My partner and I will be moving to Geneva at the end of January due to her work. We have a few cars that I am in the process of making arrangements for but there is one in particular that I would like to understand my options for keeping and importing.
It's a Lotus Elise S1 with an engine conversion that is road legal, taxed and insured in the UK but that gets used almost exclusively for track days. I understand that this would be very difficult/impossible to have legally road-registered in Switzerland due to its state of modification, however I wondered if it might be possible to import it as part of our personal effects and then to keep it garaged and off of the road, only then to trailer it to circuits as and when we fancied.
I would be able to provide documents confirming its value and country of origin, however I'm fairly sure that it would be non-compliant with Swiss road standards and so worry that it would fall at the first hurdle if this is a pre-requisite, even for track cars.
There are two separate but related aspects for importing a vehicle.
#1 - declaring it for customs purposes i.e. so you don't get busted for smuggling, you should be able to do this as you arrive, and then you get a grace period before you need to get Swiss registration
#2 - Swiss registration, this is where you may struggle with a modified car, but it's optional, you don't necessarily need to do this if you're not going to drive on Swiss roads
I don't know the rules on moving vehicles on trailers over the border into/out of EU/Switzerland, I think it may have been mentioned on previous threads though.
You can certainly import this "track toy" without registering it as a road car. Add its value to your effects not use the form to import road cars.
One thing to note: trailers are not controlled the same way as they are in the UK.
Each trailer has its own registration plate, it needs to pass a Swiss "mot" and be registered taxed and insured just like a car.
To cross the boarder to access tracks in neighbouring countries you will need a carnet (ATA) which you must get controlled each time in and out of the country.
Why garage it in expensive Geneva when you can find a garage out in the sticks, or in France, as the car is only moving in public on a trailer their is zero problem.
You can insure the car irrespective of where it is based, you just need to tailor your insurance policy to the facts and make sure the insurer knows where the car is located.
You can definitely bring it over, but I do think you'll need to import it as a car so that you can receive the 13.20A form. This basically means that you have cleared customs and the car is legally in the country.
Technically the only difference between importing a car and something else is the extra tax on top of VAT which varies per product. But since you own the car for more than 6 months before your first move to CH, it's part of your personal effects and would be tax free in any case - so no impact there.
If it was a full blown race car with the appropriate documentation attached, you could definitely move it through borders - a lot of amateurs and teams in Switzerland take their cars around in Europe like that. I would believe that a car with a 13.20A and a registration to the track day/event you're attending would be more than enough to get out of Switzerland and the 13.20A would be definitely enough to get in Switzerland again. If you can find a race shop they could guide you, otherwise you could definitely try talking to the customs people - they can be quite helpful.
Please keep in mind the trailer issues as well. Firstly, the trailer does have some admin work involved, and then you'll also need to probably do a BE license so that you can carry a proper trailer. I know the Elise is a light car, but even with a small trailer, to avoid extending the license would mean driving a tow car of under 2t most probably, and I don't know how easy/comfortable/safe that would be.
I'm thinking of doing the BE exam in the next few months as I'm contemplating a dedicated track car with no plates, and even though I now have loads of space for stuff like that, still not trivial to deal with all that.
Also yeah, you're going to need space. At the very least, Elise on the trailer parked in one large spot somewhere.
Good luck, welcome, and when you start venturing to the tracks close to the border send a PM over
Wow, thank you everyone for the responses. There's some very helpful tips and links in there.
The gist seems to be that I import it and clear customs as per normal for any other car and make the relevant applications/declarations under form 18.44.
Then it sounds like it would be sensible to get an inspection report to carry with the vehicle too. From what I've read, form 13.20A is the report for new vehicles and so I would require 13.20B for second hand cars. Is this strictly necessary if I'm not going through the process to register the vehicle for Swiss plates?
