Hi there,

I'm considering buying a (cheap, crappy) second-hand car for my 8-month stay in Geneva.

Will the process of registering the car be more troublesome if the car I buy has French plates?

For instance, about this (pretty demanding) car inspection, it may be the case that it is only necessary for a French car, not for a Swiss one. Is that correct?

And, how much (roughly) will I end up paying for all costs other than the price of the car to the previous owner?

Thanks a lot!

Pablo

I would try Mobility if the car is only for 8 months.

www.mobility.ch

If you live in Switzerland and purchase a French car with French plates, then you are importing a foreign-registered vehicle into Switzerland

You will need to get the vehicle inspected to determine if it complies with Swiss vehicle regulations. This must be done before the Swiss number plates can be issued.

The test may be no issue at all - but what will you do if the tester finds things on the car that must be changed or fixed? You will have to pay for the changes and repairs.
OK if you are buying say a Porsche or Rolls Royce, but for an old car it may not be worth it.

You are much better off buying a Swiss car that is already registered in Switzerland.

Thanks for the answer, it's clear now.

I understand that no extra inspection is needed if you buy a car in Switzerland (apart for the ordinary inspection every X time).

About expenses other than actually buying the car to the person that sells it, how much should I expect? (I guess it's plates change and insurance, right?)


PS. I know these questions are very basic, feel free to post a link to another place where there's a clear answer, which I didn't manage to find

check out autoscout24.ch for cars under 1000chf - just see that they've got MFK for the next X months where X is the duration of your stay

but for the price i'd probably recommend mobility (mobility.ch) too as then you've got new cars and no breakdowns or iinsurance etc. to worry about

seems high sometimes but when you look at total cost of ownership of a car it's well worth it when doing under 10,000km per year

Not sure if it's relevant but you can have an EU car here for a year without having to import it. If you buy a Swiss car you will need to pay for registration plates,tax, swiss insurance. If it is really cheap it is on sale for export market only as many cars wouldn't be deemed roadworthy here.

Not really, as the OP is already domiciled in Switzerland.

To the OP's question, on top of the testing fees you'd have to pay import duties and VAT. Frankly not worth it for an old beat-up car.