Buying for a new life in France

[Eric Cantona]

We want to buy a motorhome suitable for our new life living permanently in France.

We’ve looked at what UK dealers have to offer and decent LHD vehicles seem to be very few and far between.

So we are now thinking of scouring the dealers in France. Any recommendations please - either dealers to consider or dealers to avoid?

We’ll have around £40k to spend. Thanks in advance

 

[yodeli]

Oh coquin de sort! Eric Cantona? Vraiment? Mais OH ... tu as déjà ta maison en France!!!

Oh and BTW , no, no one to either recommend or advise you to avoid.

Au fait ...... Bienvenue!

Amicalement
Frankie

 

[rb62]

Plenty to choose from here,vans that is

https://www.annonces-caravaning.com/

 

[olley]

If you buy in the UK you will have to have it mot every year in the UK.
Makes sense to me to buy in France.

 

[gus-lopez]

If you buy in the UK you will have to have it mot every year in the UK.
Makes sense to me to buy in France.

Or you can re-register it

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[scotjimland]

our new life living permanently in France.

As you are moving to France then it makes a lot more sense to both buy and register in France.. in fact I would suggest that is the only way to do it without hassle.

if you buy outside France, there are a lot of hoops to jump through to get it imported and registered in France... especially if it were RHD.

I don't know the legal ins and outs, only what I've read on here with others trying to do it...

I believe @yodeli , who is a French national, bought a Hymer in Germany and had a lot of issues having it registered in France.

 

[Lot lover]

Buy in France, plenty of MH dealers and sellers, perhaps too much choice.

If you plan to live in a house I suggest that you look for an MH in your chosen location.

Don't leave it too long though or your £40k won't be worth much.

 

[yodeli]

bought a Hymer in Germany and had a lot of issues having it registered in France.

Yep very true! But I must add that the certificate of conformity is now given to the newest vans (since 2000?) which make things much easier. Anyway, it might be simple in a few places but down here (Toulouse) it seems to be hell. My motorhome is a 1991 one. It took me 3 months and a half, and quite a few outlaws actions to get it (like driving it without anymore permission).

 

[Lot lover]

Took us a bit less time perhaps because ours is newer, 1999. But we wanted a specific layout which we found in Muret (Toulouse as far as I am concerned).

 

[Allanm]

Where are you moving to? We live in Brittany, about 30km south of St Brieuc. There about 8 or 9 dealers within a few minutes of each other. We bought ours from Glemee Caravannes but there are lots of larger dealers around, Jacqueline being one that we see everywhere

But, used prices are high and French vans tend to be well used. You would be incredibly lucky to get a low mileage van like you can in the UK.
On the upside though, if you sell it again, you will get a better price.
Best bet is to look around your local area and see what they have to offer.

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[BreweryDave]

Bought mine near Paris, had superb service from them ( even though they speak no English!)

http://www.iledefrance-camping-car.fr/

 

[yodeli]

Took us a bit less time perhaps because ours is newer, 1999. But we wanted a specific layout which we found in Muret (Toulouse as far as I am concerned).

I know there are quite a few dealers around Toulouse , and yes Muret is next to Toulouse. Never been there though

 

[yodeli]

But, used prices are high and French vans tend to be well used

I agree. Hence I bought mine in Germany.

 

[Hollyberry]

Have you experience of owning a motorhome ? And how good is your French ?
If at all possible I'd try to find someone in France fluent/ semi fluent in French with knowledge of vehicles. I'm thinking maybe a Brit owned garage, British mechanic. Not easy but possible.
Look for ex-pat forums. Anglo info is a good place to start , just google Anglo info followed by the area you want to look at ( eg Angli info Charente)
My horror story- bought motorhome ( on my own) from a large dealership in Bordeaux, went to register, registration refused. Went to local Brit owned garage to ask them what the problem was with the paperwork as I didn't quite grasp what registration woman had said. He looked at the paperwork, told me to fetch the van down to him. Long story short, he took me straight to Gendarmes, paperwork was fishy and van was probably older than paperwork said. Gendarmes called dealer, suggested they refund me in full the next day, before they felt forced to call the local police into their showroom. I got full refund.
Download Jim's ebook on buying a motorhome, then start scoring the Internet.
Good luck with your move. The Moho incident was the only dodgy thing that happened to me in France---- 99.9% of people I met were decent, honest and very nice !

 

[Allanm]

Sadly, Angloinfo in our area is no more. They were bought out by a company who started to charge for membership, then went bust, not surprisingly!
Unitedinbrittany.com is our replacement, there maybe similar expat forums in other areas.

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[yodeli]

www.autorigin.com

To check if a vehicule hasn't been robbed.

 

[Theonlysue]

Check out mobile.de