Importing and owning a car in France

Owning a car in France can make life a lot simpler for independent exploration of the country. Fuel prices here are relatively comparable to those in the US – in April 2025 official data from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition (which tracks prices continuously) showed diesel dropping below the symbolic threshold of €1.50 per liter, and gas to around €1.60. Handily for road users there is now a government-issued interactive map of fuel prices available to help find the best deals.

Having your US car in France: it is possible to have your US car with you in France, though it takes a great deal of time and can be enormously complex to organize. While in theory shipping a much-cherished vehicle across the water would make sense from a left-hand-drive perspective, in practice the process involves clearing many administrative hurdles to organize the sequenced logistics of import taxes, shipping costs, and potential modifications to comply with EU standards (not to mention getting it registered with a carte grise, then applying for French license plates), so check every aspect before weighing up the pros and cons.

Buying a car in France: if you buy a car in France, as the purchaser you will be given a certificate of sale (certificat de cession) signed by both buyer and seller. The seller should provide the vehicle registration document (carte grise / certificat d'immatriculation), and the technical inspection certificate (contrôle technique) if the car is over 4 years old. They must also provide a certificat de situation administrative (commonly called a certificat de non-gage), dated within 15 days, confirming there are no outstanding debts or legal blocks on the vehicle.

To drive the car on French roads, you must first of all insure the vehicle (the legal minimum is third-party liability insurance (assurance au tiers)), as well as having a valid driver’s license.

You will also need to register the vehicle in your name by applying for a new carte grise through ANTS ((Agence Nationale des Titres Sécurisés) – the National Agency for Secure Documents responsible for managing the SIV (Système d'Immatriculation des Véhicules) – Vehicle Registration System), within 1 month of purchase. The cost encompasses several taxes which will vary based on your region, the vehicle’s specifications, and its environmental impact, in addition to processing and mailing fees. You can estimate the cost with the ANTS simulator calculator, while the full range of fees is also available on the ANTS website.

I want to travel by car in France but I don’t want to own one – is this possible?

Yes – if you’re not in a position to be able to own a car, you could consider long-term car rental (location longue durée (LDD) – providers include regular car rental companies, online specialists, and supermarkets among others), which typically allows you to hire a car for up to 12 months at a time. You must be able to show proof of ID, residency, and a valid driver’s license, as well as recent pay slips (commonly the last three) and tax notices (avis d’imposition) to demonstrate ability to cover monthly payments. Often there will be a deposit or down payment, sometimes with a credit check, and most providers will require full coverage insurance. As a rough guideline, monthly prices start from around €400 for a small car. 

Elsewhere, in towns and cities car-sharing schemes exist where you can rent free-floating vehicles by the hour or day (Free2move, Communauto, etc), while carpooling and ride-sharing services (BlaBlaCar, Klaxit, etc) are also common and often used to get around France.

Reader question

Q. How will my car insurance premium be calculated in France – are my driving and history taken into account if I’m not a French national?

A. In France there is a mandatory, standardized, and regulated by law system known as ‘bonus-malus’ which uses driving and claims history to adjust car insurance premiums.

The calculation is done with something called a Co-efficient de réduction-majoration (CRM) – this is the bonus-malus coefficient, whereby the bonus is a reduction in the premium of 5% per claim-free year, and the malus is an increase of 25% per at-fault claim or 12.5% for a partially-at-fault claim.

The starting CRM when you have 0 claim-free years is 1 (ie. 100% of the premium). Each claim-free year reduces the CRM by 5% – so after 1 claim-free year, for example, the CRM is 0.95 (ie. 95% of the premium), and so on, until the maximum limit of 0.5 is reached. Each at-fault or partially-at-fault claim will increase the CRM by 25% or 12.5% per incident – meaning if your CRM was at 1, one at-faut claim would increase it to 1.25, and so on, until you reach the maximum limit of 3.5. When your CRM is at 0.5 for at least three years with no claim, you are allowed one at-fault or partially-at-fault claim without it hurting your entitlement to 0.5.

Several insurers will guarantee to maintain your 0.5 for life but bear in mind this ‘bonus 50 à vie’ is a commercial offer independent of the law and does not stop an insurer from refusing to cover you if you claim too often.

Vehicle insurance contracts usually renew automatically, but under the Loi Hamon consumer law (2014) drivers may change insurer at any time after the first year, with the change taking effect one month after the request. The new insurer normally confirms the bonus-malus level and handles cancellation of the old policy.

If you are not a French national, know that French insurers are not legally required to recognize foreign no-claims records – acceptance is at their discretion, so you may find you have to start from zero.