Helping a family out who was told in the US that they could import their 3 year old Toyota RAV4. Went through customs fine but is now stuck at the garage that was told by Toyota Switzerland that American RAV4s cannot be imported to Switzerland because their model numbers do not exist in Switzerland. They were able to get insurance just fine, but the DMV won't give the appointment without the approval letter from Toyota Switzerland, confirming that the model number is accepted in Switzerland, which Toyota Switzerland has rejected due to the model number and specs.
Yikes!
For those who successfully imported cars, it's not just a matter of light adjustments, correct rims, etc., this seems to be more complicated.
Has anyone imported a RAV4 or perhaps a Highlander, which doesn't exist in Switzerland, and was successful? If so, any tips or experience you could share, I would gladly appreciate it so I can help them in the right way.
In case it's important, the vehicle is to be registered in Ticino. If you successfully imported your RAV4, please let me know which canton you were able to successfully register your vehicle in, etc..
If it's true that the vehicle can't receive Swiss license plates, I believe they may be able to drive it in CH for up to 1 year on their US plates? Then what?
Thank you, I tried. Their site won't give an appointment without the letter from Toyota. The letter came and Toyota says the model doesn't exist here, which is correct.
It may be a case of barking at the wrong tree (Toyota Switzerland).
Did the car left the US with a Certificate of Origin? This doc contains VIN, country of origin, year of assembly, and other details about the car production process.
It's completely normal if Toyota Switzerland cannot produce a certificate of origin for a car sold in other countries. Dealership that originally sold the car or Toyota NA must know.
I don't think he got that when he bought the car, just the sales contract. From what I understand, that's what Toyota Switzerland was supposed to issue, but since they say that the car is made exclusively for the US, their letter states that the car can't be imported to Switzerland and therefore they don't issue a certificate of origin. Seems a bit odd.
Did leave an email for the Vetterli people, which seem to do exactly this kind of work. Let's see what they say, and what the cost is going to be...
Dealership that originally sold the car should be able to produce a copy of the certificate of origin. If the dealership went bankrupt, Toyota North America should be able to help.
You sure it's a Cert of origin you need.....this will only confirm the origin, nothing else.
More likely a Certificate of Conformity and if the car has not been officially imported to Switzerland then the only way to get one is to have the test center do a full and complete and exhaustive test which costs in the region of Chf 4-6k (all going well....)
OP wrote it's not about lights and wheels, so not considered the certificate of conformity to local regulations. I guess OP needs to get familiarized with the words and then the situation will be clearer.
The European RAV4 was until recently built in Russian, and now Japan. The North American version is built in the US and is market specific. They may share the same platform but there's some major differences. Daytime running lights, different safety systems and most importantly the engine is completely different (2.5 vs 2.0 in EU) and transmission, the US gets a proper auto and we poor Europeans get the rubber band CVT auto.
In short, its not approved for sale in Europe and therefore no EU issued certificate is available. Toyota Switzerland were right when they said it doesn't exist (here).
I am also puzzled, if it is part of household items it should be simplified import. You can't buy right sided cars in CH, but people register them somehow, unless there is exception?
In my experience sometimes registration office don't know fully the process, so could be making mistakes. After all, people are working there.
Who told them they could import, and what information were they given to be able to say if it can happen or not?
If engine is not certified for conformity in Europe, it will be pretty much impossible to get Swiss registration.
Someone could go through the process of homologating it specifically, but then it would be so expensive it doesn't make sense for a RAV4 - hence the pretty much impossible comment above.
I would drive it for a few months and then ship it back to US hoping shipping is cheaper by then. Or if cash flow is not an issue (after what I would assume was an expensive move), just bite the bullet and send it now.
In short, that's what Toyota Switzerland said. However, it just seems odd that the vehicle would arrive and pass customs just fine. It can be driven here but again, he's trying to get the Swiss plates, which is where we are now. The DMV asked for a special form to be filled out, which I am attaching (it's in Italian). It seems like this needs to be filled out by Toyota Switzerland. But when we submitted this to Toyota Switzerland, their response was that a US RAV4 was not allowed to receive plates in Switzerland. If that were the case, however, the DMV would have rejected it from the start, but they didn't. Also, if that's the case, it looks like he can drive it with his US plates for the duration permitted by the law, which may be around 12 months (unless that has changed).
However, then I contacted Auto-Vetterli, as graciously passed on by another poster above, and they are specialized in importing US Toyotas, including RAV4s. When I talked to them, they said that the car can receive plates. But hasn't told me yet how or how much it costs.
Urgh - a most difficult process that probably takes a bit of $$ too to get it finalized, if that's even possible.
Has anyone here ever tried to import a car and was not successful? And then what did you do with the car? Do you ship it back, sell it to one of these specialized importers or what?
Thank you all for your feedback, it's greatly appreciated.
It can be possible when it is a part of your household move. Many have done this before. But it is of course simpler if there is an equivalent model or the car has a CoC.
A CoC normally means an European Certificate of Conformity which approves that the car follows all relevant EU regulations, A car which conforms to the US DOT standards will not have a CoC as US DOT and EU regulations are incompatible in respect to each other.
Do say it is impossible is as wrong as to say it must be possible. There are hurdles be overcome and conditions which have to be met. Success is not guaranteed but also not impossible.
The tailpipe emissions in gases and noise must be different. But different doesn't imply above limits. The certificate of conformity is just a shortcut for local authorities to avoid comparing manually car emissions to local laws.
In a special case, all this work can be done and everything's possible, but back to post #1, RAV4 is not a special case.