Buy a car in Germany without ever leaving France
Importing a car from Germany to France is straightforward on paper and expensive to get wrong. You choose the car, from our stock or from any European advert whose link you send us. We inspect it in Germany, we buy it, we bring it back and we hand it over at Nogent-le-Phaye near Chartres, registered and ready to drive. You buy from Autonero: a French invoice and the two-year French legal warranty, exactly as on any car on our forecourt.
How it works: we buy the car, you buy from us
Autonero buys the car in Germany, deals with all of it and then, as a French dealer, sells it on to you, with a French invoice and a two-year legal warranty. You never send money abroad, you never sign anything in German, and you have no dealings with the seller at all.
That is where a mandataire differs. A mandataire is a French buying agent who buys in your name: the contract is between you and a company in another country, and if the car turns out to be wrong, that is where your claim has to go. We take the car into our own stock first, so the seller you are dealing with is us, six kilometres from Chartres.
In practice it runs like this. You choose the car. We quote the complete price. You place the order at the dealership. We inspect the car in Germany before we buy it. We buy it and bring it back on a transporter. We handle every French formality. You pay the balance when the car is in front of you, on French plates.
What it costs to import a car from Germany to France
One price for the car, delivered to us, inspected and prepared. It covers:
- Searching for and selecting the vehicle
- Inspection on site in Germany before we buy, with photographs and a written report
- Negotiating and buying from the seller
- Transport on an insured car transporter, never driven back on its own wheels
- The European certificate of conformity (COC)
- The French contrôle technique, the French roadworthiness test
- Preparation and handover
- The quitus fiscal, the tax clearance certificate, and the registration formalities
You pay 40% when you place the order and the balance on delivery, when the car is in front of you. Reckon on two to six weeks from order to handover, three to six in most cases.
What you still have to pay on top
Two lines, and we work both of them out before you commit to anything. They sit outside the price on the car because they depend on the vehicle and on your own situation. A headline price that hid them would be misleading.
Registration certificate taxes. EUR 60 per cheval fiscal, the French fiscal horsepower unit, in the Centre-Val de Loire region, plus EUR 13.76 of fixed charges.
The CO2 malus and the weight malus. Charged on the scale in force for the year of first registration, with the statutory age reduction. Both malus taxes are nil on a car first registered before 1 January 2015.
Delivery to your door. Quoted case by case. Collection at the dealership is free.
The malus: the figure that catches importers out
The malus is where the bad surprises happen, and on a large-engined car it runs into tens of thousands of euros. Two taxes add up, and both are payable once only, on first registration in France.
The CO2 malus starts at 108 g/km in 2026 and climbs to EUR 80,000 above 191 g/km (article L. 421-62 of the code des impositions sur les biens et services, the CIBS). The weight malus starts at 1,500 kg of masse en ordre de marche, the kerb mass in running order, and runs from EUR 10 to EUR 30 per kilo depending on the band (article L. 421-75 of the CIBS).
The scale that applies is the one for the year the car was first registered, including when that first registration took place abroad (article L. 421-59 of the CIBS, referring to article L. 421-5). A car first registered in Germany in 2020 is charged on the 2020 scale, not the 2026 one. Plenty of online calculators get this wrong and quote figures two or three times too high.
An age reduction is then applied. The old rule of 10% for each year or part-year since first registration was replaced on 1 March 2025 by a sliding scale in monthly bands (article L. 421-7-2 of the CIBS, created by article 29 of the Finance Act for 2025). It runs from 3% at one to three months up to 100% from 181 months, that is fifteen full years.
The two taxes cannot pile up without limit. Article L. 421-74 of the CIBS caps the weight malus so that the two together never exceed the top rate of the CO2 scale applicable to the vehicle. On a big recent SUV the total stops at EUR 80,000 in 2026.
Our simulator works it out on the scale for the year of first registration, age reduction included, exactly the way the French tax authorities do. One practical point: our malus and carte grise simulator and our contact form are in French. Write to us in English if that is easier and we will answer in English.
