Hi i'v had a quick look at the forum with regard to this and couldn't see anything so apologies if i'v missed something.

I'm coming over to Zurich at the end of March in my car driving from Manchester. So that should be fun.

When I arrive I'm staying hopefully for good. New job!!!

What should I be aware of with regard to my car?
Do I need to register it locally?
I bet I have to pay some sort of tax?
What do I need to do with regard to insurance?
What's the Suisse version of MOT?
What do I need to do about omissions?

Some general guidance on this would be great?

I might have room in the car for anyone who wants a lift or item bringing out?

Thanks

1 - needs to be fully uk legal, so current mot, valid tax and INSURANCE!
2 - not for 12 months
3 - motorway vignette, 40chf
4 - tell you uk insurance company and get a green card
5 - mfk
6 - nothing until you register your car here (if you do, it can be a long painful journey)

eta there are loads of threads on importing cars etc on here, so have a search around

Have a friend with you at all times or start yoga classes, otherwise you'll have to exit parking garages in reverse.

HTH

I used to drive a LHD car in the UK. Get one of these:



Problem solved.

LOL, I have one of those in my LHD car so far have managed to avoid its use.

Make sure your insurance company know you are living abroad with the car for 12 months - they may not cover you.

This is a big problem with UK based insurance companies. As I have found in the past, very few will do this.

I suggest a "long trip round Europe" may buy you some time.

Alternatively find a Swiss insurer that will touch it, although could cause problems with ANPR in the UK.

Hi

Thanks for the help.

But what is" ANPR " in the UK?

What is ANPR in the U K?

automatic number plate recognition, police car scans every single car that passes it and if you dont have uk insurance, tax or mot or you have a warrant out for you then it flags up. so if you has insurance via a swiss company it wont be in there anpr system so every time you pass a police car there is a pretty good chance they will pull you.

I insured through Carole Nash (Motorcycle brokers) and their coverage is for comprehensive in Europe and Switzerland as part of their general insurance if you ask for it. No need for a green card since all of the papers are included in the pack.

First thing is parking really. White zones (few and far between in the cities), you can park for free unless there's a meter near by. Then there's blue zones. Here you can park for 1.5 hours max (using a parking disc that has a clock on it) or get a parking permit from the city to park there the whole day. In Basel and Zurich where I have lived then it's based on your postcode--so one can only park in the blue zones within their residential postcode.

I used to have a UK registered car in Basel. I had to declare it at the border so that they gave me 12.08 (?) form (I cannot remember exact number so do a search on this forum). With this and your residence permit (ausländerausweis) containing you address (that's another story) you should be able to get a permit for the blue zone in your area. For Zurich it's CHF 20 per month or CHF 240 a year.

You can figure out the stuff like what to exactly do with your car once you're here. You may decide to take it back. For now follow the advice on what others have written. Just don't forget to bring your D5 log book with you. You should have that at all times when using the car and you'll need it for the forms.

Which route are you taking to come down here? I just drove from Ashton-under-Lyne last weekend. I always find the M62 to Hull is the easiest and then overnight for £130 to Rotterdam. Arrives about 9 AM and then you're in Zurich late afternoon/tea time. Saves on petrol/stress compared to taking the Calais/Dover route.

Once you have registered as living here your car insurance might not be valid any longer. You must talk to your insurance company!

It would be cheaper and less painful if you sold your car in Manchester and arrived here with Easyjet,

Arrange auto insurance before arriving from US ... http://www.italsure.eu/ ... http://www.car4you.ch/

It's not the coverage in Europe that's a problem you face x3 issues.

1. No longer UK resident. (Invalidates insurance check the policy details.)
2. The length of time, most UK insurers will let you get away with in Europe (constantly outside the UK) is 3 months, rarely 6.
3. Any change in Licence (UK to CH) will cause issues as you have to inform the UK insurer.

The only true way round it is

Obtain CH driving license ASAP. Tell UK insurer you are leaving UK and you are going to obtain a CH license.

Get the import form at the border, fill it out and find a Swiss insurer ASAP to cover you short term on the UK plates until you get your Swiss ones.

Get rid of UK insurance, complete MFK, switch plates to CH ones.

It's all a bit random but you'll get there.

Avoid the UK until the plate change is made, over eager police in the UK take a disliking to uninsured cars and they tend to get wisked away these days. So if they are muppets you may lose your car.

This may all strictly be true but in reality I don't know anyone who has gone this far when moved to a country (I'm think about my friends from France, Spain and myself when I came from the UK). I'd check that the UK insurance company knows you are going away (maybe for good) and you're intentions may be to import the car into Switzerland once you're settled within 3 months. However at this stage is unknown. The Swiss police will be eager that you import your car and change your licence within a year.... unless of course it is going back.

Back in the day of my L reg Rover, my insurance company said they would cover me longer than 3 months abroad but only third party (not comp) as it was a £600 car it was fine. There is also I company here (Based in Basel I think) which insures UK cars, but again this is a stop gap solution.

I think I posted this before, but can't really remember. Here goes again.

I brought a RHD car over from the UK... My suggestion... it's not worth the hassle, sell it in the UK and buy another here.

However, very very few people learn from others... they want to do it the hard way

Why did I do it? At the time the UK used car market collapsed and I had no choice.

What they said ^^

I did the same last year. 12 months will be up in May, don't want the hassle of registering it here, and being stuck with a RHD so now have to take it back and try and sell it in a very short space of time.
Plus sorting the insurance to actually stay legal (as per points above) has been a pain.

Honestly - If you are planning on being here a while just sell it at home!

If you consider selling it once you get here please PM me. I am looking for a RHD car.

As a resident of Switzerland I bought a RHD car in the UK and imported it. It was ok, and I would do it again - for the right car only though! There are some cars fantastically cheaper in the UK, and importing doesn't have to be such a hassle as people make out. It wasn't for me.

I shuffle over and it is difficult. Sometimes get a hand brake up the bottom, but that might appeal to some people.

Here's an RHD Punto being sold by some garage. Not sure if this is cheap? I guess they'd have a lower resale value: http://auto.ricardo.ch/kaufen/fahrze...w/an630458414/

Anyway, depends on the person and the value of the car to that person I guess. If you like your cars and don't mind the servicing then you'd probably stick with what you know and import.

The story of having an RHD car in a LHD world never really washed with me. I've got an LHD car now and had it in the UK for sometime and vice-versa, RHD here when I first arrived. Also seen many British registered LHD cars in London and then there's islands in the Caribbean like US Virgin Islands that has US LHD cars driving on the left. You get used to it. Overtaking isn't a big deal in a car. You can see through windows/around both sides of the car in front. Just stay out of multi story car parks but even then, it's only taking your seat belt off--or even better, reverse into/out of them.