Hi there,

I have been checking this forum for a while. And finally got to post something here. I moved from America to Basel last September with my wife and son.

I just shipped my car (infiniti G35x which I bought in 2008) from America without really knowing what kind of hassle there will be. My wife heard from someone saying "yeah, you can keep the american car without registering there for 1 year, so no car property tax, you can save some money." It has been gigantic pain, but I think I am almost there... I will share my experience so far a bit, cuz maybe someone can find the information useful(?), before I ask the questions.

FYI, I didn't receive any letter or information about what I should do after clearing the customs, although in the MFK website it says that they send all the necessary information/instruction for the next step.


1. Import tax,
I paid over 4000CHF for import tax, and felt so frustrated about it. I thought it was too much for a car that I paid 35K 3 years ago, so I started digging internet to find some info to get part of the money back.

It turned out that since the car belonged to me for more than 6 months, and I brought it not to sell it, I was not supposed to pay any import tax. I was so surprised that the customs office just applied whatever the highest tax they could apply. I even went down to the Zoll in St.Jakob, and they said "well, you are right, but it's not our fault." So I contacted the shipping company who did the customs clearance, and sent my 18.44 form... They got the notice that I am getting the money back, so I am just waiting for the money to come back. (and I am not supposed to sell the vehicle for at least 1 year, if I get the money back.)

2. Insurance
Since infiniti G35x was never sold in Switzerland, I could not get any online quote. So I called couple of insurance company. Among them Zurich Connect would cover my car as far as it stays in Switzerland. So that I can at least drive it to get tested (such as Abgastest). In the beginning the guy I was talking to on phone was not so sure if they could do it, but after talking to the manager(?), he said they will cover the car before registration. (When I get my car registered in Basel, they will cover it like other normal cars.)

3. Registration
This is where I am. I haven't registered my car yet, or more like, I COULDN'T register my car yet. I called the MKF Basel office and the lady there was not particularly fluent in English. She said "ah, so you import, bring customs document, insurance document, car title, and COC."

I didn't know what COC is, and she could only tell me that it is short for Certificate of Conformity. I tried to get it on my own, but since the car was never sold in Switzerland the infiniti dealer in Switzerland would not help. I tried contacting infiniti USA, and they are also not sure what they can do.

And this is what I found...

http://www.mfk.bs.ch/fahrzeuge/fahrz...ort.html#ueber

Übersiedlungs-, Ausstattungs- oder Erbschaftsgut sowie zollfreie Einfuhr

"Fahrzeuge, die von den Zollbehörden als Übersiedlungs-, Ausstattungs- oder Erbschaftsgut abgefertigt werden oder deren Halter eine Bewilligung zur zollfreien Verwendung besitzt, sind vom Nachweis der Abgas- und Geräuschvorschriften ausgenommen. Jedoch ist der Abgastest und die Beibringung des Abgas-Wartungsdokuments notwendig. Eine Befreiung von der Typengenehmigung ist nicht notwendig. Die Fahrzeuge können direkt bei der Motorfahrzeugkontrolle zur Prüfung angemeldet werden. Eine Einschränkung bei Halterwechsel wird jedoch im Fahrzeugausweis eingetragen."

And also this.

Befreiung von der Typengenehmigung

Grundsätzlich sind alle zum Eigengebrauch importierten Fahrzeuge und Fahrgestelle von der Typengenehmigung befreit. Zum Eigengebrauch importierte Fahrzeuge sind solche, die auf den Namen des Importierenden in der Schweiz zugelassen werden.

Google translate is telling me that this means, personal property household stuff.. My case will be exempt from type approval..? And also I only need to submit gas and noise test result..? Do any of you know what this is about..? or Have similar experience? I think the test from Münchenstein (MFP) will be more expensive than what it should be...

After first getting ripped off for 4000+CHF I can't really just let the officers figure out what my options are... My feeling is that they would take as much as they can from me, and I can only save my money by knowing and declaring my rights...

Can´t help you much about importing a car but welcome to the forum anyway.

While I am not familiar with the overall process one part of what you have posted may explain.

In you explanation you mention that you moved here last september and have only just shipped the car across in excess of 6 months after your arrival. This may explain why you got hit on the tax since from what I have seen on the forum if you ship goods such as cars etc to arrive when you move here or within 6 months then generally no import tax is applied.

If however you bring goods in after 6months regardless of age then the tax is applied.

This is information is only a summary of what I have seen on the forum so you may want to check.

Also you do realise that you need to declare the car on your swiss tax return as a taxable asset which you own.

Q: Do you have a Export-permit from the USA ?

Please correct me if I am wrong, but the "Typengenehmigung" or Type-Plate is essential in establishing the car's authenticity. Without the "Typenschield" and CoC you would have to go through a complete inspection, just as the car importer would do when he imports the first model of a new type.