VAT: why a three-month-old car can still count as new
One test decides it, and it is not the one most buyers expect. For tax purposes a vehicle is new if it is less than six months old or has covered less than 6,000 km (article 298 sexies of the code général des impôts). It is an or, not an and: a three-month-old car with 20,000 km on the clock is still new in tax terms, French VAT at 20% is due in France, and it makes no difference what was paid in Germany. Two limits are worth remembering: six months, and 6,000 km. Past both of them the car is second-hand and a private buyer owes no French VAT.
Then there is the margin scheme (article 297 A of the code général des impôts and its European equivalent). When a European dealer resells a used car bought from a private individual, VAT falls on the dealer's profit rather than on the full price: the invoice carries a margin-scheme statement and shows no VAT. Nothing further is due from you. If a seller invoices without VAT and without that statement, the French tax authorities may take the view that French VAT is payable on the whole price, so we check that the statement is on the invoice before we conclude anything.
The four documents that turn a German car into a French one
The European certificate of conformity (COC). Issued by the manufacturer or its French representative, it proves that the car meets the type-approval standards. EUR 100 to EUR 300 depending on the make. We make nothing on it: it is passed on to you at cost. It is also the slowest item in the whole process, which is why we request it the moment we buy, while the car is still in transit.
The quitus fiscal. The tax clearance certificate issued by the French tax office, confirming that the VAT position of the vehicle is in order. It is required to register a vehicle brought in from another member state, and it is free when no VAT is due. We obtain it, usually within 24 to 48 hours.
The French contrôle technique. Required on any vehicle more than four years old, even one carrying a valid German TÜV. Around EUR 80, and it has to be less than six months old when the registration application goes in.
The carte grise. The French registration document. It adds up the regional tax, the two malus taxes, a fixed charge of EUR 11 and a delivery fee of EUR 2.76.
When a manufacturer no longer issues a COC, the fallback is réception à titre isolé, individual vehicle approval, handled by the DREAL, the regional state body responsible for it. It takes longer, it costs more, and a rolling-road test may be required. We tell you that before you commit, not after.
From the listing to French plates, step by step
1. You choose the car. From our own stock, or from any European advert whose link you send us. If you have not settled on a model, tell us the car and the budget and we will search.
2. We quote the complete price. One figure for the car, delivered to us, inspected and prepared. The registration taxes are quoted separately, calculated rather than guessed.
3. You place the order at the dealership. You sign at Nogent-le-Phaye and pay the deposit. That is when you see our premises, our workshop and the cars on the forecourt. Until you sign, nothing is committed.
4. We inspect the car in Germany. Before we buy it. History, service record, consistency of the mileage, real condition, with photographs and video sent to you. If it is not right, we do not buy and your deposit comes back.
5. We buy it and bring it back. We pay the seller, not you. Insured car transporter, never driven back on its own wheels.
6. We do all the paperwork. Certificate of conformity, quitus fiscal, French contrôle technique, registration. You have nothing to file.
7. You pay the balance and drive away. On handover, with the car in front of you, prepared and registered in your name. Autonero invoice and the two-year legal warranty of conformity.
How long it takes, stage by stage
| Stage | Time |
|---|---|
| Search and negotiation | 2 to 10 days |
| Inspection of the vehicle on site | 1 to 3 days |
| Purchase and transport to Nogent-le-Phaye | 3 to 7 days |
| Certificate of conformity (COC) | 7 to 21 days |
| Quitus fiscal | 1 to 2 days |
| Contrôle technique, preparation and registration | 2 to 7 days |
Two to six weeks in total, three to six in most cases. The stages overlap: the certificate of conformity is requested the moment we buy, while the car is still in transit. The least predictable item is the manufacturer, and nobody can speed that up.
Going over there yourself, using a mandataire, or buying from us
The inspection happens before the money moves. That is the only moment when walking away costs nothing. A private buyer who has flown out has already paid for the flight and the hotel, and ends up taking the car anyway. We are not the ones who paid for a flight, so we can say no when the answer is no.
You buy from a French seller. Not from a company abroad that you know nothing about. Autonero invoice, two-year legal warranty of conformity, and if something is wrong you come to Nogent-le-Phaye. That is where a mandataire differs: your claim sits in another country.
The malus is quoted before, not after. Our simulator applies the scale for the year of first registration and the age reduction, as the authorities do. On a big car, that single figure decides whether the deal makes sense at all.
