I am considering buying a used vehicle in EU (germany or italy?) and bringing to back to CH. My motivation is that prices are cheaper than CH.
I have a lot of questions around how to buy and drive it back. For example,
what the best way to get license plates to drive it back to CH? Will Germany or Italy issue me a temporary plate? How do I get insurance for the vehicle?
Do German car dealers do leasing for a buyer living in CH?
With foreign plates, can i go to strassenverkehrsamt with the foreign plates, pay the vat+registration, show proof of CH insurnace and get CH plates?
Will CH authorities accept DE/IT test (like emissions, etc)?
How do I get the (german/IT) VAT back?
Will German/IT do leasing if the car is in CH?
Can I get CH company to lease if the vehicle is sold in DE/IT?
German TCS told me they could do this for me - only liability insurance and temporary plates, for a charge of EUR 1850.0
Is there an easier process? the most financially economical process? The least painful process?
what the best way to get license plates to drive it back to CH? Will Germany or Italy issue me a temporary plate? How do I get insurance for the vehicle?
German temporary plates include temporary basic insurance
Do German car dealers do leasing for a buyer living in CH?
Possibly, you need to ask them
With foreign plates, can i go to strassenverkehrsamt with the foreign plates, pay the vat+registration, show proof of CH insurnace and get CH plates?
You will need a successful Swiss Verkehrsamt test
CH insurance is only available when you have CH plates
Will CH authorities accept DE/IT test (like emissions, etc)? No
How do I get the (german/IT) VAT back? Discussion between you and the seller.
Will German/IT do leasing if the car is in CH? Possibly you need to ask more than one company
Can I get CH company to lease if the vehicle is sold in DE/IT? Possibly you need to ask more than one company
And is it really significantly cheaper after transport etc?
Sure, you can drive it down yourself - but the temporary insurance is only a âHaftpflichtâ. If for some reason the car gets damaged or totaled, it will come out of your own pocket.
VAT you only get back from a dealer - and even then the car must be eligible.
Several grey importers will do the work for you such as Auto Zuri West, several others however you wonât get free servicing or full warranty in CH. Specification will be different, when you come to part exchange they will take you pants down.
what the best way to get license plates to drive it back to CH? Will Germany or Italy issue me a temporary plate? How do I get insurance for the vehicle?
â German export plates are easy to get and include 3rd party liability insurance. You can do everything online. For Italy I donât know
Do German car dealers do leasing for a buyer living in CH?
â Not a chance. They cannot enforce on the collateral in case of default when youâre in a foreign country. And dealers donât lease - banks do and the garages get in the middle and participate in the deal.
With foreign plates, can i go to strassenverkehrsamt with the foreign plates, pay the vat+registration, show proof of CH insurnace and get CH plates?
â You need to stop at the border, pay VAT + import tax, receive a paper that says car is now imported in CH. Then you go to STVA and arrange an MFK. Since this is an import it will also require a COC from the manufacturer (you can get from the main importer of the respective brand here, or from the manufacturer directly, or from online places) and it is also a much stricter and much more thorough process than the typical periodical check. When you get an appoinmtent ready for the MFK arrange the insurance as well, because the moment you pass, you get a grey card and your plates, and for that you require insurance.
Will CH authorities accept DE/IT test (like emissions, etc)?
â Nope
How do I get the (german/IT) VAT back?
â as others answered, only in special cases
Will German/IT do leasing if the car is in CH?
â Again no chance.
Can I get CH company to lease if the vehicle is sold in DE/IT?
â You can get a private loan which is high interest as itâs your money to do whatever and the bank has no collateral on it. For a lease you need a garage to get in the middle, and you should expect that they will ask for a commission for the service. Budget 5% (if they accept), and if the amount is small probably higher % as they most likely ask for a fixed amount. If you tell them itâs an import they will likely ask to do the import so that they can make extra there. Itâs doable but a real hassle. I would budget an import on a cash basis alone. Between commissions for services to get a lease, or the expensive interest rate on a personal loan, it gets quite expensive fast, so could potentially wipe any cost savings you were looking for.
Importing is doable, and not that scary. Swiss or EU car makes no difference, all cars are homologated under the same standards for the continent. It only makes a difference if the car is relatively new and the main imports are with free maintenance packages. Otherwise technically and practically itâs the same thing and I would not expect to make a difference in price. People that are looking for âSwiss carsâ that are out of warranty and free service packages donât really know what theyâre looking for other than a vague idea with unspecified benefits. German TUV is as strict as the Swiss MFK, and much stricter on duration. They get checked more often and at the same standard. I wouldnât expect Germans to be any more or less negligent on general maintenance of their cars compared to the Swiss, and the climate is the same so rust issues from salt etc are the same.
Some used company vehicles are sold + VAT, those will be refundable but not second hand vehicles sold on the margin scheme as there is only VAT charged on the Gross Profit not the selling price.
On mobile.de you can add a filter for German dealers that handle âVAT reclaimsâ, and presumably they also have experience exporting outside the EU.