As this Infinity was never sold here you will have to pay for this expensive procedure. Normally the ex-pat importer would buy the CoC (certificate of conformity) from the car main dealer here, but you can't because there is no established car of this type.

Have you thought about sending it back to the USA? I am not joking, this might be MUCH cheaper.

I have a few thoughts...but first, if you decide to import a car without thoroughly understanding the process (and researching it ahead of time), I only have limited sympathy for the hiccups you've encountered.

Your car was not manufactured for the European market, so there will be no certificate of conformity. Having said that, I believe that cars after the mid-90s manufactured for the US market can also be imported to Switzerland with limited formalities - the EPA sticker acting as a proxy for meeting emissions requirements while the DOT marking on tyres, lights and glass substitute for the European E-marks.

I'm not able to do a search right now, but the TCS have a comprehensive brochure on importing cars from abroad, including a section on importing a car that is designed for the US market. It's a PDF file that I've posted on here before - a Google search on 'importation voiture suisse etats unis tcs' will probably turn up the French version of the text.

Sure enough, I was right. It's the first hit on Google. See page 7 in particular.

http://www.tcs.ch/main/fr/home/auto_...oitures_fr.pdf

wow... thanks for the responses.

@ Wallabies
Nope I shipped my car before I left so that I can receive it soon after I arrive here. And I talked to the zoll director of Basel, and he said I will get the money back. Like I said, the shipping agent already got notice that the tax will be refunded. From what I heard, it seems like they should have done the clearance as Household from the beginning.

And I did not know that it was a taxable asset... oh no... i don't want to pay any more tax!

@ cannut
Export permit? I am not even sure what this means. I just paid a shipping company, so that they will do the customs and everything. so I don't know what they have done...

@ Sbrinz
Your reply is so scary!!! I hope what you said won't happen to me! It is clearly written that vehicles only for personal use/for moving purpose is exempt from the type approval. So I really hope I don't have to pay for that.
And the Infiniti Basel guy actually called the Munchenstein car inspection office, and they said the test takes 80 minutes and will cost 260CHF(test fee)+40CHF(paper fee) to get COC. (I was writing this thread in the hope that I won't even need COC....) Anyway, I think it will be cheaper than sending it back to America, which will cost at least 3000CHF...?

I also sent an email to Basel MFK office asking what exactly I should do... Hopefully they get back to me soon. And I will post the result again.

At 9 pm tonight you stated the Basel importer wasn't helping you. Now 2 hours later you say he will get you a CoC (also known as CEE )

Well this is indeed good news!

@Sbrinz
I think my choice of words "infiniti dealer would not help" was inaccurate. I am sorry if this offended you..

The mechanic in the dealership store first said "We don't do this because it was never sold in infiniti Switzerland. Contact Nissan maybe." And I asked him if he could at least call Nissan guys since I don't speak German. So he called Nissan, and called MFP to find out that Infiniti dealers cannot issue the COC, but I have to pay my own money around 300CHF to get COC....

@ Village Idiot

Yeah, I am finding out how stupid I was to just send my car like that. I should have thought about it more seriously before I sent it! Too late to regret, but next time, when I leave this country, I will check the destination country's regulation on this...

And thanks for the link, and explanation.

[QUOTE=piyohiko;1443275]wow... thanks for the responses.


@ cannut
Export permit? I am not even sure what this means. I just paid a shipping company, so that they will do the customs and everything. so I don't know what they have done...


QUOTE]
http://www.ratwell.com/technical/Imp...da.html#export

Her it is

Ah, I think the shipping company took care of this. Why did you ask?

It's no consolation, but there are similar problems importing European cars into the USA. For example try importing an Alfa Romeo....

That's for importing a vehicle into Canada.

Nap time?

I believe you have up to 18 months to bring the stuff in. We discussed this recently on another car thread. Check the customs site.

You know, if you didn't do the paper work correctly it's not their fault that things got messed up & it was not their intent to "rip you off". sigh. I'm glad to hear things are being corrected.

[QUOTE=Texaner;1443343]That's for importing a vehicle into Canada.

Nap time?[/QUOTE]??
Arriving at the border USA /CAN,With a Chevy van and a beemer parts car, which I bought in ND and had clear titles. I worked 9 months in ND.I was tretend by a US custom officer to be trowen in jail for not folloing the export rules .So I wondering these rules only applies to Canada ?
Back for a other nap!

For what it's worth, I imported a car from the US to the UK. All I needed was a billof sale and the US registration document. No export certificate was required as far as I can remember.

@Village Idiot

I also thought that it should be quite easy....

I woke up from my nap ,did some resurges,and vola
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/bas...or_vehicle.xml