One price, not a running total. Plenty of sellers quote a car price and reveal the extras later, or bury their ancillary charges in terms and conditions nobody reads. Everything needed to bring the car here is in our price. What is left to pay is set out above, and there are only two lines of it.
Deposit, balance, and what happens if it falls through
The deposit is 40% of the price of the car, paid when you sign at the dealership. The balance is paid on delivery, with the car in front of you, so the bulk of your money moves only once the car is here, registered and ready to drive.
If the real condition does not match the advert, we do not buy. If we cannot find the car, or it sells while we are working on it, your deposit comes back in full. We never keep it when we are the ones who fail to deliver. That is written into the bon de commande, the order form, and it is the opposite of what most intermediaries do, where the fee is earned whether or not a car ever materialises.
You sign at the dealership rather than online, and that is deliberate. You see the premises, the workshop and the cars on the forecourt before you commit to anything. And we would rather not sell you a cooling-off right that we could not honour on a car bought abroad for our own stock.
Germany is the main market, not the only one
Germany comes first because the pool of used cars there is large, recent and well maintained. We also work across the rest of the European Union and Switzerland, and we handle imports from outside the Union: the United States, Japan and the United Arab Emirates. The formalities change; the principle does not: the complete price before you commit to anything.
From outside the Union, three things change. Customs duty and import VAT are added to the price. The car travels by sea, with port charges. And approval usually goes through réception à titre isolé, because these vehicles have no European type approval. On a car with no WLTP figure the malus is worked out on fiscal horsepower rather than on emissions, which changes the amount completely. We price those case by case.
Older cars are treated far more gently. Both malus taxes are nil on any vehicle first registered before 1 January 2015, which covers the whole of the classic market. Classic vehicles under 3.5 tonnes first put on the road before 1960 are exempt from the contrôle technique, and the others are tested every five years. The carte grise then goes through a certificate issued by the FFVE, the French federation of historic vehicle clubs.
Where we are, and how to start
Send us the link to the advert that interests you, or tell us what you are looking for and we will search. We call you back within 24 working hours with the complete price and the tax calculation. Asking commits you to nothing: the order is signed afterwards at Nogent-le-Phaye, face to face.
Autonero, 10 rue du Bois Paris, 28630 Nogent-le-Phaye, Eure-et-Loir, six kilometres from Chartres, junction 2 of the A11. Telephone +33 9 80 80 15 10 (09 80 80 15 10 from within France), or contact@autonero.fr. Test drives, handovers, part-exchange appraisals and routine servicing take place at the dealership by appointment, which lets us keep the time free for you.
Three useful links, with one caveat: our malus and carte grise simulator, the cars we can bring over and our form for sending us an advert are all in French. Write to us in English at contact@autonero.fr and we will answer in English.
Read next
- The malus on an imported car, worked out the way the French authorities do it
- When French VAT is due on a vehicle you import
- What the carte grise on an imported car really costs
- Quitus fiscal: the tax certificate standing between your car and French plates
- Buying a vehicle from Autonero, delivered worldwide
How much does it really cost to import a car from Germany to France?
The price on the car, plus the registration taxes. Nothing else. The price covers the car itself, the search, the inspection in Germany, the purchase, the transport back, the certificate of conformity, the French contrôle technique, the preparation and the formalities. The registration taxes, meaning the carte grise and the malus, are payable on top: they depend on the vehicle and on your situation, and our simulator works them out to the euro before you commit to anything.
How is the French malus calculated on an imported car?
Two taxes add up. The CO2 malus starts at 108 g/km in 2026 and climbs to EUR 80,000 above 191 g/km (article L. 421-62 of the code des impositions sur les biens et services, the CIBS). The weight malus starts at 1,500 kg of masse en ordre de marche, the kerb mass in running order, at EUR 10 to EUR 30 per kilo depending on the band (article L. 421-75). Both are charged on the scale in force for the year of first registration, both are reduced for age, and both are payable once only, on first registration in France.
My car was first registered in Germany in 2020. Is it taxed at the 2026 malus rates?
No, and this is the most common mistake. The scale that applies is the one for the year of first registration, including when that first registration took place abroad (article L. 421-59 of the CIBS, referring to article L. 421-5). A car registered in Germany in 2020 is charged on the 2020 scale, not the 2026 scale. Many online calculators get this wrong and quote figures two or three times too high.
