In brief
- Professionals authorized by the Ministry of the Interior do not depend on the government website: they access the vehicle registration system directly and keep processing applications during an outage.
- An outage of the official website does not suspend the application deadline, which runs from the date of purchase: one month to register the vehicle, 15 days for the seller’s transfer declaration.
- An apparent outage sometimes comes from your browser or an ad blocker: check this before concluding.
- cartegrise.com has been authorized since 2009 (Prefecture authorization n° 9744, Treasury approval n° 14871), announces application processing and the provisional certificate within 12 to 24 hours after the complete application is received, and has processed over 1 million applications.
The application is underway, the documents are scanned, payment is ready. And the ANTS website page just spins, or shows an error on every attempt. Meanwhile, the deadline to register the vehicle in your name keeps running, and the vehicle you just bought stays parked.
Good news: an outage of the online service does not close every door. There is a path that does not depend on the website being down, and other options that simply let you wait without risk. This guide covers the alternatives and what they change, how to tell whether the outage comes from the website or from your own end, what actually happens when the government website is unavailable, and how to check that a provider is properly authorized.
Alternatives during an outage, and what they change
| Criterion | Government website (ANTS) | Authorized online provider (including cartegrise.com) | Authorized garage or dealership | Digital help point at the prefecture |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Works during a government website outage | No | Yes, direct access to the registration system | Yes, if authorized | No: it only helps you use the same website |
| Announced timeline | Depends on service load | At cartegrise.com: processing and provisional certificate within 12 to 24 hours after the complete application is received | Specific to each professional | Same as the government website |
| What you still have to do yourself | Gather all documents, fill in and track the application | Send the documents; the application is checked before submission | Hand the documents to the professional | Gather the documents, travel there |
| Cost | Free (excluding taxes) | Service fee on top of taxes: €44.90 to €99.90 at cartegrise.com for a change of registered keeper, depending on the regional tax | Freely set by the professional | Free (excluding taxes) |
| Verdict | First, check that the outage is real. Then, if the application can wait, try again later or contact support. Finally, if the deadline is tight, go through an authorized professional. |
The table is not ranking brands: it gives an order of decision. The official channel remains the free reference, and an authorized professional is only worth it if waiting has a cost, such as an immobilized vehicle or a looming deadline.
The taxes themselves do not change from one channel to another: the regional tax, the €11 processing fee and the €2.76 delivery fee are due in every case. Only the service fee sets a provider apart from the official channel.
Is the outage on the website’s end, or yours?
Before switching channels, three checks take less than five minutes.
- Switch browser, or open a private browsing window. An extension, an ad blocker or an old cache can prevent parts of the page from loading. The typical symptom is a blank page or a button that does not react.
- Switch connection. Move from Wi-Fi to mobile data, or the other way round. If the page loads on one and not the other, the problem is on your local network, not the service.
- Try a different time. An error at peak hours that disappears an hour later points to a temporary overload, not a lasting outage.
If the website stays unreachable on two devices and two connections, the outage really does come from the service. It is then worth noting the time and the exact error message, and keeping the application reference number if the process had already started: these details are useful if you contact support or file an appeal.
What really happens when the government website is unavailable
The ANTS website, now France Titres, is only the entry point for individuals into the vehicle registration system, the national database where every registration certificate is recorded. The agency’s “Our missions” page describes it as responsible for producing secure official documents, including the vehicle registration certificate.
Professionals authorized by the prefecture do not use this entry point. They enter applications into the registration system through their own access, opened by their authorization. When the public online service is unavailable, their access is not necessarily affected: they can keep recording applications and issuing the provisional certificate.
Two limits are worth knowing, to stay honest about it.
- An outage of the registration system itself blocks everyone. This is a different case from a website outage: professionals and individuals then wait together.
- Legal deadlines keep running. According to service-public.gouv.fr, the one-month deadline to register the vehicle in your name runs from the date of purchase. And Article R322-4 of the French Highway Code gives the seller 15 days to declare the transfer. Neither deadline is suspended by an outage.
