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Find me some shite - in France

motorpunk

By motorpunk
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motorpunk Rank: Renault 16

motorpunk

Posted
Posted

Just for fun, but who knows…

I’m off to France (Menton) this summer. I’m tempted to buy a cheap, running, interesting car and bring it home. I’m thinking reliable enough to get home to England, cheap enough that I won’t have the arse when it’s stolen/broken/dodgy. I prefer 60s-70s stuff, manual, quirky. 
 

I speak no French. I’m not good with paperwork. I have no garage space when it gets home so might just offload it after the summer.

Suggestions invited!

motorpunk Rank: Renault 16

motorpunk

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  • Author
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Shit, that’s slim pickings! I added a pre-1981 filter and still not much.

I fancy a Renault 4 van, or an early R5 in some sun-blistered shade of sludge. 

motorpunk Rank: Renault 16

motorpunk

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2 minutes ago, egg said:

Menton is a bloody nice place to pass the time btw...

Ta. Been a few times over the years 👍

lesapandre Rank: Talbot Tagora

lesapandre

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You need to load the Leboncoin App to your smartphone.

It won't load from the App Store direct to a UK registered phone (at least not mine) because it is outside France.

However I used a proxy app called 'Aptoid' which when loaded in my phone then allowed me to download the Leboncoin app which just runs as normal. There may be other ways but that's how I did it.

The app allows you to search by location, price, year etc.

I've not imported a French car but have run a few on French plates in France.

You can't take anything on the road without a valid Controle Technique (MoT).

I've always used French insurers on my French address - you will need to sort insurance - on that I can't advise.

I'd buy a pre-1982 car to get it MoT and Tax exempt when home.

Don't drive anything illegally in France - it is a police state masquerading as a democracy and you will get stopped, fined and possibly imprisoned - but I still love the place 🇨🇵

  • goosey and motorpunk
  • Like 2
lesapandre Rank: Talbot Tagora

lesapandre

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5 minutes ago, N Dentressangle said:

This looks as if it might actually drive:

a2bf418e7671181f9e7c722ede29758b1e5b4d6d

https://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/2132570392.htm

 The ad says "vendu en l'état" (sold as seen)  - the euphemism used in French car ads which basically means it does not have a CT and so is not usable.

For this reason non-CT cars are usually half the price or less of an equivalent with CT.

N Dentressangle Rank: Citroen Ami

N Dentressangle

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Cars are dearer in France than the UK, as lesapandre says.

I suspect they've had their own scrappage scheme, which has spoilt the party somewhat. Plus the CT will be much stricter than our MoT if it's anything like the German TuV.

I share your dream, but suspect we're at least 20 years too late.

lesapandre Rank: Talbot Tagora

lesapandre

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The CT has got much stricter in recent years and pushed a lot of nice old cars off the road. And transferring ownership is more difficult without a CT - basically you are buying the car 'as seen' and without a log book.

But don't be put off there are great cars to be had - it's just at the cheaper end of the market they won't be road legal.

I'd budget 3000€ for anything interesting and with a CT but without cars are very cheap. How about a BX for 350€?

https://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/2147540659.htm

It won't stay this way for long as most of these cheap non-CT cars will be scrapped.

France will continue to tighten its emissions controls - and move very quickly to an electric fleet so plenty of bargains to be had.

  • egg and N Dentressangle
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motorpunk Rank: Renault 16

motorpunk

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Great advice and suggestions, thanks. Looks like I’d need to up the budget.. what’s 5k get you nowadays then? 

egg Rank: Matra Rancho towing a Tagora

egg

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I expect Marseille would offer more options and then drive along the coast!

motorpunk Rank: Renault 16

motorpunk

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37 minutes ago, egg said:

I expect Marseille would offer more options and then drive along the coast!

Yeah, I’m driving from Calais so I guess anywhere vaguely on route. It’s a bit of a pipe dream but I fancy some French cack in my life - had a 309 SRi which was ok but flakey, and a Scenic which was utter crap, but an older Pug or Renault appeals.
 

loserone Rank: Matra Rancho towing a Tagora

loserone

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1 hour ago, egg said:

I expect Marseille would offer more options and then drive along the coast!

I was actively looking for cars to drive home from Marseille last week and it was fucking slim pickings.  

bangernomics Rank: Lancia Gamma

bangernomics

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Get a Renault 4, use it then sell it to me to take back to France.

sierraman Rank: Matra Rancho towing a Tagora

sierraman

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2 hours ago, lesapandre said:

The CT has got much stricter in recent years and pushed a lot of nice old cars off the road. And transferring ownership is more difficult without a CT - basically you are buying the car 'as seen' and without a log book.

But don't be put off there are great cars to be had - it's just at the cheaper end of the market they won't be road legal.

I'd budget 3000€ for anything interesting and with a CT but without cars are very cheap. How about a BX for 350€?

https://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/2147540659.htm

It won't stay this way for long as most of these cheap non-CT cars will be scrapped.

France will continue to tighten its emissions controls - and move very quickly to an electric fleet so plenty of bargains to be had.

Without the CT can it not be driven on the road or exported?

motorpunk Rank: Renault 16

motorpunk

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25 minutes ago, bangernomics said:

Get a Renault 4, use it then sell it to me to take back to France.

I'm game! 

Need to find one, first.

How much is an Alpine A310 in France? Lie to me... I'm guessing, like 5k?

loserone Rank: Matra Rancho towing a Tagora

loserone

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This Vespa?

PXL_20220412_134717063.jpg

PXL_20220412_131305906.MP.jpg

  • Dyslexic Viking, Austat and egg
  • Like 3
lesapandre Rank: Talbot Tagora

lesapandre

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58 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Without the CT can it not be driven on the road or exported?

You can drive but it depends on the level of fail - some are advisories requiring a re-test and some are straightforward fails that render the car permanently off the road.  But both preclude use. 

Export is fine just get a receipt.

LightBulbFun Rank: Talbot Tagora

LightBulbFun

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surely to get round the lack of a CT, if the aim of the game is to get an MOT exempt vehicle anyways

you can just buy vehicle now immediately mail off V55/5 to DVLA

and bam by the time you go to France to pick it up the vehicle is UK registered and MOT exempt and all legal by the rules of the country its registered with, so no problem? :mrgreen:

 

mk2_craig Rank: Renault 16

mk2_craig

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If you can get over the border to Italy why not give this bloke a shout,

https://www.dgclassiccars.com

No language barriers and he might be able to point you in the direction of some interesting worthless old toss that still functions OK. I make no observations about whether the admin side of things is worse or much worse than obtaining/importing a French vehicle however.

bangernomics Rank: Lancia Gamma

bangernomics

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Depending as others have said in the degree of fail you have a couple of months to use it/present for retest.

If it has the day of the test sticker on the screen (a big letter R I think) then it’s drive for the fail day only then trailer after that until a fresh CT.

You are of course assuming that you get pulled. I don’t see a frog plod for weeks at a time and then like buses I see about 10. Waze is heavily used here but because speed camera detectors or warnings are illegal there’s a lot of police reported wherever there is a fixed camera so may not help you dodge a pull.

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