# What would be the quickest way to buy/register/insure a car.



## rickjames8

So, we're moving to France! 

My wife is French, and we lived there for a year back in 2011, and now we're moving back in June this year. My company is allowing me to keep my position (I work for an international firm) and we're headed to Brittany. We're going to make a week-long trip in April to scout out some cities where we're interested in settling. We'd planned to rent a car while we're there. 

However, I'm wondering if we could just buy a car so it's there for us when we move in June. We bought a car in 2011, and I recall the process being fairly easy, but it took a few days to get all the paperwork sorted. Our week-long trip is so short that we can't afford too much time trying to take care of all that again. In the USA, I know I could head to a dealership, buy a car, have them help me register it right there with temp tags, sign up for insurance online and be out the door by noon. But I have no idea if this is possible in France. 

My motivation for wanting to do this is 1) to avoid some of the issues we've had renting in the past. American licenses renew every few years, and French rental companies see a license that was issued a year ago as an indicator that you've only been driving for a year. I tried to solve this once by taking a notarized copy of my driving history, and it still didn't work. I don't ever recall a hassle-free car rental experience. 2) My wife will be moving about 1-month ahead of me, and I'd like it if she had a car. I'm a 'car guy' and I'm much more comfortable inspecting a car for purchase than she is. It would be really convenient if she had a car upon arrival. We have family who could store the car for April-May.


----------



## rickjames8

In case it matters, our plan was to buy a used car (€ 5K-ish). I'd scout out deals ahead of our trip on Leboncoin, looking for something near the airport or near her moms house. I'd try to arrange something prior to our arrival with the seller. We have two addresses we could use to register the car. My wife is a French national, but currently has a US residency. We have a French bank account with enough to buy the car.


----------



## tardigrade

i think the best is like in the US of A - a dealership but it will not take 1/2 a day..


----------



## rickjames8

Yep, here you go! Tried to rent through OuiCar and this is what I get.  I've had this before, and no amount of calling and emailing solves this issue. I got my license in 1988, by the way. That matters to no one there.


----------



## Bevdeforges

The one possible hang-up to your idea of buying a car on your house hunting trip is that to register the car, you need proof of residence - which generally consists of a utility bill in your name. If you buy a used car through a dealer they can handle the registration for you, though you'll still need to line up insurance before you can take the car off the lot. The insurer will want to know about your driving record and how you have held a driver's license and may also want/need to know where you will be residing - not just a friend's address.

I've never rented a car here in France before, but are you putting the date that you obtained your current US license in that space? Usually when they ask for when you got your license, they mean your first license, not the current one. Unless they are somehow checking it against the state license data base, I would think you can put in an approximate date for how long you have been licensed.


----------



## rickjames8

Bevdeforges said:


> The one possible hang-up to your idea of buying a car on your house hunting trip is that to register the car, you need proof of residence - which generally consists of a utility bill in your name.


Yep - getting the impression that buying at this point wont work, unless we have her mom buy/register in her name. 



Bevdeforges said:


> Usually when they ask for when you got your license, they mean your first license, not the current one. Unless they are somehow checking it against the state license data base, I would think you can put in an approximate date for how long you have been licensed.


No, they ask for an uploaded photo. And the photo shows it being issued in 2019. I have the older one (I actually have ALL my old licences) but if I upload an older one, it shows as expired.


----------



## Keri22

I moved from the USA in 2016, already owning a home here in France. I used the Hertz rent to buy scheme. Not sure if it is still up and running. you choose a car on their list, pick it up (some are at airports) rent it for a week and then if you want you proceed to buy it. The vehicle I have is a Renault Captur. Still going fine. But, as others have mentioned, you do need an address for insurance and registration.


----------



## rickjames8

Oh, that is an interesting idea. I'm thinking their cars may be out of our planned budget, but I'll still check it out!


----------



## saffron_gin

rickjames8 said:


> View attachment 101295
> 
> 
> Yep, here you go! Tried to rent through OuiCar and this is what I get.  I've had this before, and no amount of calling and emailing solves this issue. I got my license in 1988, by the way. That matters to no one there.



I was able to rent both with Europcar (I think or one such larger franchises) and at the LeClerc with license renewed within the last few months...With the website, just try putting in your original date of issue (which is what clerk told me on the phone to do)...


----------



## saffron_gin

rickjames8 said:


> Yep - getting the impression that buying at this point wont work, unless we have her mom buy/register in her name.
> 
> 
> 
> No, they ask for an uploaded photo. And the photo shows it being issued in 2019. I have the older one (I actually have ALL my old licences) but if I upload an older one, it shows as expired.


She could give you an Ad'H...which is what I used (from owner) whilst buying my car...


----------



## Clic Clac

rickjames8 said:


> No, they ask for an uploaded photo. And the photo shows it being issued in 2019. I have the older one (I actually have ALL my old licences) *but if I upload an older one, it shows as expired.*


Can't you upload the old one and the current one ?


----------



## rickjames8

Clic Clac said:


> Can't you upload the old one and the current one ?


There is only room for one photo, but that is what I am going to try. I'm going to put them side by side and take one photo. I think they likely use some sort of OCR to scan for fields, but maybe I'm overthinking it. The thing about OuiCar is that you need to upload all documents at once and I don't have my intl permit just yet. Going tomorrow to get it.


----------



## SPGW

For 5€K I would use leboncoin or pap, avoid dealerships, as you’re competent to assess the car yourself, register and insure using your mil’s name/address.


----------



## Bevdeforges

SPGW said:


> For 5€K I would use leboncoin or pap, avoid dealerships, as you’re competent to assess the car yourself, register and insure using your mil’s name/address.