Government support remains reachable during an outage. So the workaround exists to avoid losing time when the vehicle needs to be on the road, not to escape a legal obligation.
What the provisional certificate lets you do
At the end of the process, a provisional registration certificate is issued. According to service-public.gouv.fr, it lets you drive for 1 month, in France only, while waiting for the final registration certificate. This is what matters when the vehicle needs to be on the road: at cartegrise.com, it is announced within 12 to 24 hours after the complete application is received, and the final certificate arrives around 2 to 3 days later. Some applications can take up to 8 business days.
cartegrise.com also publishes a detailed guide on what to do when ANTS is not working. It is a provider authorized by the Ministry of the Interior and approved by the Treasury, separate from ANTS.
Contacting support and keeping a record
An outage lasting more than a few hours is worth reporting, especially if the application had already started. ANTS support remains reachable during an outage of the online service: its contact details and contact form are on the agency’s website, and a digital help point at the prefecture can help you formulate the request.
For the report to be useful, three details are worth noting:
- The time and the exact error message, ideally with a screenshot.
- The application reference number, if the process had been registered before the outage.
- The sale date, which sets the starting point of the one-month deadline.
If the application stays stuck once the website is back up, the online service provides an appeal route through the “Faire une autre demande” section (French for “Submit another request”). This route is also used when an application already under way can no longer be resumed normally.
Wait or switch: the thresholds that matter
The decision does not hinge on the outage itself, but on what it is blocking. Three thresholds help you decide.
- The one-month deadline after purchase. An outage of a few hours in the first days changes nothing. The same outage a few days from the deadline is a reason to stop waiting.
- The roadworthiness test. For a vehicle over 4 years old, service-public.gouv.fr requires a test certificate less than 6 months old, or less than 2 months old after a re-test. A test close to this limit makes waiting risky: it could have to be redone.
- The need to drive. Until the registration certificate is in the buyer’s name, the vehicle can only be driven once the provisional certificate has been obtained. If the vehicle needs to be used within the week, an authorized professional avoids depending on when the website comes back.
Outside these three cases, waiting for the website to come back remains the cheapest solution: the official process only costs the taxes.
How to check that a vehicle registration website is properly authorized
An outage of the official website is a prime moment for bad surprises: people quickly look for an alternative and click on the first result. Three checks stop you from handing your documents to just anyone.
- Look for the two numbers. An authorized professional displays their prefectural authorization number and their Treasury approval number, usually in the footer or in their terms and conditions. As an example, cartegrise.com displays n° 9744 and n° 14871, eplaque.fr displays n° 18621 and n° 26579, guichetcartegrise.com displays n° 212900 and n° 52480.
- Check the official tool. ANTS provides a geolocation tool for authorized professionals, which lets you confirm that a provider appears on the list.
- Read the fees before paying. The service-public.gouv.fr guidance sheet “Un professionnel de l’automobile peut-il s’occuper d’une demande de carte grise ?” (French for “Can a motor trade professional handle a vehicle registration application?”) states that the service is freely priced, on top of the cost of the registration certificate. A serious website states its service fees before payment, and clearly separates the taxes from its own fee.
One last reflex: a website that presents itself as “official” without being one, or that does not state it is a private provider, deserves caution. An authorized professional has no reason to hide it.
Documents to prepare while you wait
Whether you wait for the website to come back or go through a professional, the file is the same. For a change of registered keeper, service-public.gouv.fr lists in particular the original registration certificate crossed out and signed by the seller, the transfer certificate, proof of identity, proof of address less than 6 months old and, for a vehicle over 4 years old that is not exempt, a roadworthiness test certificate less than 6 months old. The driving licence and proof of insurance do not need to be attached: it is enough to certify on your honor that the registered keeper holds them. Scanning these documents during the outage lets you complete the process in a few minutes once you switch channel.