The Citroen Visa Forum

I am a french resident and I've been offerded a UK registered Romahome Hylo by an ex-pat who has SORNed the vehicle whilst it is in France, which you're not allowed to do according to DVLC. Tax, MOT and insurance expired and the vehicle has not been driven for about six months.

I would quite like to have a stab at getting registered here but I think it might be a bit of a headache. I'll have to get an export certificate and run the risk of having to pay VAT to "import" it into France. Then there's all the French red tape to get through.

To get it back to England legally would need a transporter I think.

Shame to scrap it as it's been well maintained, about 100,000miles, 1995. Needs a clean and a battery.

Hi

Exporting the car 'on paper' seems easy- see here for details:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/BuyingAndSellingAVehicle/ImportingAndExportingAVehicle/DG_4022582

It looks like if you use the pdf form V756 you can keep the V5C to give to the french authorities.

Registering in France...well, you would think that being a Citroën it would be easy enough...

why is it not allowed to declaire it SORN whilst the car is in France,

as its still UK registerd it has got to be declaired SORN the TAX, MOT and or INSURANCE has expired,
otherwise they could in theory take the car away to be squashed,

or the registerd keeper might end up with a fine,

im not sure if they would go to the lengths of going to france to collect it though

although they might think its a chance for a good day out at the British tax payers expence .gov

also the way to get it back to the UK is book it in for an MOT over here for the day your bringing it back,
then as long as you have insurance to cover you to drive it on UK soil/roads,
you can say you are ern route to the MOT station,

as you are allowed to drive an un MOT'ed car to and from the MOT and to a place to get the work done it might fail on

regards malcolm

Legally the car has to be in the UK to be SORNed. Otherwise it has to be declared permanently exported. That implies paying VAT on the value of the vehicle. If the person gives it to me I don't suppose VAT is payable is it?

On the export declaration you're supposed to give a date when the vehicle is being exported. As it is sorned it can only officially be transported I would imagine. I don't supposed they need proof that it's being transported do they? I thought it might be better to come clean with the DVLC and pay a bit of back-tax or fine to stay above-board. That could be a worse idea though..

I did try registering a RHD VW van about 20 years ago but gave up as it was going to cost more than the tub was worth and not worth the agro..

The vehicle needs to be in good condition to get through the inspection. There may be a few camping-car related security issues. Obviously the headlamps. If it gets though the inspection it should be no problem.

The trouble is it's a long way from me and a long way from England. Also not all 3.5T transporters could carry it due to it's length and weight. I suppose I ought to look into the risks of driving it to the UK and selling it there or whatever. But even that might be tricky as I'm a french resident with no official UK address.

Actually does anyone know what the "Empty" unladen weight of a Hylo is?

Gross weight is 1710kg so I was thinking 1.5 tonne ish

as you say its still UK registerd, DVLA will go or send corispondents to that address,

how long has it lived in France,

being SORN in the UK does not affect your right to drive it to and from an MOT testing station in the uk, as long as the driver has insurance to cover them to drive it on UK roads,

regards malcolm

I think the favourite at the moment is getting it permanently exported but explaining that it's already out of the country.

Only thing then is VAT for immporting it into France. Either current owner pays or I do. Current owner can claim VAT back from UK but I don't think they want the hassle, not surprisingly.

Ah found the vital statistics http://www.cranham.co.uk/product_info.p ... cts_id=875