How I imported right-hand-drive vehicles to France – and sold them without a loss

Andrew Smith moved to France from the UK with two cars and a motorhome. Four years later, after using them on French plates, he sold all three in France and what he found was that there was a strong demand from other British residents for right-hand-drive vehicles. Here, he explains how he did it.

“When we moved to France, we brought two cars and a motorhome with us.

“They were all under two years old and selling them in the UK before we moved would have meant a substantial financial loss, so we decided to bring them over.

“We used them in France, on French plates, for a number of years before eventually deciding to sell them, over a period of about two years.

“I valued them at roughly what I would have expected to get if I had sold them in the UK. I looked at the prices online, converted them into euros and advertised them in an English-language magazine.

“I didn't expect it to be particularly easy to sell right-hand-drive vehicles in France, but actually, it was.

“I got the full price I was looking for on all of them, and I could have sold them three or four times over.

“In fact, the motorhome was probably the biggest success story. It was a big-ticket item, so I put it up for sale at roughly the price I thought I would have got for it in the UK.

“The phone never stopped ringing. One guy rang me, came over, looked at it and said, ‘Yeah, I'll have that.’

“He paid me by bank transfer there and then and took it away.

“Then I had more than half a dozen phone calls from people saying, ‘Can we come and see your motorhome?’

“I had a similar experience with the other vehicles.

“One of them had cost me around €45,000-€48,000 when I bought it. I eventually sold it for around €30,000.

“I thought that was good, because I had got roughly what I thought I would have got for it in the UK.

“The last one we got rid of was the Skoda Superb estate, which I sold to a couple we knew who were going back to the UK.

“The experience made me realise there really is a market for right-hand-drive vehicles in France.

“There are lots of Brits here who, for whatever reason, won't drive a left-hand-drive vehicle. They just won't. So they keep buying right-hand-drive cars.

Bringing the vehicles over

“We imported our vehicles before Brexit, so the process was different from that somebody doing it today would face.

“At the time, because we were moving to France and bringing our own vehicles with us, they were treated differently from a normal import. We did not have to pay the import duty and VAT that someone bringing a vehicle over from Britain may have to deal with today.

“The administrative process was fairly straightforward.

“I went to the local tax office, filled out the necessary paperwork and took the original receipt with me to show that the VAT had been paid.

“I did all of the vehicles at the same time.

“I then sent off the paperwork for the registration, along with the certificates of conformity and the document from the tax office confirming that the VAT position had been addressed.

“After paying the registration fee, I eventually got a letter back saying, essentially, "This is your registration number," and the registration document followed.

Would I do it again after Brexit?

“Obviously, things are more complicated now.

“But if somebody really can't see themselves driving a left-hand-drive car, I can still see the point in bringing a right-hand-drive vehicle to France.

“I know a couple of Brits who actually go and get cars in Britain when they need a new one. They sell their existing car to somebody in France, another Brit, and then go back to Britain and get another one.

“They told me that even with all the hassle of import duty and VAT, second-hand cars in Britain can be considerably cheaper than second-hand cars in France.

“So, in a way, the two things can balance each other out.

“You may pay more to import the vehicle. However if you bought it for considerably less in the UK than you would pay in France and you know there is a market for it among British residents in France when you come to sell it, it can still make sense.

“For us, it certainly worked. And, judging by the number of people who rang me after each one was sold, there is certainly no shortage of British buyers.”

Have you imported a car from the UK and sold it in France? You can share your experience with as at feedback@connexionfrance.com