I am in the way converting my original driving license to swiss one and for some reasons i dont have so much preparation time, the exam is next week. i just had a lesson with an instructor yesterday but i didnt really find it useful and it already did cost me a lot of money so mainly because of the time shortage of me my own and also driving instructors in the period that i have left till the exam and also considering the huge amount of money that is going to cost me, i'm not taking any lessons in the remaining time.
Now, since i already have a driving license from another country i was planning to rent a car on weekend , get a little familiar with it / do training and also rent it for my exam date. is there anybody here that can tell me first of all if this is possible at all and secondly where to rent form.
I used www.mietanddrive.ch recently and they were great. They are not very central but you can just book it online or phone and show up with your license. As far as I know they do half days and longer.
Having said that you should be very sure you will pass the test, since if you fail once you can not retry the conversion test - you have to redo the full license from the beginning including theory, first aid courses and compulsory lessons. This is really expensive compared to a lesson or two.
There are many driving schools - also mentioned/recommended on EF in other threads.
I think you can join Mobility at short notice (same day at some SBB stations). There is a 4 month trial membership for 70CHF.
If you have a cumulus card, this is reduced to 40CHF.
You can opt to reduce your liability in the event of an accident (from 2000CHF to 300CHF) for 40CHF extra. You could try out lots of different vehicles.
Not sure why nobody mentioned it: Do you have a license that is currently valid here (EU, US or an "international" driving license)? Otherwise no company will rent you a car for obvious reasons...
just to make it clear, i had a international driving license which has already expired 2 month ago and because of that next week is the last deadline i have to do the test for conversion.
Now, the important point is that in the exam invitation letter that i've recieved it says that that letter is in place of a license for me to drive my own car to the exam location, which considering that i'm living in zurich and my exam location is at winterthur is not a very short distance.
So using that letter i am legally authorized to drive to the exam location , but since i dont have any car of my own, will any renting company, rent me a car based o that "letter" ? i'm asking because of probably risk or insurance issues (at least from their point).
besides, as i'm allowed to drive using the leteer on exam date, i dont see why cant i use that to drive few hours more for traing the day before at least to get familiar with the car.
unfortunately i dont have friends with car, so renting will be my last option perhaps. but as the finall way, if i find all the doors closed i may ask a friend to rent a car with his license and then lend it to me. does any body know is that gonna cause legal issues ?
[i've heard cases that a guy rent a car, lnding to his girlfriend causing accidence and its treated normal, but i'm not sure about my case]
You can check with a driving school, normally you would be able to do a 1 hour drive for 80 to 150 CHF, then you can go with the same exact car on the day of the test for another 100 or so, bit cost but it is the safest & most reliable way to do it (I'm actually doing this for my conversion test in couple of weeks)
I had very short time for preparing for my control drive exam (required for conversion of my foreign license to swiss one) and the exam is on Tuesday morning at Winterthur. but yet so far i havent managed to find a car for my test. i called renting companies they say we dont rent for driving test. also i couldnt find any driving schools having free time at my exam time. besides i dont have "car" friends. so i was wondering if you know how can i unofficially rent a car for a day just for my driving test. i live in zurich
I am surprised the instructor you had a lesson with didn't suggest taking you to the test, in which case you would use their car. Unless of course, he/she thought you weren't ready for the test. If your international licence is expired, renting is not an option. If all you have is a letter saying you can drive your own car, I think no one is going to lend you a car. It is too much of an insurance risk. That just leaves you with a driving school. I suggest you call one in Wintethur, that would be local to the test location. Perhaps you will find someone who is available.
Hope you find a solution as it looks like you cannot reschedule the test.
I would very strongly recommend you get professional instruction.
I was in a similar situation to you a few years ago. I never took my driving test in the UK and obtained a UAE driving license. A number of years later I was back in the UK and had one year to drive on my UAE license before requiring a UK license. I phoned a driving agency and booked about 15 lessons with them in a period of about 10 days. Everything worked out and I obtained my license.
The problem is not that you don't know how to drive, it is that you have to meet the standards required to pass a driving test in Switzerland. There are so many bad habits you pick up which have to be fixed before you take the test - driving with one hand, the way you change gear, letting the car coast pulling up to a junction etc. etc. All of these will cause you to fail the test.
Be open and clear with your instructor and explain the situation to them. Then listen to what they tell you. It is their job to help you pass and they will know what you have to do.
Person renting a car must in advance inform the renting company about all persons driving the car. Usually the rental company demands to see licenses of all intended drivers.
Maybe you should reschedule your driving test and arrange for a driving school to help you.
Thanks for the comments, but unfortunately i can not change the exam date, i asked them and they said its not possible. so i have tp do it tommorow morning, and tonight i'm going to do some training with a automatic tranmission car that i eventually managed to find.
is there any hints with the automatic tranmission driving test that one can give me ? i am beginning to worry and get nervous. any tips?
Just relax and it should be ok, the only thing to note is, if you pass the exam with Automatic car, you're license will be limited to Automatic cars, so you can't drive manual cars in the future, if you pass with a manual car you can drive both.
thanks for the comments. first i got so shocked when you said that i wont be able to drive with manual tranmission if i do the test with the automatic. but then i called an instructor and he said that in my case (conversion of license) is not important which tramission system you use for the test , either way if you pass you will be able to drive with both.
but again he said that you should have taken lessons and ... my worry is just exploding ... apart from being care ful about trams and bikes and the order of mirror-looking and head turning stuff, is there really othe rimportant issues that might help me with the test ?
Priority pass (specially the zones that is unmarked), if there's no stop lines in an intersection, priority is always right. Speed limits is very important, specially in the city (take care of the 30 / 50 / 60 zones), if you enter the high way make sure you accelerate properly, lower speed than the limit doesn't mean you pass the test. Do not cross hands when turning (probably you know this already) Make sure to be calm, relaxed and in control, this definitely count in the test.
I would say this one was the most important one for me to focus on. In South Africa we always have an indication on the road or a sign if you need to stop or yield at an intersection. But in this case you could think you are on the main road (since it is bigger than the intersecting roads, and you are going straight, not turning) but you have to yield to the right. That is strange if you are not used to it. In short, in an intersection when the road from the right does not have a stop line or these triangles indicating they have to yield, you have to wait for cars from the right.
I suppose the more official way to know whether to yield or not is to see all 'Main Road' (yellow and black sqaure on its side) and 'no longer Main Road' signs and know when you are the Main Road or not. But since you can miss them, I looked at the road markings of intersecting roads.