Selling a car

What to consider when selling your car in France

Before selling a car in France, you must obtain a ‘certificate of sale’ form from your town hall, préfecture or a garage selling cars. The form must be completed in duplicate; one copy is given to the buyer and the other is sent to the registration office.

When selling a car, you must give the buyer the purchase invoice, the technical inspection badge, the road tax vignette (with the receipt) if applicable and the registration document. Before handing over the registration document, write ‘sold to’ ( vendue à – all cars are feminine) and the buyer’s name, and sign and date it. Don’t forget to remove your insurance tab from the windscreen.

You must also provide a signed guarantee ( certificat de non-gage) that the car isn’t under a hire purchase or lease agreement. Other points to note when selling a car are:

Inform your insurance company.

When selling privately, insist on payment in cash or with a banker’s draft ( chèque de banque), which is standard practice. If you cannot tell a banker’s draft from a personal cheque, insist on cash. Never accept a personal cheque.

With the purchaser, draw up a list of minor damage and faults and ask him to sign that he accepts these ( ‘lue et approuvée’ or ‘ Monsieur X accepte l’état du véhicule’ followed by the date). Include in the receipt that you’re selling the car without a guarantee ( sans garantie), the price paid and the car’s kilometre reading. The new owner may ask for a declaration in writing that the car is accident-free ( sans accident/non-accidenté); this refers to major accidents causing structural damage and not slight knocks.

The best places to advertise a car for sale are in local newspapers, on free local notice boards, and in the Friday and Saturday editions of major newspapers. Many people put a for sale ( à vendre, often reduced to AV) notice in their car with a telephone number and park it in a prominent place.

If you’re unable to sell an old car and need to dispose of it, new regulations require you to have it destroyed by a registered scrapyard ( casse), which will usually charge you between €50 and €200. A list of registered yards can be found on the Ministry of Ecology’s website (www.ecologie.gouv.fr – click on ‘ Véhicules hors d’usage’ in the left panel and then ‘ liste des démolisseurs et des broyeurs agréés’ at the foot of the page).

This article is an extract from Living and working in France. Click here to get a copy now.