I have been told it is difficult to get a carte grise for a UK caravan. Has anyone had any experience of this.
Cheers,
Tina
UK Caravan registering
Hi
I've been "assisting" quite a few people trying to do this.
Problem is that you need a certificate of conformity from the manufacturers agent in France.
Many caravan companies have gone bust or been taken over. And not many UK manufacturers have sold in France, so no agent.
There are quite a few caravans rotting away on sites here, because they could not be registered.
And you cannot pull a UK caravan with a French registered car.
Think carefully !
Peter
I've been "assisting" quite a few people trying to do this.
Problem is that you need a certificate of conformity from the manufacturers agent in France.
Many caravan companies have gone bust or been taken over. And not many UK manufacturers have sold in France, so no agent.
There are quite a few caravans rotting away on sites here, because they could not be registered.
And you cannot pull a UK caravan with a French registered car.
Think carefully !
Peter
Peter, I'm interested in why you can't tow a UK 'van with a French registered car? As any trailer over 500kgs has to be registered (and insured) seperately to the tow vehicle, I don't see a problem? We were told recently by our local DRIRE in Angers that if we had a 'cert de conformitie' (which we have as our 'van is fairly new) then there'd be no problems at all?
Conflicting advice (which is normal here in France!).
Conflicting advice (which is normal here in France!).
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Hells Bells
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Ahhhhhhhhh! Sorry Peter, I'd mis-reasd it! You're right of course. Then again, the DRIRE in Angers told me to go ahead. I did just that out of necessity last May when I towed our 'van to/from the UK for my sister's wedding! No problems at all. Even at the port when surrounded by so many gendarmes & douaniers.
John,
it was our French car towing a UK plated caravan. It was a necessary trip for us, and I was astounded at the slowness of the DRIRE to act. They procrastinated and excused for so many months, even though I had all the necessary documents. They eventually told me they needed me to take it to a weighbridge, even though it's plated with the weight (only 18-months old at the time). They were only interested in the noseweight. I explained that was ridiculous as the noseweight changes according to several factors, not least how the thing's loaded. He was adamant, but we needed to be on the road within days. By this time, we'd been in negotiation with them as well as our sous-prefecture for around 3 months! They said they couldn't arrange it in time, so I asked what would happen if we went ahead as we were? I got the gallic shrug, and the answer - "nothing, probably", so off we went! Gendarmes not interested, douaniers didn't even look. On the UK side they asked me to open the caravan for a quick look-see to justify their existence for the day and that was it! From the Loire to Yorkshire & back with no probs at all. I wouldn't do it again in a hurry though, but at the time we couldn't do it any other way. The only other option was to miss my sister's wedding. So, not an option.
it was our French car towing a UK plated caravan. It was a necessary trip for us, and I was astounded at the slowness of the DRIRE to act. They procrastinated and excused for so many months, even though I had all the necessary documents. They eventually told me they needed me to take it to a weighbridge, even though it's plated with the weight (only 18-months old at the time). They were only interested in the noseweight. I explained that was ridiculous as the noseweight changes according to several factors, not least how the thing's loaded. He was adamant, but we needed to be on the road within days. By this time, we'd been in negotiation with them as well as our sous-prefecture for around 3 months! They said they couldn't arrange it in time, so I asked what would happen if we went ahead as we were? I got the gallic shrug, and the answer - "nothing, probably", so off we went! Gendarmes not interested, douaniers didn't even look. On the UK side they asked me to open the caravan for a quick look-see to justify their existence for the day and that was it! From the Loire to Yorkshire & back with no probs at all. I wouldn't do it again in a hurry though, but at the time we couldn't do it any other way. The only other option was to miss my sister's wedding. So, not an option.