Hi all - we're looking at the possibility of leasing a car, and just found an example. Just wondering can anyone help us answer some questions. Are new to the idea of a lease, and how it works, especially in CH.

The image for the add is attached. Questions are:
1) Does this assume some sort of up front lump payment?
2) If not, can you break out of the lease at any time - eg after 2 years with no penalty and just return the car?

Sorry if these are stupid questions, just know nothing at all about this stuff!!!

Thanks
K

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Hi all - I'm going to be in Zurich for 18 months, starting this summer. I know you don't need a car in Switzerland that the transport is excellent, but I'll like to have one for things like weekends away / big shops etc. Give us just a bit more freedom.

What I'm trying to find out is what are the options / best way to do this? So far the thoughts (in order of most attractive to us) are:

1) Cheap Rental - we find a company which does longer terms rents a bit cheaper. I saw one before which was 600 CHF a month. Anyone know of any like this?
2) Lease - we try and lease a car for 18 months. I don't know if this is even possible. I guess most are 3-5 years. Any info on this?
3) Mobility + Rent Car - we sort ourselves with a mobility account and use these for short trips / shops etc. Then if we need a car for longer, we simply rent one. The downside is we don't have a car and need to collect / pay for one each time we need it. The upside is no running / maintenance costs

The 1st 2 mean we have a car all the time. Budget wise I think we have about 600-700 CHF a month for this MAX.

I know about option 3 and the costs of this. what I'm wondering is:
1) Any advice on cheap long term car rental or lease which would be in our budget. We only want the car for 18 months, so dont want to be locked into a longer term lease with no get out
2) any other options we didn't think of?

Thanks
K

Hi Kev,

It looks like you have indeed covered all options other than personal neighbour deals etc.

IMHO I think the Mobility route would be the best and most cost effective for you, after all if the car is going to be sitting about in the week do you really want to be paying the insurance and up-keep? A very expensive cost here even on modest cars.

Lease is indeed 3-5 and you also have to pay for the registration, garage/ parking permit and insurance!

Alternatively simply get a cheep run-about and insure it third party Italian big city stylie!

I think the best and easiest is to import a car (preferably from the US or right hand drive) and make it conform Switzerland spec



no wait...

Buy a used car, and sell it when you leave.

My girlfriend bought a Fiat Palio with only 90k km (with AC and power steering) for CHF 3300 earlier this year, and my daughter just bought an Opel Corsa for CHF 1500.

Tom

LOL!!! No really!!! HAHAHAHA

If you are thinking that the mobility option isn't enough, look for a cheap used car. The magic point where cars get cheap is 10 years or 100k km. If you're willing to spend 600-700 per month then a cheap used car is the most economical and insurance is cheap for a much older car, too.

Hi,
The best is to buy a second hand car. But be careful, the car should already passed the technical inspection (is available during 2 years, which fit very well with your period). I can help you, send me details in PM.

The two cars we bought this year, for 3300 and 1500 respectively, both had fresh MFK, I wouldn't buy a car without one.

Tom

Or you could rent my car from me for CHF500.-/m

I might be tempted...

I'll be moving to Zurich in August and have also been looking at the options. I think I'll go with the Mobility 4-month trial to start and see how that works out. My move is a long-term/permanent move so I may decide to buy/lease later on. But I like the mobility option of different size cars depending on needs. I think the biggest issue for me is mental....adjusting to not having a car sitting there waiting to be used, and having to plan ahead. I think a 4-month trial could help me make up my mind one way or the other.

We do not need to plan. It depends on what you gonna do in the week.

But if you only use the car at weekends rent one each weekend.

I come here 2 days and i wiil do then. Even if i go to germany i will rent there.

How does one find these amazing deals? I'm always leery about buying a used car, because I don't know where it's been, who's farted in it, how many kids puked in it, or how much repairs are going to cost when the transmission craps out.

But... since I'm finding that I'll have to wait 6 months to get a "real" car through financing, then I may have to settle for dropping a wad of cash on a disposable.

So... is there a website with listings or something?

(a few seconds later)

Found it.... *facepalm* http://www.auto-online.ch/en/

__________________
I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies. - Pietro Aretino

What kind of car do you have? I might be tempted.

Hi all - I think you're all right
1) Use mobility and see how often we rent a car for weekends
2) If this becomes a lot - then either:
- look at buying something 2nd hand for 2-3k CHF
- or bring our own over from UK for 12 months

Few other questions so.... about owning / running a car which are:
- what is the cost of winter tyres roughly. Never had these before?
- I've gotten an insurance quote, so know how much that would be
- what is the annual car tax on a 1600cc car (petrol) roughly?
- how much is the annual / bi annual equivalent to the MOT?
- last... hard one to answer... but how does the cost of servicing compare to the UK? So if a "standard" service costs 120-150 at home, how much would it be here?

Thanks so much for the help!
K

- what is the cost of winter tyres roughly. Never had these before?
www.google.ch (type, size, brand, etc...)


- I've gotten an insurance quote, so know how much that would be
http://en.comparis.ch/auto/default.aspx



- what is the annual car tax on a 1600cc car (petrol) roughly?
Your commune website or
http://www.stva.zh.ch/internet/siche...a/de/home.html
(search on EnglishForum)


- how much is the annual / bi annual equivalent to the MOT?
don't know. depends on your car's condition?

- last... hard one to answer... but how does the cost of servicing compare to the UK? So if a "standard" service costs 120-150 at home, how much would it be here?
Why comparing? You will live here and have to pay here...
depends on time+ parts + garage + type of car, etc....

I use mobility, and I have been for the last two years, it's a great system. I did some calculations and if I use it in a big way once a week, and then public transport the rest of the time it was cheaper, and better than owning a car. Better because I was comparing it to a cheap used car, whereas mobility cars are usually quite new, and you don't have any hassle of repairs, and you can choose what type of car you want for any given purpose. A van to move, a BMW to drive to Germany, a hatchback to go shopping etc..

If you get mobility combined with a yearly public transport ticket you get a huge discount everytime you hire a car.

Oh, and I had an accident once, no problem, I just had to pick up another car from the closest place and carry on. They guy who I crashed into, that owned his car, would have had issues for weeks whilst it was getting repaired.

Matt

I disagree. At this price, it will be a bucket. You can be lucky and it survives 18 months or you can be unlucky and something really expensive breaks...

If the OP happens to have some savings, he should go for a 5-10 year old "pretty standard" car. One that can be sold again easily after the 18 months. That would be for example: Volkswagen Golf, Audi A3, A4, BMW 3 series E46, Merc A/B/C series, Ford Focus,...

You bind a bit of capital, but then you get a decent car that hardly depreciates anymore. My 2004 Audi A4 costs me way less than 600-700 a month to maintain. Go to autoscout.ch and compare the prices of the same cars with say 70.000 and 100.000 km and you will see that the depreciation is probably < 5000 CHF.

So running costs and depreciation of the right car is most likely much lower than a lease of a new one... quite logically so. If the OP is willing to bind some 20k CHF for the time, it is probably the most cost efficient way.

Not necessarily.
I know plenty of people who've bought decent small cars for this price & with fresh MFK's.
Like everywhere else, it's about avoiding dealers & knowing what you're looking at, combined with with a bit of common & gut feeling.
This is CH - not Italy or UK - if it's got a fresh MFK, it's probably pretty good to go.

Coming to think of it... It's probably not worth the hassle... and I've gotten used to having one now