The dealership suggestion is primarily for the purpose of letting the dealer handle the registration process for you. Unless you are a glutton for punishment, it's well worth it to let them decide what documents they will need to get the registration issued and deal with the prefecture in your place. If they want to make the sale, they'll do everything they can to make sure the registration process goes through without a hitch.


----------



## SPGW

For 5K€ there won’t be much of a car after the dealer's commission (in fact a quick review of local dealers comes up with nothing at that budget). My advice is based on post #2. Why introduce the complication and cost of lenders and dealers? It is quite easy to change owner of a second hand car at the prefecture through the registration doc (Carte Grise).


----------



## Bevdeforges

SPGW said:


> It is quite easy to change owner of a second hand car at the prefecture through the registration doc (Carte Grise).


Assuming you have all the necessary documents. It's that proof of residence that can run into problems. But if you've got family in France, you could register the car in the family member's name (with the appropriate proof of residence docs) and get the insurance through them, too. (Handy if they have the full 50% bonus malus thing.) Then, when you return to France and have a residence set up with the appropriate proof documents you can simply change the registration to your own name(s) and established residence. (Full disclosure: we did something like this with a camper that my husband gave to a friend. Did the whole registration transfer process online and I think the process was free of charge, though I'm not entirely sure about that.)


----------



## SPGW

Bevdeforges said:


> Assuming you have all the necessary documents. It's that proof of residence that can run into problems. But if you've got family in France, you could register the car in the family member's name (with the appropriate proof of residence docs) and get the insurance through them, too. (Handy if they have the full 50% bonus malus thing.) Then, when you return to France and have a residence set up with the appropriate proof documents you can simply change the registration to your own name(s) and established residence. (Full disclosure: we did something like this with a camper that my husband gave to a friend. Did the whole registration transfer process online and I think the process was free of charge, though I'm not entirely sure about that.)


Thanks Bev, yes exactly - you have spelled out in full what I meant with post #13. Have done same, in fact, there is no obligation to switch the owner's name a second time once it is in in-law's name assuming everything else is in order (insurance etc) and usage is a personal agreement. I think its a 80€ fee for changing the CG, and really for a 5K€ car I wouldn't bother once its in in-law's name.


----------



## Peasant

rickjames8 said:


> Tried to rent through OuiCar...


Try www.autoeurope.com
I've had many good experiences with them.
They can arrange for you to rent you a car for a weekend, a week, a month, or for up to 180 days.


----------



## rickjames8

Wow - woke up to a lot of great replies. Thanks! 
Re: dealers - Yes, my main motivation for using the dealers was to have someone help with paperwork.
Re: prices - I find 297 cars from dealers under 4K within 5km of my MIL's house. I'm not worried about the budget. 
Re: pap - Hadn't heard of that one, will check it out.
Re: autoeurope - Hadn't heard of that either, will also check it out. 

At this point, we might be leaning more towards renting now. With such a short trip, we can't risk spending two days trying to sort out paperwork. Even with getting the MIL involved it seems that could still be the case, This discussion has made me realize that the quick in-and-out I'd hoped for is not possible. Thanks so much for all the valuable input!


----------



## rickjames8

Hey all - I wanted to follow up with how our trip went. I didn't attempt to buy a car, and glad I didn't. We didn't need that hassle. Instead we rented with OuiCar and it was painless. OuiCar asked for a copy of my licence and asked for the issue date and expiry date. They only accepted one photo, so I placed both licences together and took one photo of both. Then I used the issue date of the first and the expiry date of the second and they accepted it. 

Our trip was a success too. We effortlessly got from the plane to the train to the person we rented the car from (then the same in reverse). We drove around the region we wanted to buy in, and in a surprisng twist, we actually bought a house. That was not our plan at all. Our plan was just to go around and look at some towns and villages to see where we thought we would enjoy living. The goal being to allow us to house-hunt remotely knowing what we wanted. Well, one of the houses we'd seen really appealed to us, so we made an appointment to visit it. Then, before our trip someone else made an offer on it. The agent said that the owner would delay accepting the offer if we wanted to visit it first, so we did. Well, we absolutely fell in love with the town (Quimperle) and decided that even if that house wasn't right for us, we'd look for houses only in Quimperle. Turns out, we fell in love with that house and made an offer which was accepted. While it was super quick, this turned out to be one of the best things we could have done. It allowed us to spend the rest of the week getting signed up for insurance and getting our son registered for school and summer camp. The schoolmaster is amazing and would like him to come and finish out the final month of maternelle so he can meet his next-year classmates before the summer. They have experience with expat kids and we're confident they'll give him the support he needs. We spent our week in Quimperle at the cafes and bars and met some locals and and are just so excited to go.


----------



## Bevdeforges

Wow! Congratulations on all that good luck (and careful planning that no doubt led you to all this). It's so nice to hear about someone for whom all the pieces just drop into place like that. It does happen from time to time. When do you move?


----------



## rickjames8

I don't know I'd describe our style as 'careful planning', but thanks!  My wife and I have been known for jumping in at the deep end, and we remarked over a bottle of wine later that night that all our best decisions have been the ones that seemed the craziest at the time. I might document my process in another thread so others can use it later. It's amazing how different the buying process is in France. As for the move dates, my wife is going to fly at the end of May with our son and get him in to school on June 9th. I then fly out june 19th, and start work on July 4th.


----------



## saffron_gin

wow...amazing! Congrats.


----------



## BoilingFrog

That is very inspirational. We are moving this summer and still have yet to really decide on a region! So hoping we might too suddenly fall in love at first sight with an ideal place for us. Best of luck for settling in and starting your new life.


----------

