Change of ownership: carte grise in your name

What change of ownership means

It is the application for a new registration certificate in the buyer’s name (or the buying company’s) after a transfer in France. The title shows the keeper in C.1, a possible co-keeper, the shipping address and the technical data.

Everyday language also says change of keeper, carte grise transfer, mutation, or “put the carte grise in your name”. For the SIV, the precise word is titulaire: the person answerable for the vehicle, not always the civil owner (leasing).

This is not a duplicate, not a change of address, not a first registration of an import. A mis-routed file is the first reason for refusal.

Carte grise, registration certificate and SIV

Carte grise is the usual name. The official name is certificat d’immatriculation (CI). Since paper counters closed, the title is printed by the Imprimerie nationale and sent as tracked mail. France Titres (formerly ANTS) runs the system; the SIV is the database.

The formula number printed on the title identifies the copy. It is the fallback when the transfer code is missing on the public portal. An FNI title (old format) is laid out differently: change of ownership then switches to an SIV number.

Keep the old carte grise for five years, then destroy it. It no longer authorises driving once the new title is issued.

One-month deadline and the fine

Article R.322-5 of the Highway Code gives the buyer one month, from the date written on the transfer certificate, to file. The month is calendar days: a purchase on 31 January ends at the end of February, with no automatic weekend extension.

After that you drive without a title in your name. At a check, the 4th-class fixed fine is in practice €135 (€90 reduced, €375 increased). You also cannot sell the vehicle on until the SIV has recorded you as keeper.

Filing inside the deadline is enough: processing and postage can run past the month. Start at step 2 of the procedure as soon as the transfer form and crossed-out title are readable.

Two clocks: seller and buyer

The seller declares the transfer within fifteen days (R.322-4). The buyer mutates the title within one month. It is not the same file, not the same deadline, not the same payer.

ANTS, France Titres, Simplimmat or an authorised provider

Three doors. The site immatriculation.ants.gouv.fr (France Titres) requires FranceConnect and, in principle, the transfer code. Simplimmat, the smartphone app, only covers some body types already on SIV. An authorised professional transmits in the SIV without a user account.

Office Carte Grise is authorised by the Ministry of the Interior and approved by the Public Treasury. State taxes are due in every channel; the accompaniment fee (€30 incl. VAT) is added if you use us.

No private site “is” ANTS. The title comes from the same SIV. What changes is who chases a blurry scan before a silent rejection.

Transfer code and formula number

The transfer code (code de cession) is born when the seller declares the sale on the public portal. It is valid fifteen days on that portal. Without a code, or with an expired one, ANTS sometimes accepts the formula number plus the issue date of the CI.

With an authorised provider the code is usually not typed: the file rests on the signed transfer, the crossed-out title and identity. That case is covered in the article on registering without a transfer code — a teaser, not a second guide.

If the seller declared nothing, chase them or have the transfer recorded. A buyer cannot invent a code.

Transfer certificate Cerfa 15776

Cerfa 15776 records the sale or gift between identified people. Date, time, year, identities, buyer’s address, signatures of both parties (and selling co-keepers if any).

An unreadable transfer, a name that does not match C.1, a missing time or an unlifted charge block the mutation. The document generator and the CERFA forms page prepare the form; the wizard attaches it.

A dealer invoice sometimes replaces the 15776 on the seller side, but the purchase-declaration receipt is then mandatory.

Crossed-out carte grise: sold on, transferred on

The seller crosses out the title, writes “Vendu le” or “Cédé le”, the date (day/month/year), the time, and signs. Every selling co-keeper signs. A dealer stamp is added on a trade purchase.

Photograph both sides clearly. A clipped corner, a pencil note, a date that differs from the 15776 restarts the file.

The detachable coupon no longer exists on recent titles. Do not cut the document: strike-through, date and signature are enough.

Papers in the registration file

The SIV expects a consistent named file. Cerfa 13750 (application) and 13757 (mandate) are generated in the online journey.

Roadworthiness test: 6 months, 2 months, under 4 years

For a passenger car, a van or a motorhome of 3.5 t or less, over four years old, the report must be less than six months old at filing. A re-test (contre-visite) shortens that to two months.

