What is that about? Is there such a document you can get from a garage, which says the particular brand and type is suitable?
I am planning to replace the brake discs and pads for my car, and usually it is half the price in UK or Germany... But I heard that you are supposed to provide some document in Switzerland to show that those parts are compliant, etc...
Rubbish, go down to a parts store or a garage, buy the parts and change them
Only if you are fitting modified or performance parts. If you buy OEM parts from the vehicle's main dealer then no problem.
OEM parts will definately not be a problem for you. I put performance
brakes on my car and had to get paperwork verifying that they
were up to Swiss standards. They will actually keep a record of the
documentation and will actually write the upgrades on the grey
paper you get when you pass the control check.
best wishes.
btw...if you know of any good places to get car parts in Germany...please share.
Anwar
so, where do you get this compliancy document for a performance replacement part, that's not original in the vehicle? can you ask a shop from abroad to provide it, or is there an institution in CH that can provide it (other than the swiss dealer of the product, which doubles the prices compared to abroad)?
The Swiss dealers have carved their niche in the market precisely on this issue. They can usually sort all the paperwork out for you. They also know which parts you can get away with and what you can't.
I've not been through the process myself, but I was told by someone 2-years ago that if the part has a TÜV test certificate (and you have a copy) the part should be acceptable to the Swiss authorities.
In my case I had to find out who the official importer was for my brakes.
They already went through the process to certify the brakes here.
I paid the money...got the paperwork and passed.
btw...I was told that my brake pads will not need paperwork and they
did not.
Anwar
Does ECE R90 approval not apply in Switzerland?
Well, I hope they do apply.. Meanwhile, I sent an e-mail to an EBC dealer in Switzerlan, to ask about the huge price difference, and he suggested this process of homologation to be responsible for it. E-mail below.
Though I still believe the prices are unnecessarily higher ( up to double ), given that these products are already built in countries, which apply high standards.
-----------------------------------
There are no technical differences to EBC
products that you may buy in the UK or Germany.
However, there is a difference as to what
the whole package (product AND service) include;
-Swiss Homologation Papers (testing costs a five-figure CHF-Amount, unpacking and repacking discs, checking
serial numbers, issuing paper work etc.)
-Transport and duty into a non-EU country
-Technical helpline/Email and Fax quotations in German, French AND English
-Warranty
just to name a few.
To give you an idea that our product are being sold
at market prices we attach a few sample quotes for you from one of our
competitors.
We believe you might have noticed a difference in prices between consumer
goods in Switzerland and the rest of Europe or even the world. (Likewise you
might have also noticed that you earn a higher salary here)
When I buy an Espresso in Johannesburgh or in Paris, there may be a significant
difference in price although the product and and service are absolutely or near identical,
will you be asking for a cheaper coffee in Paris?
We hope this answers your question to some extend.
------------------------------
The E90 you mentioned in your email refers to brake pads. That's
probably why I didn't need any papers for them. I tried to a printout
of that paper to get my rotors through but they said no way.
So I found the official importer and got the papers for my brakes which cost 100ch and then it passed inspection.
this graber sport garage is exactly the ebc dealer i pasted the e-mail from. (i found it from the dealers list on EBC site)
but for EBC GD363, this garage quoted
2x250 = 500 CHF price
whereas http://ebcbrakeshop.co.uk/p1202535.htm (shop is linked under online shops on EBC website)
has it for 135 GBP = 230 CHF for a pair of front.
So, if I can get the paperwork from Swiss official dealer, I am guessing that it will still be cheaper to buy in UK and get it shipped to Zurich.
The EBC factory in Northampton is only 30 minutes from my home. The YellowStuff pads I use were not available in the UK last time I bought some so I bought them in the USA. Amazing that the pads probably made a 12,000 mile journey around the world to get to my house only 15 miles from the factory. They still cost less than similar EBC pads sold in the UK.
Using the BS theory provided by the Swiss EBC dealer, all cars imported into Switzerland would have to be dismantled and checked for compliant parts. Obviously, they don't do that, type approval and conformity as stated by the manufacturer is good enough. The Swiss dealer only needs to 'type approve' one set of components, all others of the same type that follow will be identical and don't need to be checked. Charging for 100% inspection is a scam.
Just make sure that you replace the part just after the test, and put a new "swiss improved" part just before the next test is due.
The fact that the Swiss have decided that it is going to cost x10 as much in CH to replace brake-pads, has absolutely no bearing, whatever, on whether CH approved pads are safer.
You know you've been in CH too long when you think Cartels are a good idea.