I have a family friend who took a UK-registered 2CV out to France several years ago, and left it there. The car is still on UK licence plates, and is in occasional use.

The friend now wants to bring the car back to the UK. What's the law with regard to paperwork and roadworthiness testing? Is the car subject to CT regulations while it's in France? I don't think it's ever been registered in France - and if it hasn't been registered in France, could it actually be CT'd at all?

If the car is brought back into the UK, does it become liable for MOT the moment it re-enters the country? Supposing it was CT'd in France, could it be driven in the UK with CT paperwork?

Sounds like a bloody complicated nightmare to me, and I've told him to leave it in France, or sell it there. However, if he was to sell it there, what paperwork would a French buyer require?

Any advice would be gratefully received!

Technically for a UK registered car to be legal in France it must be legal in the UK, ie have valid ins, mot, and tax, and in this condition can be driven in france for up to six months, after which it should be officially imported. The first steps to importing a car are to get local ins and CT(MOT), the insurer will usually only offer cover for a few months while the importing paperwork is done, but a lot of UK registered cars end up in a kind of midway limbo for some years. Technically the Gendarmes could probably seize them, but most people get away with it. Once to car is in this state it is very awkward to bring it back to the UK. Whether the french ins would be recognised I'm not sure, but neither this not the CT would be valid for the purpose of buying UK road tax.

Selling the car in france is possible, but would have to be done unofficially, so would only be any good for spare parts. Whether it's worth bringing back depends on it's value, but the safest way to do it would be to take out UK ins and make an MOT appointment at the closest garage to the port, otherwise get someone to meet him outside the port with a transporter.

I know the customs area in Dover is full of cameras supposedly watching who's coming and going, but 'a friend' has twice driven into the country in a SORNed car and not had any trouble, on one occasion when he had a valid MOT he then bought tax the following morning. On the other occasion the MOT had also expired, but the car conveniently 'broke down' in the first car park so got taken home by the break down service.

Thanks for this, Joolz - certainly helps to crystalise the options! I'll pass on your info.

The MoT on my AKS400 expired while it was in France (I left it there in storage for a year or so).

I towed it home on an A-frame. Technically, I believe a vehicle should have an MoT if its wheels are in contact with the road (as they are with an A-frame), but as the reg. plate was covered up with the plate from the tow car I thought I would be okay. It all passed with no issues.

The CT on my French-registered C15 is about to expire with no real opportunity to get the necessary work done to get it through another one. This time I'll be using a trailer (I don't have an A-frame to fit a C15) and re-importing it to the UK to get an MoT.

Incidentally, if the person who exports a vehicle (i.e. gets it CT'd and registered in France in this case) then re-imports it to the UK, there's no import duty or VAT to pay.

Since the car's road tax is also probably expired and if the car wasn't registered as SORN on Tax expiry then you'll get hit with a fine and be expected to pay the outstanding road tax.

You'd better not attempt to drive it into the UK because if you don't get stopped at the port, then the first Traffic cop will pull you over as the registration will flag up as driving without Tax, driving a non roadworthy vehicle and driving without insurance.

With my pedant hat on, it's possible to be roadworthy and not have an MoT. Also, insurance isn't necessarily invalid if you don't have an MoT. It might be, though, if the car is not roadworthy.

While my van was in France it was SORNed. Nowadays, if you don't SORN it within a day or tow of the tax expiring, you get hit with a fine regardless of where the vehicle is.

As an aside, I forgot to MoT my Berlingo last May. I discovered it in November. It passed the MoT the next day, but I'd been blithely driving for six months (covering about 8,000 miles) without an MoT and somehow got missed by all the cameras!

"If you do drive a vehicle without a valid MOT it will usually invalidate your Insurance, and if you have an accident or are stopped by the police, you will be liable to face prosecution for MOT non-compliance. The only time you may drive a car without a valid MOT is if you are driving to a pre-arranged test appointment or to a garage that will carry out repairs that are required for your vehicle to pass the MOT test."

I think that's pretty clear really.

So we'd need to get it trailered to the port in France, get it on the ferry, get it to a pre-booked MOT station close to the port in Blighty... and pray to god it passes the MOT!! Then tax it and drive the fecker home.

Christ, even at today's inflated 2CV prices it wouldn't be worth it! Might as well just sack it off and get another one in the UK.

Think I need a cup of tea to restore my positivity.

Something that has been missed in the posts.Apart from prosecution for no Insurance the vehicle will be siezed,which leaves you with a bill to get it released once you have sorted your insurance,but even then without the MOT you wil have to trailer it away. ANPR is active at the ports also and on many major roads and motorways. Then there is the vehicle bound one to many in unmarked cars!!!!Hence the chance of getting picked up increases. Good luck either way...

Stuff it. I give up.