and experience. I suspect that the whole process will be similar to attempting to move mountains with chopsticks.....but it is what we do for our cars, huh. I did not know about the dreal inspection, that may be helpful if LR will not provide a CoC to outside EU vehicles. What I do know is that the Australian and British spec are very similar, save for standard AC. So, I am hoping (not holding my breath) that spec similarities will be in line.

Thank you all again,

Needed help with importing non-EU Defender to France

Thornegator

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Shippers

Well-Known Member

Thornegator

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Shippers

Well-Known Member

frog hopper

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Shippers

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Ian M in France

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Shippers

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Thornegator

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