And then there's the small matter of finding a garage and sorting a trailer. With regards the garage, Geneva would certainly be more expensive than a unit in France, however the upside to having it stored locally is that it's close by for maintenance and inevitable repairs. That being said, I imagine it would be possible to get a much better equipped unit, possibly double unit, in France for the price of a diddy space in Geneva. Definitely something that I need to read up on more. Lord knows what it will do to the insurance premium having it stored in another country.
Someone else mentioned that trailer regs were much stricter on the continent and, whilst this is inconvenient, I do think it's a good thing as I've seen some very suspect loads on the roads here in the UK. One thing that works nicely here is hiring a beaver tail-style recovery truck, as opposed to needing a heavier duty tow vehicle plus trailer. Again, this looks like something that I'll have to read up on further as I've no idea what the license requirements might be for a recovery truck and whether companies would be happy with you crossing borders.
The Elise weighs in at 750kg and I'd ideally like to tow on a double axle trailer that would probably weigh c.600kg. Once you throw tools and spare wheels on top of that it quickly adds up. A diesel 5 series would be quite happy pulling that around but I'm not sure that the Maximum Allowable Masses would stack up correctly.
I'll definitely drop you a line when I'm set up. The only thing I have booked for 2022 so far is Brands GP, so there will be a trip back and I'd quite like to tackle something -- Zolder or Spa perhaps. I've also always wanted to get on Le Mans but unfortunately they have a minimum vehicle weight that the Elise is under!
One thing to consider with garaging it in France is whether I need to register it as imported there, as opposed to in Switzerland. This might be difficult if I'm not residing there
And one more thing to consider if a carnet is needed each time that I crosses the border, is whether its the same as when you 'carnet' a car out of the UK temporarily. I believe that UK customs require a bond for 40% of the vehicles value as security or you can buy insurance that temporarily covers the value for you.
Wouldn't be a problem if the vehicle returned to the UK/Switzerland but if it was then stored in France I imagine the bond is lost.
I really don't think you need a carnet to move the car in and out of borders.
I know of people shipping cars in and out of Switzerland and they never had any papers like this. I also shipped a car to Greece this summer and no paperwork required. The car did have plates, but it was on a commercial transporter full of other cars that were going for import.
If you pass it yourself and have the 13.20A form from Switzerland that proves customs have been cleared there you should have no issue entering the country.
When you get out, if you have the 13.20A and a registration of the event you're attending, it would be arguable that you're going to visit and then bringing the car back.
Again, I think the best course of action is to talk to the customs office, and I'm pretty sure you'll get some helpful pointers.
Since I was the one who raised the point of a carnet, let me explain further what I meant, based on personal experience (as ever TMMV since I am in a different Canton!).
If you make it a Swiss registered car then you have no issues there are special rules about cars.
If you import it as a valuable household item, then going across the border with it opens you up each crossing to being taxed! (and since it LOOKS like a car, but wouldn't have any car papers this is probable...).
This is similar to if you do publicity at trade shows etc with examples of your offerings, you use carnets to move across the Swiss boarder freely.
To have a carnet you do indeed need to post a bond, in your home country (ie CH), which covers you for a time period/certain number of boarder transits. If the item is back in your home country you can close the bond and get the money back. It is the Cantonal chamber of commerce who provide this.
On the trailer front, if you have had your UK license before a certain date you will have BE written on it and you get a BE trailer license automatically when you swap them over here.
It is not hugely difficult once you find the way through the maze!
That’s also my understanding of the carnet protocol. I’ve been advised but guys that have had to the same thing to transport their vehicles out of the UK onto the mainland, to ensure the carnet covers as much equipment as possible, I.e. every possible tool, spare wheels and parts, just in case you land an over judicious official at the border. Better to have too much covered than too little.
And on the trailer front, sadly but not sadly, I’m not old enough to have had the BE part of my license given automatically, so I’ll have to do the tests, which isn’t a bad thing in my mind.
Next convos will be with customs, export companies and insurance. There’s a fair bit of admin to overcome but I’m sure it will be worth it to have access to the fantastic tracks down there.