I am toying with the idea of purchasing a car in Germany and registering in CH. From reading various threads it outlines that if you buy from a dealer through the likes of autoscout etc. then most of the paper work is done for you? Is the VAT 8% & customs fees 4%? Any other tips? I am thinking of a max purchase of 10 K Euro.
We could be moving to Konstanz later in the year, so would leaving the car registered in Germany temporarily be better? Can this be done, and, if so, what is the length of time one could do this?
It all depends on the dealer, what amount of paperwork they'll do for you.
Those around the border should be able to do everything for you, bar getting a Swiss insurance (that's your job). But better ask the dealer before you buy.
As for having the car registered in Germany - that only works if you actually move there and register - and pay taxes.
I'm not sure if a 10k car is worth the hassle of importing, though.
Well you can't register a car in Germany if you don't live there. And if you buy it now you will save 19% VAT and get it net price, however, you have to pay taxes in Switzerland and customs if you import it and, depending on where it's built and if it has the EU form, the price for tax and import is different. You will save money for sure, I did it twice. But if you later move to Germany, you will have to pay import tax in Germany, so it will be taxed twice.
For tuned cars, you need to know TUV is not accepted here, so any TUV-approved parts will NOT be swiss-approved and you'll need to either take them off or get an approval certificate from a swiss importer of the part. Tuned = almost anything non-standard (suspension, exhaust, rims, bodykits, engine etc).