France in Focus

As some of you know I am going to be moving to France sometime in the next 6 months or so. (Exact date depends on sale of UK property)

I currently own a 6/7 year old Skoda Yeti with 54000 miles on the clock.
I really like this car, find it comfy and the size suits my needs.

Were I to sell it I'd be looking for something similar to buy, not necessarily a Skoda.

I've looked at all the things I'd have to do to import it and still can't decide which way to go. I'd be interested to hear what any of you reckon.

There are already a couple of people who have expressed an interest in my Skoda, should I decide to sell it.

Edit: I dont anticipate doing a large mileage when I move, or driving back to UK.

Is Skoda LHD?

Now is not an ideal time to buy second-hand cars - so make sure if you sell the Yeti you get a good price.

It's easier to drive a LHD in France and if you have some interest in your Yeti in the UK, it could be a good move to sell it there. Then you'd need to think about what you'd replace it with : electric, hybrid or petrol - it would pointless buying diesel if you won't be doing much driving plus they are considered un-eco-friendly (in the current train of thought).

The choice of manufacturer is very personal so everyone will recommend something different ! Skoda, by the way, is sold by VW/Audi garages here in France. We have always favoured German cars over French for various reasons and have never had any reason to change our minds.

Best thing is to try different makes of car when you next come over and see what takes your fancy.

Skoda is VW, the yeti is probably very similar to a Tiguan.

Personally I would sell it in UK because the second hand car market is very strong and buy a LHD Yeti, or similar in France.

If you are not intending to do a lot of mileage here then the LHD issue doesn't wash. If I had to use the autoroute in my RHD van it meant I had to get out, walk around to the other side to insert the card at the peage. Not the end of the world, and I was more than ready to straighten my backbone after hours in the saddle. We never use autoroutes these days and have both a LHD and a RHD. There is absolutely no difference in practice once you get used to the minor idiosyncrasies of each driving position. Before you make the decision to sell in UK do your research on what you will have to pay in France for something similar. The cost of the carte grise will be the same when you go through the French immactriculation or as a change of ownership buying one here but if you import you may well be charged for a certificate of conformity. Some people get lucky and get one free from a dealer or manufacturer, others have paid €200 or more. Plus the cost of LHD headlamps. Forget dealers. Go to headlamp sellers on ebay Germany. Bear in mind whatever you buy in France will be considerably more expensive and have higher mileage. Low mileage (KMage) cars are a bit of a rarity here as people don't change cars at the drop of a hat but tend to keep them until things start to go wrong. There will be more armchair experts along in a minute to express a quite differnt viewpoint.

LHD is as J hints and Blaze spells out, definitely the way to go.

When I moved to Germany I took my RHD Peugeot with me, thinking to re-register. A couple of weeks driving dissuaded me of that idea. Narrowish town side streets with cars parked meant that you had to dive into a space when a car was coming the other way, and then could not see clearly if the road was clear to pull out again. So that idea was quickly abandoned.

Do be prepared for a price shock - even in todays conditions European second hand prices hold up much better than UK ones - so don't expect to buy a similar replacement for anything like the price you get in the UK.

Don't be afraid of driving a LHD car, you will very quickly adjust.

From someone who has been here a long time definately get a lhd, and here its the same as everywhere, look around and negociate. I'm against what most are saying about cars here being much more expensive than the uk as I've always found a good deal.
Ive had a number of second hand cars since being here, mostly citreon.
Never in my life purchased a new one.
Can't remember where you are going to live but I know of a really good business which specialises in good quality low mileage cars imported from Germany and Spain, at a very good price, they do the registration in the deal.

This page allows you to check the cost of your carte grise, imported or bought in France
https://www.service-public.fr/particuli ... its/R39696

If you google 'importing a UK car to France' you'll find lots of info on various sites in English about the importation & customs paperwork required, but beware, a lot of it merits double-checking.

LHD v RHD - we have never had a problem driving RHD cars here. However, when switching LHD to RHD cars during the day I often find myself getting in the wrong side and looking for the steering wheel.

My immediate thoughts would be to do what we did, albeit 21 years ago, and that was to bring the car you know and like with you. It helped that it was a Citroen and, at that time anyway, the transition to French reg was seamless.

Also I am firmly on the 'don't worry about RHD' side of advice, especially if you are not intending to do long journeys and even more so if largely in a rural setting. Even after we bought our 2nd car here, LHD, I did like to jump in the old Saxo and easily use the full width of the road avoiding those barmy oncoming white line crossers, happy in the knowledge that it was safer for me sitting out of the way.

My wife in the head-on 'danger seat', was not so sure.

As said I changed to a French car soon after moving here.
The only trouble I have is when going back to the uk. Can't seem to keep the wife off my lap.