Fact Sheet #1 - Car Registration and Number Plates

Transportation, Travel and Trips
21
Not with ours, the cost was only CHF50 for the insurance on the second car.

22
interesting; which firm? how was the unused car stored?

and how much did you pay for road tax - and which kanton?

23
We insure our cars with Winterthur, have done for the past 9 years. I've no idea what the road tax costs were at that time, we last had 2 cars on the same plates 3 years ago. This was in kanton Zurich.

24
And of course there are exceptions to these "general" rules. It is perfectly acceptable for example to drive without any documents - insurance being the obvious exception on the way to or returning from an MFK. After a successful MFK you might not receive the papers for a few weeks but are still allowed to drive and you are allowed to have a copy of the Fahrzeugausweiss instead of the original. Get any rental car and you will see this...

The front number plate need not be smaller than the rear and modern ones are often the same size - canton specific though.

The requirements to produce are dependent on what you are stopped for. When I was done for speeding it was driving licence only. Once for an abgas check it was Abgas docs only... Depends what they are after and their mood!

Multi-year contracts are not all doom and gloom but you sure need to check first that you are not being ripped off. One advantage is they cannot increase the price over the period. So if you get the right contract then you are "protected" over the duration. And of course if and when they decide they need to increase the price you automatically have a get out clause. So shop first before signing and then you have no need to worry too much how long the contract is for. Also the contractual restrictions of some companies are invalid - but you will need a lawyer to tell you this. See Mark's example. If there is a gap ie he returns the number plates or he insures his car on different plates before disposing of his old car then the insurance does not legally carry over.

For wechselschilder you are allowed up to (probably canton specific) 12 vehicles to be registered on one plate. This is specifically for those who have collections...

Although Canton specific there are also bund specific plates such as P, M...

And comparis is actually a business thereby favouring those companies that provide it with money. It is therefore only a good starting point for getting an idea which company is going to do you the best deal.

25
After reading all this all I can say is that life was so much simpler back home. You are not making car ownership appear attractive to me

Western Australia -

Buy car, pay transfer charges (admin & tax) to register in your name, pay registration annually (admin & 3rd party injury insurance), then just drive until you sell or xx years until the wheels fall off.

- No mandatory property/vehicle insurance. Your choice to risk or not.

- No papers to be carried. Just attach plates and affix annual registration sticker to windscreen.

- No regular roadworthy checks. Only spontaneous checks if you upset a police officer.

- You dont even have to carry your drivers licence. If you are stopped by the police, they may radio in the name and address you provide, and you have to present your drivers licence to a police station with the fine for confirmation.

Actually if you dont travel international (no Passport) and dont drive (no Drivers Licence) you dont have any formal ID.

Oh I'm getting homesick now

26
Although the M (military - gold on black) and A (Zoll - black on white) prefixes still exist, I think you will find P plates (post and sbb) have been phased out.

27
Does anyone know if it is law to have both plates on the car...front and back? can u get away with just the rear plate on?

28
Unless you want to restrict your car to 45km/h and class it as an agricultural vehicle, then you are going to have to have the small plate at the front and the big one at the back...no ifs, no buts.

29
CD plates are issued to members of the diplomatic corps i.e. either people employed by the international organisations (above a certain rank) or people belonging to an embassy or permanent mission to an international organisation (above a certain rank as well).

The first two lnumbers give away the rank of the driver i.e. for an embassy 1 and 2 being respectively the ambassador and / or chargé d'affaires, 3 and 4 reserved in general for the ambassador's personal car(s) and so on in order of importance. For an IO, same concept except 1 denotes the Director General.

The last two (or three) numbers give away the identity of the international organisation or the embassy / mission, with IO numbers being in 0X(X) format with the notable exception of the WTO which is 555 if I remember properly.

30
We have two british cars here. A VW Polo and a Vauxhall (Opel) Zafirra.

How much excluding insurance does the plates etc cost? What is the damage likely to be when we change the plates over to Swiss ones.

Andy

31
thanks litespeed...

Just that the little frame holding the front plate broke and the plate fell out somewhere, sometime...just noticed it now and have no idea where it could be. I do know I need to get another one, but just curious if it is ok to drive in the meantime....could i write the number on a little piece of paper and keep it up front on the dash taped to the inside of the windsheild? Would u have any clue on the price of getting a new front plate...I can't see it being too expensive!

thanks

32
Great post. There are also CC plates, which I am reliably informed are Corps Consulate vehicles - so presumably are attached to Embassies and the like but not high ranking enough to be classes as Diplomatic

33
There is a difference between the Consulary Corps and the Diplomatic Corps in that they do not have the same functions and attributions. An embassy can assume consulary functions, the opposite isn't possible. Therefore the distinction.

34
Hey Andy,

How long have you been here, I am in the same situation in terms of having overseas plates, but I'm not sure how long I will stay in Switz and will have to change my plates back again anyway before I can ever sell the car (no one will buz a right hand drive here!) I am trying to put oof the change until I get forced to do so...

Also been thinking about registering my car in my fathers name at home and "borrowing" it from him Anyone know if I will get away with this?

Cheers.

35
Nope. I think your Dad will not lend it to you.

dave

36
Just as a note - I bought a car in Ticino on an L permit yesterday and my plates are different than everyone elses - instead of saying TI + six digit number, they're TI + five digit number + red sticker indicating that they expire in 12/07 (the same month my L permit expires).

So it seems like they do still do short term plates for people with L permits.

37
Hi Lob,

Please can you expand on this...I got my car importation papers at the border, but what do I do for the plates? Do I have to go through the whole procedure as in the first post for registering the car or do I just turn up at the registration office and request my import plates?

38
You would have to go to the vehicle licencing office and start the process. They will then give you plates which expire and you will have to have the import process completed to get proper plates (and have done this before the plates expire).

39
I found an opportunity 2nd hand car but I am not going to drive it for about two months. I want to buy it now and lock it up somewhere but I don't want to start insurance for it. As far as I understand no insurance means no registration, so any insight to the following questions is most appreciated:

Is car registration and getting number plates compulsory? Can I have ownership of the car without registering it and if yes what piece of paper would prove my ownership, is there something official?

40
where would you keep the car?

you do need to register it but I believe you can decide to not take plates.

I would consider 3rd party, fire and theft insurance for those two months to be honest....