Does anyone here know if you could purchase a UK car under finance and drive it in Switzerland? I am a UK permanent resident, but I currently live and work in Switzerland.
How do you get the permission from the Swiss customs to do so? Can you even do it at all? Is it allowed?
I see, that depends on the finance company then—thanks for your reply.
The thing is, I am planning to get finance this car for three years. My employment contract in Switzerland is ending soon and I plan to return to the UK within the three year period anyway.
So, I thought it doesn't make sense to get a Swiss / EU car and then export it into the UK, might as well get a UK car, get a permission to drive it here, then simply drive back to the UK.
You can only drive a foreign car for up to a year, so your plan does not work from that perspective. If you wanted to be in CH for about a year, then you can wiggle within that, but if you want to be longer than that, it's a no go and when you get caught it's going to get expensive.
The point is that you don't own the car and the only come back the financing company has if you don't pay down the contract is to repossess the car, so don't expect they will be happy to let you take the car out of the jurisdiction. And you obviously can't export a car you don't own.
Within the first 12 months of residency in Switzerland you will have to import the car through customs and register it with Swiss number plates. I doubt your UK finance company will let you do that, though maybe if you can provide some other collateral they might be prepared to discuss?
Getting license plates/registering car is an other separate topic. If you do not intend to drive on Swiss roads you do not have to get Swiss license plates.
This neither obvious, nor correct. With owners permission anything is possible. W/o owners permission, still a lot is possible.
Customs just told me to apply for form 15.30 at the customs office somewhere in Embrach-Embraport and bring the papers for the car. I explained my situation to them, as I am planning to leave Switzerland within the next six months, they may give me a permit to drive another UK car until I leave. They need to see the papers.