Is there a reduction on the malus for an older car?
Yes, and it changed on 1 March 2025. The old rule of 10% for each year or part-year since first registration was replaced by a sliding scale in monthly bands (article L. 421-7-2 of the CIBS, created by article 29 of the Finance Act for 2025). The reduction runs from 3% between one and three months to 100% from 181 months, that is fifteen full years. In between: 16% at 13 to 18 months, 28% at 25 to 36 months, 43% at 61 to 72 months, 64% at 109 to 120 months.
Does a car first registered before 2015 pay any malus at all?
No. On a vehicle whose first registration, in France or abroad, is earlier than 1 January 2015, the statutory age reduction takes both taxes down to nil, whatever the emissions or the weight (articles L. 421-60 and L. 421-73 of the CIBS). The same applies to any vehicle more than fifteen years old. There is no form to file and no relief to claim: the amount due is simply nil.
Can the CO2 malus and the weight malus add up without limit?
No. Article L. 421-74 of the CIBS caps the weight malus so that the two taxes together never exceed the highest amount in the CO2 scale applicable to the vehicle. On a big recent SUV, the total stops at EUR 80,000 in 2026. It is always the weight malus that is cut back, never the CO2 malus.
Do I have to pay French VAT on a car bought in Germany?
It turns on a single test, and not the one most buyers expect. For tax purposes a vehicle is new if it is less than six months old or has covered less than 6,000 km (article 298 sexies of the code général des impôts). It is an or, not an and: a three-month-old car with 20,000 km is still new in tax terms, and French VAT at 20% is then due in France whatever was paid in Germany. Past both limits the car is second-hand and no French VAT is due from a private buyer. Two limits are worth remembering: six months, and 6,000 km.
What is the margin scheme, and why does it matter to me?
When a European dealer resells a used car bought from a private individual, it may apply the margin scheme (article 297 A of the code général des impôts and its European equivalent): VAT falls on the dealer's profit, not on the full price. The invoice carries a margin-scheme statement and shows no VAT, and nothing further is due from you as a private buyer. It matters because if a seller invoices you without VAT and without that statement, the French tax authorities may take the view that French VAT is payable on the whole price. We check that the statement is on the invoice before we conclude anything.
What is a quitus fiscal, and how much does it cost?
It is the tax clearance certificate issued by the French tax office, confirming that the VAT position of the vehicle is in order. It is required in order to register a vehicle brought in from another member state, and it is free when no VAT is due. We obtain it as part of the formalities we handle, usually within 24 to 48 hours.
Do I need a European certificate of conformity to register the car in France?
Yes. To register a vehicle from an EU country in France you need the certificate of conformity (COC), which proves that the vehicle meets the type-approval standards. It is issued by the manufacturer or its French representative and costs between EUR 100 and EUR 300 depending on the make. We make nothing on it: it is passed on to you at cost.
What if the manufacturer will not issue a COC?
There is a second route: réception à titre isolé, individual vehicle approval, handled by the DREAL, the regional state body responsible for it. It is the route used for vehicles from outside the Union, for modified vehicles and for models whose manufacturer no longer issues certificates. It takes longer, it costs more, and a rolling-road test may be required. We tell you before you commit, not after, because this is exactly the sort of case where a badly prepared import becomes impossible to register.
Does the car need a French contrôle technique if it already has a valid German TÜV?
Yes, on any vehicle more than four years old, even with a German TÜV still in date. The contrôle technique is the French roadworthiness test; budget around EUR 80. It must be less than six months old when the registration application is submitted.
How much is the carte grise on an imported car?
The carte grise, the French registration document, adds up the regional tax, the two malus taxes, a fixed charge of EUR 11 and a delivery fee of EUR 2.76. In Centre-Val de Loire the regional tax is EUR 60 per cheval fiscal in 2026, the fiscal horsepower unit, which is the legal ceiling. It is halved on a vehicle more than ten years old and nil on an electric one. Our simulator gives the exact total.
How long does an import take from start to finish?
