Buying a car in France and exporting it

A French used car often costs less than an equivalent model across the Rhine, and the trip from Kehl, Offenburg or Freiburg fits into a morning. What stops buyers is almost never the price: it is the paperwork, the registration, and the doubt about what you are buying at a distance. All three can be settled, and this page explains how.

What the garage sells, and to whom

Wehbe Motors is a registered motor trader, listed with the Strasbourg commercial register. It sells to private buyers and to the trade, in France and abroad. The whole stock is online, permanently: every page carries real photos, the mileage, the date of first registration and the detail of the work carried out. The vehicle pages exist in German and in English.

Paperwork and plates

For an export sale, the garage issues the certificate of transfer and the certificate of non-pledge, and hands over the crossed-out French registration document. A vehicle leaving the country can be given temporary French export plates (WW plates) with the insurance that goes with them. The garage puts this file together before the car leaves, and hands it over with the keys.

Collect it, or have it brought

The simplest option is to come: twenty minutes from Kehl, an hour from Freiburg. The car is ready, the test drive happens on site, the papers are signed straight after. If travelling is not possible, the garage works with transporters and arranges delivery — the quote is prepared case by case, depending on the destination, and given to you before you commit.

Sale on consignment: your car, sold by the garage

You leave your car at the garage; it is cleaned, photographed and listed alongside the others. The garage takes the calls, arranges test drives, negotiates and handles the paperwork; you receive the sale price less the commission agreed when you dropped it off. It suits cars that sell well but slowly — a youngtimer, a converted van, a rare trim few buyers are looking for at the same time.

The difference from an immediate part exchange is one sentence: a part exchange buys your car outright, at trade price; consignment waits for a private-buyer price, and you are paid when the car goes. The garage tells you plainly which suits yours better, with figures.

The valuation happens at the garage, in twenty minutes, with no obligation: the car, its history and its invoices are looked at, then an asking price and a commission are agreed. Nothing is signed before you have agreed to both.

The most common questions — test drives, warranty, paperwork, means of payment — are answered on the frequently asked questions page. For anything else, a call beats an email: the garage answers in German, French and English.