A vehicle under four years is in principle exempt for this mutation. Motorcycles, mopeds, quads and trailers follow distinct rules: the procedure estimator says whether a test is required for your body type. Do not copy a pre-2024 “two-wheeler exemption”.

Without a valid report when one is due, the SIV refuses. A collector test or a foreign report does not replace a French test on a vehicle already on the SIV.

Co-keeper from the first application

A co-keeper is recorded with the main keeper. They supply ID. The printed address is the main keeper’s. At most two names appear on the title.

Adding a co-keeper later is not this journey: it is an amendment. Removing one is not either. Name them now if you want them on the title.

Being a couple does not automatically create a co-keeper. They must be named in the application.

Proof of address less than six months old

Energy, water or landline bill, tax notice, rent receipt in the name of the keeper whose address is printed. Less than six months. With a co-keeper, one proof: the shipping address.

An ID card is not proof of address. A host certificate without the host’s bill is not either. Scans must show the date.

Living with a host

If the bill is not in your name: host certificate, host’s ID, host’s proof of address less than six months old.

The printed French address is still where the mail will be presented. An incomplete host pack is a classic reason for extra documents.

Buying from a dealer and the purchase-declaration receipt

A garage that takes the vehicle into stock does not register it in its own name: it files a purchase declaration. The end buyer receives the receipt, the stamped transfer, the crossed-out title and the roadworthiness test.

Without the receipt, the change of ownership is incomplete. It is not a minor omission: the SIV expects proof that the trader declared the stock entry.

Trade-in itself is ordered on the professional purchase-declaration page, not here.

Legal person, Kbis and stamp

A company keeper attaches a Kbis less than six months old, the representative’s ID, and stamps the 13750. The address is the registered office or the establishment that will receive the mail.

A SIREN that changes (merger, sale of the business) is no longer a simple change of ownership: see change of company name under other procedures, or a classic mutation if the SIREN is truly new.

Taxes Y.1, malus, Y.4, Y.5 and the €30 fee

The cost of a used-vehicle carte grise is not a flat fee. The dominant line is regional tax Y.1: fiscal horsepower × the keeper’s regional rate, often cut by 50% if the vehicle is over ten years old. Possible malus or extra taxes (Y.3 by energy and model year) and the fixed processing and postage lines (Y.4 / Y.5, from a few euros to around €13.76) are added.

The Office Carte Grise fee is €30 incl. VAT, separate from the taxes. ANTS takes only the taxes. Estimate Y.1 with the registration cost calculator, the tax calculator and the 2026 fiscal horsepower rates.

Vehicle over ten years and the regional reduction

Most regions apply 50% of Y.1 to vehicles over ten years old. Age is read from the first-registration date, not the model year.

A collector vehicle follows another article: taxes often limited if you already hold the title, “over 10 years” scale if you buy. Here we stay on a standard used vehicle.

CPI then the definitive title

Once the SIV accepts the paid file, a provisional registration certificate (CPI) lets you drive, usually for one month, while the Imprimerie nationale prints the title. It is not a WW: the number is already the definitive number, SIV or newly assigned.

Tracked mail often arrives in four to seven business days for a simple file. Fifteen days to collect it at the post office; after that the title goes back. A rejected document, a charge or an opposition delay things before the CPI.

The filing acknowledgement alone does not let you drive if no CPI is issued. Keep the CPI PDF in the vehicle.

FNI to SIV: new plates

A vehicle still on the FNI format (123 AB 01, 1234 AB 56…) receives an SIV number (AB-123-CD) at change of ownership. The CPI already shows that number: have the plates made and tell the insurer.

A current roadworthiness test remains valid: the report identifies the vehicle, not only the old plate. Do not throw the old title away before you have the new one.

This is not a “prestige listing”. It is the mandatory switch from the old national file to the SIV.

SIV plates you keep

If the vehicle is already AA-123-AA, the number stays with the chassis. You do not order plates unless they are unreadable or stolen (then duplicate / plate theft, not this page).

Fitting another vehicle’s plates, or keeping FNI plates after the mutation, is a separate offence.