Two to six weeks, three to six in most cases. In detail: 2 to 10 days of searching and negotiating, 1 to 3 days for the inspection on site, 3 to 7 days of transport, 7 to 21 days for the certificate of conformity, 1 to 2 days for the quitus fiscal, and 2 to 7 days for the contrôle technique, the preparation and the registration. The stages overlap: the certificate is requested the moment we buy, while the car is still in transit. The least predictable item is the manufacturer, and nobody can speed that up.
Who actually buys the car, you or me?
We do. That is where a mandataire differs. We buy the vehicle from our supplier, it goes into our stock, and we sell it on to you. You have no contact with anyone abroad, no payment to make outside France, and your invoice is an Autonero invoice issued at Nogent-le-Phaye.
Do you make a margin on the car?
Yes, like any dealer, and that is precisely what protects you. An intermediary who takes nothing on the vehicle carries no risk on it: if the car has a fault, it is your problem and your claim lies abroad. We are the seller, so the fault is our problem.
What warranty do I get on an imported car?
The same as on any car bought from a French dealer, because that is exactly what you are doing: the two-year legal warranty of conformity under articles L. 217-3 and following of the code de la consommation, and the legal warranty against hidden defects. Both are enforceable against us, six kilometres from Chartres, not against a company in another country. If the car is still covered by the manufacturer's warranty, that warranty is European and applies on top, through the brand's French network.
What if the car turns out not to match the advert?
We inspect it in Germany before we buy it, and we send you the photographs and the report. If the real condition does not match, we do not buy, and your deposit comes back in full. That is the only moment when you can still walk away without losing anything, and it is precisely what a private buyer who has already paid for a flight finds impossible to do.
How much deposit do you take, and do I get it back if the deal falls through?
Forty per cent of the price of the car, paid when you sign at the dealership. The balance is paid on delivery, with the car in front of you. If we cannot find the car, or it sells while we are working on it, your deposit comes back in full. We never keep it when we are the ones who fail to deliver. That is written into the bon de commande, the order form, and it is the opposite of what most intermediaries do, where the fee is earned whether or not a car ever materialises.
Do I have to come to the dealership to sign?
Yes, and it works in your favour. You see the premises, the workshop and the cars on the forecourt before you commit to anything. It is also the more honest course on our part: we would rather not sell you a cooling-off right that we could not honour on a car bought abroad for our own stock. The dealership is at 10 rue du Bois Paris, 28630 Nogent-le-Phaye, six kilometres from Chartres.
I do not speak French. Can you handle the paperwork with the French authorities for me?
The entire French side of the process is ours: certificate of conformity, quitus fiscal, contrôle technique, registration. You have no form to file and no office to visit. Write to us in English and we will answer in English. Do note that our simulator and our online contact form are in French, so an email to contact@autonero.fr or a call to +33 9 80 80 15 10 is the simplest way in.
Can I finance an imported car?
Yes, like any car bought from a dealer: a standard car loan will finance it without difficulty, and your invoice is French. We are neither a lender nor a credit intermediary: we present no offers and we process no applications. We can point you to a finance house and pass on your contact details, or you can borrow from the institution of your choice. A credit agreement commits you and must be repaid.
What changes if I import from the United States or Japan instead?
Three things. Customs duty and import VAT are added to the price. The car travels by sea, with port charges. And approval usually goes through réception à titre isolé, because these vehicles have no European type approval. On a vehicle with no WLTP figure, the malus is worked out on fiscal horsepower rather than on emissions, which changes the amount completely. We price those case by case.
What about a classic car more than thirty years old?
The rules are far kinder. Both malus taxes are nil on any vehicle first registered before 1 January 2015, which covers the entire classic market. Classic vehicles under 3.5 tonnes first put on the road before 1960 are exempt from the contrôle technique, and the others are tested every five years. The carte grise then goes through a certificate issued by the FFVE, the French federation of historic vehicle clubs.
How do we get started?
Send us the link to the advert that interests you, or tell us what you are looking for. We call you back within 24 working hours with the complete price and the tax calculation. Asking commits you to nothing: the order is signed afterwards at Nogent-le-Phaye, face to face. Telephone +33 9 80 80 15 10 (09 80 80 15 10 from within France), or contact@autonero.fr.
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Send us the listing. We come back with the complete price and the full tax calculation within one working day.
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