Buying a car with MFK

Transportation, Travel and Trips
1
Hi,

I'm planning to buy a used car but I don't want to be bothered with MFK and all other things that would prevent me from using it asap. I have an important trip planned for christmas so I basically have not time to loose. I read on this forum that if there is more than a year of MFK left and the car changes the owner, then the only thing I would need to do is pay the road tax and register the car. Is that correct or did I miss something? I live in Zurich.

One interesting scenario would be if the MFK is still valid but less than a year is left. In this case, would I have to do the MFK immediately to be able to use the car, or could I use the car immediately and wait for an MFK invitation and possibly do the check after Christmas when I'm back?

Help appreciated.

2
MFK NEVER expires!

Tom

3
Don't worry too much about the MFK. Problems do arise when you buy a car from another Canton, and they often give you an appointment for a test within a few weeks. But if you live in Zurich, and buy a car from someone in Canton Zurich, then there will probably be no problem with an early MFK.

However, be careful with the exhaust gas testing. An older car needs this to be kept up to date, a newer car has the test included in the regular garage service. The fines for driving with an out of date "Abgas Prüfung" are ridiculous.

And welcome to the Forum.

4
Thanks for the fast responses, but I'm confused now. According to this forum post , you need to do the test first after 5 years, then second test after another 4 years, and then every 2 years. So if I buy a car that was tested in 2012 then surely I will not be able to register it, pay the road tax and drive? Or will I?

I'll write down the "Abgas Prüfung" part, since I'm planning to buy older car, thanks for the tip.

5
There is no exact fixed date for an mfk.

I just did mine, the last one was done in March 2009.

The car is now over 10 years old.

When you buy the car, if it needs a new mfk then they'll send

you a letter with a date approx 6 weeks away.

You can change this appointment online.

6
Alright, so this sounds very good, almost too good to be true. Does this mean I can just buy any old car with MFK, for example this one , then register it and pay the road tax and I can use it straight away? Or are there any other catches of which I'm not aware about?

7
You will.

You will probably receive an invite for MFK soon afterwards but that does not keep you from driving it until then.

You need to arrange for liability insurance before you can register the car.

8
so was it you who bought that espace for 499?

http://auto.ricardo.ch/kaufen/fahrze...w/an748229062/

did you understood the description:

"Optischer Zustand gemäss Fotos gut. Altersbedingte Gebrauchsspuren. Alles funktioniert bestens, bis auf den gerissenen Zahnriemen. Letzte MFK Juni 2013. Für Fragen oder Besichtigung: 078..........."

the catch on this car was that the cam belt was broken.

9
Wasn't me I'm planning ti buy one if those but it must be running and I have to test drive before purchase.

10
The only scenario that's not clear is if you buy a car that has failed it's mfk.

I think they impound the dangerous ones, however the owner, if allowed to drive it away could always flog it immediatley privately or to a forecourt.

Maybe they stamp 'failed' on the ownership document?

11
During the first ten years a change of ownership has no effect on the MFK schedule, the car can be immediately registered and used by the new owner (so you won't need out-of-schedule MFK if the car was built 2005 or later). After that (eleven years and older) practice varies from Kanton to Kanton, but in every case you're on the safe side if the MFK is less than 12 months old, in this case also the car can be registered by the new owner and used immediately.

Simply to avoid any disambiguities I'd try to buy with MFK no older than 10 months if the car is older than ten years.

Source (german only): TCS , an organization akin to a car owners association.

Edit:

In every case, no matter how old any car is, you must have liabilities insurance , or you won't be issued license plates. Whether it's advisable to also subscribe to "Vollkasko" (full coverage of damages to your car) or "Teilkasko" (partial coverage of damages to your car) depends very much on the cars' age, usually Vollkasko becomes too expensive once the car is 4-5 years old (probably earlier in your case as you're probably a first-time driver so your premium will be higher than that of an experienced driver, everything else being equal). Teilkasko is particularly useful if you incur glass damages (e.g. windshield), which is most likely to happen on Autobahn (increased speed increases the likelihood of broken glass by a small stone).

12
Everybody, thank you for your answers, I feel that I have enough information now to be able to choose a car and not go bankrupt or run out of time trying to make it drivable.

13
Newer cars are not subject to an Abgas test, further more there is no requirement to ever have a service......... The check engine light will come on if there is a problem with emissions, removing the bulb would make the car legal to use.

14
Hi again, I managed to finally buy a car thanks to the support on this forum

Here's what I got it:

http://www.uploady.com/#!/download/b...sIQs8D9tC5yOF9

Feels like a good deal, I'll try to register it on Monday and will let you know how it went. Thanks again!

15
and?

16
Everything went without bigger problems, except for finding a parking space (I'm on the list for the underground parking space).

So I tried to quickly insure the car in the morning (prerequisite to be able to register), but encountered the following problems:

- on comparis.ch I got a couple of quotes but somehow they were changing my car type from what I filled in in the forms, so didn't look reliable. Additionally, I wasn't sure what to do with the quotes, there was a place to sign but should I email this back to the insurer, or send by post?

- decided to just type 'auto versicherung' in Google Maps, nothing found in the area (I was at work and couldn't travel very far)

- found some posts on this forum about one user who actually works for Zurich insurance company, tried to contact the user, went to lunch eventually and accidentally came across Zurich office

I went in and got a quote quickly (had to speak german though). The quote was not too bad (about 800Fr, probably could find something cheaper but wanted to be done with it today), so signed the papers quickly and was on my way to the Strassenverkehrsamt. There, after 15 minute wait in the queue I received my new plates.

I also bought the Autobahnvignette for about 40 Fr in case anyone is interested.

So, the time I spent doing all that was about 1 hour 45 minutes, most of it walking from the Zurich insurance office to the Strassenverkehrsamt on Uetlibergstrasse.

Finding a parking space though is entirely different story, I live in Altstetten, but when you use Google Maps to look for "Parkhaus" or something similar, nothing pops up. Somehow my gf managed to find this parking lot that is situated only one block away from where I live:

http://www.parkme.com/map?lot=142741

I don't know, maybe they don't want customers to find them or something, it's a huge place really and it's very surprising you can't find it in Google. I just checked Apple Maps and, to my surprise, it is visible there, go figure.

Anyway, 15 Fr/day is not too bad so it will have to do until we depart for Christmas next week. In case somebody wants to use this parking make sure you have enough coins with you, the machine only accepts coins

17
glad ye got sorted, but the parking sounds like a short term solution, even in ZH you should be able to find a monthly parking spot for a lot less.

i'm not looking for advice, been here nearly 40 years and know how it works.