Jobsworths

[Laird Scooby]

I've just found this thread, complete with deletions (or should that be incomplete with deletions?) and thought i'd throw my 2 Euros worth in.

I know someone that regularly imports cars from the USA (generally older classics, 60s/70s things like old Camaros, Mustangs etc) and sells them in France.
What he apparently has to do with each one is get an IVA/SVA (whatever it's called this week) followed by an MoT and register it in his name for a minimum period of time here.

Then and only then can he export it to France, register it there and sell it. He has a friend/colleague who lives in France and handles the sale so he saves a bit of time in that respect but each one is a long, complicated procedure, the registration fees in France seem to vary with the mood of the person actually registering it on the French system and any minor discrepancy, whether in the USA, UK or France can have a whole tonne of trouble round his ears for no apparent reason.

He did tell me of a few problems he'd had that were DVLA-generated (they had issued bad advice, made paperwork mistakes and similar) and the majority of the time he had to sort the problem out.

While the DVLA generally do a reasonably good job of our own registrations, they are not infallible and do make mistakes. For example, many moons ago a friend got a summons for speeding. That was impossible as his car was parked with no gearbox in my garden at the time of the alleged offence.
When the photos of the speeding car were eventually furnished as evidence, the number plate had two characters interposed (can't remember if it was letters or numbers) and thankfully he was vindicated.

It seems the OP was originally misled by the DVLA, perhaps labouring under false impressions fueled by the enthusiasm of a new car but none of it seems insurmountable to me, the problem has now been solved so job's a good'un!