bazzer70

Me again!
I am in 2 minds whether to keep my beautiful rhd BMW which has done minimal mileage over its 10 years or to buy a new car in France for when I move there permanently.
lately I have been thinking it would make most sense to buy a car in France…
I will therefore sell my Uk car in UK and go to France to collect the new (Peugeot) car which I will have hopefully purchased to be collected in Calais. I chose Calais because I can easily get there - drive home, load up new French registered car with final belongings and drive down to Dordogne where I will then be living.
who has seen the pitfalls in my plan? I won’t be offended if you tell me it’s silly/unworkable or whatever but as always I am most grateful for input.

Bomber Harris

As a UK resident would be illegal for you to drive a foreign (French) registered car in the UK.

Pulaski

He already has a home in France, will have moved/ shipped most of his things to France, has sold/ is selling his home in the UK, and has been to France and bought a car, so it is far from clear that he will still be resident in the UK. .... I don't think so.

On the flip side, legally speaking anyone who arrives in the UK with the right to live there and the intention to do so, is deemed legally resident from the moment they clear immigration, so there are undoubtedly many people who technically fall foul of the "no residents can drive foreign-registered vehicles" rule each year, but I am not aware of it being an issue that anyone is focused on, except perhaps you.

Bomber Harris

He asked for any potential pitfalls, I merely listed one as per his request.
What he does with that information (if it applies to him) is entirely up to him so wind your neck in.

bazzer70

My head starting to hurt again.
so - I was hoping I’d pay for my French car and register it in France while I was still UK resident and then when my house sale was all sorted and my goods ready to be shipped to France I then take the ferry/train to Calais - collect said car from dealer and drive to UK in my French car…. Spend a week or 2 in UK and then drive back to France when I shall then register that date as the date my residency begins in France ((Irish passport).
But this would be illegal?
Do I actually specifically inform immigration at ferry port that it is now my intention to become a resident of France rather than a visitor when I make my move?
Seems there could be grey areas?
I certainly don’t want to be in an accident,say, and then it is discovered that technically I wasn’t allowed to be driving said car while deemed a UK resident.
thanks again

Bomber Harris

Yes it would be illegal, whether you would be discovered (if you did it) is anyone's guess.
Anyone stopped driving a foreign registered car in the UK would have to prove they've started the import to the UK process, or are not in fact a UK resident and therefore entitled to use it under the 6 month temporary import regime that applies to non residents of the UK.
https://www.gov.uk/importing-vehicle...porary-imports

bazzer70

Thanks again
I read the link and think I should be ok with my plan because I will technically be visiting the UK to do the final handover of house keys etc - in limbo as it were because I will have sold my “residence” in the UK
Hopefully they won’t be that picky should I be stopped.

EuroTrash

I don't see that as an issue to be honest, I trust that discretion is used when people are in the process of moving from one country to another. Really, who is going to fuss over a week or two this way or that. Driving a car registered in a country with which you have no connection is one thing, but that is not your situation because in the circumstances you would clearly have a strong connection with the UK.
Presumably the garage will sort out the carte grise, but I am just thinking that there might be a certain amount of faffing over insurance, depending for one thing on what papework your French insurance broker/company asks for so as to calculate your bonus malus - so allow time for that, don't plan on the basis of choosing a car one day and driving away in it the next.

bazzer70

Yes - timing is going to be an issue -
the car I want has a 12 week delivery time - the last time I bought a new car (about 10 years ago) their estimated time frame was wildly out.
Ive already given the details of my plans to my extremely helpful agent with the bank - he sorted my house insurance through the bank and beat everybody else quotes including the price comparison sites so I have great faith in him!
I do think I worry too much but then again hindsight isn’t helpful!

Pulaski

Grey, maybe, but not very. If you have a home in France and enter the UK carrying a French driving licence and driving a French car, and are in the UK for the sole purpose of collecting a few bits and pieces to take back to your home in France then IMO it would a stretch to argue that you're resident in the UK.

However, if you're still driving on a UK licence when you bring your French car into the UK, then things would be a whole lot murkier and I agree with BH, that you would be on the wrong edge of the grey area.

cyrian

If you have registered and insured the car to your French address then you are covered.
Lots of Brits who live in France return to the UK from time-to-time in their French registered cars.
When you are boarding the ferries you see these cars usually loaded with things they are shipping to France.
The French border agents are not interested in your intentions just that you are vaccinated.
You have an Irish passport and are entitled to enter France under freedom of movement and also entitled to enter the UK under the common travel area agreement between the UK and Ireland.
You are an Irish citizen arriving in England in a French registered car registered to your French address.
If you are using a carrier to move your possessions to France then they can store them in the UK until the date they are due to deliver them in France.
The carrier we used loaded our possessions in a LARGE lorry size wooden crate (or several) stored then in their warehouse in the UK and then delivered the crates to our French home when we were ready for them.

Listen Very Carefully

As long as you have your French insurance sorted and have an address in France that is verifiable as a permanent residence eg utility bill then I think that it is sorted but if you are still resident in the UK then you have a problem
The driving licence is not an issue due to the recent Anglo French agreement

EuroTrash

But if you explain that you have recently moved to France, and you have paperwork to prove it, why would anybody decide not to believe you? Why would they bother arguing with you and trying to insist that they know better than you do where you live?

cardi

This is the type of thread that comes round regularly,If the UK police and customs were petty enough to know or care about the minutiae of sub section legislation someone on here would have heard about it.
You could go to customs and explain your problem. That might be interesting.

cyrian

For General Information

DVLA are currently processing UK driving licence online renewals within 1-2 weeks.
However, if you are in the unfortunate situation of having to renew by post then they are way behind.
They have currently processed applications up to the 18th November.
The online system rejected my renewal and I have just got to wait until they catch up.
It isn't a problem for driving in the UK but I suspect that the gendarmes would be less generous if I didn't have my licence with me.