Type number - Xantia

[neil123]

Hi chaps.

I have a very late Xantia Forte 110HDi estate, which I've had from new.

I want to take it to live in France as I have a holiday home out there.

I know from previous experience that in order to register in France, I will need the Type Number.

This is different from the Type Approval number (which starts E2*) and the Version and variant numbers, apparently.

I can get a Certificate of Conformity from Citroen UK (£100) - or if I can get the Type number from somewhere else, the French authorities will happily accept that, assuming it tallies with their database.

So - I have the VIN, the RP number, the Version and variant numbers, the Type Approval number.

Has anyone got a) access to some means of finding out the number? OR b) an identical car, and knows the Type number?


Thanks in anticipation...

Neil

[Mandrake]

Try checking on service.citroen.com - if you don't already have a login its free to create one.

You can do a search on your VIN number and then look at the vehicle specifications section and there is a chance it will be in there somewhere.

[citronut]

if you send me the last 8 digits of your chassis/VIN No.

i will get you the full characteristics list from service citroen


i dont know if what your after will be in this list, but it does tell you everything your car left the factory wearing

[neil123]

Thanks guys.

Malcolm, the last 8 are

72415482

Appreciate your help.

Thanks

Neil

[citronut]

pm. sent Neil

[xantia_v6]

For registering in France you need either the COC, or the approval number to be filled in in box K of the V5, but sometimes the V5 will be rejected, even if it has the approval number!

See for example: http://www.france-forum-frenchentree.co ... 9&t=141004" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[neil123]

Yes, I know there's a lot of contadictory info on t'interwebz...

I think if all else fails, get a CoC, bearing in mind the ridiculous price the manufacturers are charging for a piece of paper which should have come with the car when new!

However - having just last week succeeded in registering my left-land drive Volvo V70 - (built in Belgium, first and always registered in Germany but having had its last two CT's in France as a 'vehicule immatricule a l'etranger' - and not even registered to me, but its previous keeper) at the prefecture in Cahors without difficulty ONCE I persuaded the very pleasant woman to try several of the numbers on the German 'Fahrzeugschein' in the box marked 'No. de Typ' on her computer. Although doubtful, once she tried the third or fourth set of numbers/letters, when she entered the first few it revealed a drop-down menu from which she could match the numbers. It was very clear neither she, nor the computer cared where the number came from, so long as there was a Type number. (This isn't the one which starts E2* or whatever, just a five or six letter and/or number code). In theory, you also need the version and variant codes, but its stil possible on the French system to leave those two fields blank.

For all people seem to have had different experiences and there seems to be a sense the French bureaucrats make it up as they go along, my experience was that the computer is king, the operator is a slave to it but as long as you have the right numbers, tout va bien...!
There's very little or no room for personal interpretations - either the computer accepts the entry and allows you to proceed, or not.

Incidentally, the whole process was far faster, more pleasant and infinitely more user-friendly than is our own great DVLA since the local licensing offices closed... at least in France you can still go and talk to someone!

Thanks, anyway. The CoC is always available as a last resort, but I suspect I won't need it as long as I can find a type number somewhere.

The harder people to convince were the people doing the CT (MoT) but from May, you will not require a CT done in France so long as the vehicle has valid MoT in its country of registration, which removes one hurdle and cost. It also means you don't actually need to change the lights over to get it registered, this wil simply become an enforcement issue for the police. (I have seeen and read the tester's notice re this in France - and a similar one here for British testers which no longer allows a fail for LHD cars whose headlamp beam pattern conforms to ANY European pattern...)

[Jaf]

Out of interest Neil what do the French charge to import a car? The Spanish insist on charging a grand for a cheap car, even though the eu keep telling them they can't. Plus extended itv (mot) and lots of paperwork including the CoC.

I don't get the headlamp beam ruling. Surely pointing the wrong way is as bad as too high/low.

[neil123]

Hi - the cost varies hugely, depending on age of vehicle, CO2 emission rating, and even which department its being registered in.

Registration cost - not too bad. Once you've established what a new vehicle of that type/emissions etc would be charged as a 'malus' (opposite of bonus!) the amount diminishes by a tenth for each year, so if vehicle over ten, its nothing. If you're looking at a two or three year old real gas guzzler, this could be crippling - thousands of Euros.

(Based on fiscale rating - my V70 D5 was 11cv, the 110 HDi Xantia is 6cv) My V70 cost 193 Euros, as it was over ten years old. (If under ten, would have been double that)

'Polluting vehicle' - ie high CO2 emissions - However, any vehicle which is regarded as a polluting vehicle, regardless of age, if first registered in France (ie imported after being registered elsewhere) after 2008, incurs a 160 euro per year tax (likely to rise... in the meantime the 'ceiling' at which this is levied has fallen from 220 to 190 g/km and is likely to fall again and again.

The details are available on the French govt website service-publique.fr. (In French, but its reasonably easy to follow or Google translate.)

If you have a specific query, ask and I will see what i can make out.

Cheers

Neil