Histovec, administrative-status certificate, charge and opposition

Before you buy, the seller must give an administrative-status certificate (CSA, formerly “non-gage”) less than fifteen days old, or let you check Histovec. A charge (loan) or an opposition (fines, seizure, stolen vehicle) blocks the mutation.

The CSA is not always a document the SIV asks again at filing: it is your safety net before you pay. If the file is dirty, neither ANTS nor an authorised provider can “go around” it.

Histovec.interieur.gouv.fr also shows mileage declared at tests. A violent gap does not forbid the mutation, but it informs the price.

When this is the wrong journey

Vehicle still titled abroad: foreign-vehicle registration (quitus, 846A, COC), not a French used-vehicle mutation.

Lost, stolen or unreadable title: duplicate first, then transfer. Address only: change of address. Used vehicle over thirty years with the mention: the purchase case of classic registration.

• Import → foreign vehicle
• Missing title → duplicate
• Move without a sale → change of address
• Dealer stock → purchase declaration
• LOA / LLD still running → the lessor stays C.1

Lifetime gift

A gift is processed as a transfer: 15776, crossed-out title, the same one-month deadline, the same taxes. “Sold” may become “transferred”. Gift tax is another administration; the SIV mutates the keeper.

LOA, LLD and end of lease

During the contract the C.1 keeper is the lessor. The lessee is not the seller. A transfer signed only by the lessee is void for the SIV.

At the end of LOA the finance company transfers to the lessee (or a third party): you need the lessor’s transfer certificate, then this journey. Other procedures cover the lessee’s address while the contract still runs.

Inheritance and succession

Death of the keeper: the file is no longer a simple sale. Notarial deed or heirs’ statement, waivers, sometimes a roadworthiness test, sometimes a ban on driving beyond three months without a mutation. Taxes may be limited to Y.4 if marital-status / succession conditions are met.

The detail lives under other procedures (divorce, death). Here: do not sign a “convenience” 15776 in place of a succession.

Divorce, civil partnership, change of marital status

Removing or adding a spouse who is already a co-keeper after a judgment is not always a full-price mutation: the other procedure (marital status) can cost €2.76 in tax plus a dedicated fee.

If you are not a co-keeper, it is a classic transfer, Y.1 included. Check the judgment before you pay a full carte grise by mistake.

Car, motorcycle, moped, van

The body type on the title (VP, CTTE, MTL, CYCL…) must match the licence and the test. A van converted to VP without a conversion certificate is a change of characteristics, possibly on the same day as the mutation if the papers are there.

A moped does not take the same licence as a motorcycle. A VASP motorhome follows its GTW rules. State the body type in the questionnaire.

Buying at auction

The auction house issues a sale certificate, sometimes without the original title. The mutation is still possible but slower (reconstruction, possible opposition). This is not a standard “4–7 day” file.

Attach the award report. A 15776 signed by an auctioneer who is not C.1 is not always enough.

Used vehicle over 30 years and collector mention

You can request the collector mention at the same time as the change of ownership: that is the purchase case of classic registration, usually via an FFVE certificate. This page stays used-without-mention.

Do not mix the two questionnaires. A 28-year-old vehicle is not eligible for collector status.

Mistakes that get the file rejected

• Letting the one-month deadline pass without even starting
• C.1 on the title ≠ seller on the 15776
• Expired roadworthiness test or re-test outside the 2 months
• ANTS code required while the seller declared nothing — without switching to an authorised provider
• An import sent as a French used vehicle
• LOA transferred by the lessee alone
• Proof of address in a third party’s name, without a host pack
• Charge or opposition ignored after Histovec
• FNI plates kept after an SIV number is assigned

After the title: insurer, plates, keeping the old one

Send the new number (if it changed) and the keeper’s name to the insurer. A policy in the seller’s name does not cover you.

Have new SIV plates made only on an FNI switch, unreadability or theft. Keep the old title five years out of the vehicle.

If you bought from a professional dealer

• The dealer's purchase declaration receipt (récépissé de déclaration d'achat)

If you are hosted by a third party

• A signed accommodation certificate from your host
• Your host's proof of address

If there is a co-owner

• The co-owner's photo ID

If the vehicle is registered to a company

• Kbis extract (French company registration certificate)