I think the limit is officially 12 months from when you move here, or maybe it varies from canton to canton. After a year, you're not really supposed to use a UK car here at all, apart from travelling to and from Switzerland. I was stopped recently in a police roadside check, driving a UK car with a Swiss driving licence. They asked me lots of questions but when I told them that I had just recently driven it here from the UK, and was about to drive it back again (which was partly almost true), they seemed to accept this.

I loved the "partly almost true"

Reminded me of the scene from Ratatouille:

"Larousse: Hey boss, look who's here! Alfredo Linguini, Renata's little boy! All grown-up. You remember Renata, Gusteau's old flame?
Skinner: [disinterested] Oh, yes, how are you, uh…
Larousse: Linguini.
Skinner: Linguini. How is--?
Linguini: M-My mother?
Larousse: Renata.
Skinner: Ah yes, Renata. How is she?
Linguini: She's good. Well, not--She's been better. I-I mean, uh--
Horst: She died."

I will sell it after I come back to ROI (2-3 months after moving to Switzerland)

Thanks. I've read that I have to declare it - is it very hard to convince customs that this car is only for few months to be used there?

If you're just driving it to Switzerland and then back to ROI, to sell it after a few months, and never intend to register the car in Switzerland (i.e. get Swiss plates), there's nothing to declare or explain to customs. It's no different than going on holidays with your car.

If you bring the car when you arrive you have a year to decide, you declare the car pay about 30CHF for a form & thats it.....for now.

Is a insurance policy agreement sufficient to prove over 6 months ownership? I don't have any invoice or receipt - it was all done 7 years ago and in Ireland

Registration document in your name is fine.

Your vehicle logbook should suffice, although you need to prove 6 months ownership only if you want to import the car as part of your personal effects and avoid the customs fees.

If all you want, as you declared, is to drive in Switzerland for a few months, on Irish plates, and then take it back to Ireland, this doesn't apply to you. None of this, as you don't need to do anything special or declare anything. Just buy the motorway sticker.

Additionaly one can drive 140km/h on the Autobahn, easliy bring 7kg of fresh meat, 5 l of Vodka, and 50g of marijuana over the border. Given there is no control.

The law and rules are clear. If your residence is in Switzerland you have to stop and declare, unless done previously. Anything else is smugling and may result in a hefty fine.

Art. 7 Grundsatz

Not sure about the risk of speeding tickets....however, I have a UK plated car here, haven't been here a year yet. I never declared it when I drove over the border, I have a B permit but don't work at the moment. My car is registered to my house in England and I return regularly enough and sometimes take the UK car or my wife's Swiss registered car.......question is, if I don't declare it and there are no checks or questions at the border....I could drive it for years here until the day I do get stopped and then I just say I recently brought it over to CH.....wouldn't that work?
My car is fully UK legal insurance, MOT etc etc its also parked off road in an underground car park.
Any thoughts?

It is like this topic has never been discussed before!!

Where are you PRIMARILY living? If it is Switzerland you should follow all the conditions as laid out by the Customs office.

If it is the UK you need to ensure your insurance does cover you for extended trips abroad - and need to ensure you are not considered resident in Switzerland.

At present you can, in theory, import the car as a personal object, and therefore do so without any custom charges. If they stop you later on, you may be charged with smuggling, fined and then required to pay the duties.

__________________
"Don't believe everything you read on the internet" Abraham Lincoln

A public spirited neighbour here may simply report it.
Are you planning to import it as part of your personal possessions and get Swiss plates for it or are you intending to dispose of it back in the UK ?

I seem to be lucky with my neighbours...most are German and friendly...we have good relations ( I know, never say never).
I intend really to keep it until it falls apart or if it continues to run well, return it to the UK when/ if we return in the future.


I'm covered by insurance for 30 day periods...but obviously I don't need to state the days I'm away with it...same with the AA for two days cover...in short, I'm hedging my bets I won't get stopped/ reported/ etc


I did read that if the car returns to the UK frequently then I don't need to register it here....I live half here and half in the UK and of course am registered for council tax/ Germeinden fees etc.

According to the authorities though you will have a "centre of life". So where is it?

If they suspect you are trying to dodge import or tax regulations they will investigate

I have had exactly this issue. My old UK-registered Audi cabriolet is too good to sell but not worth importing. Also, it has a fancy UK number plate which I would lose if I imported the car. I have been driving it here for six years (not continuously, he adds quickly, in case the Berner Verkehrspolizei are reading this). Had my first proper experience of a proper road-side spot-check recently - lots of questions, particularly when I said I had a C-permit. However, the policeman was friendly, looked at my V5 registration document (clearly hadn't a clue what he was looking at) and asked me whether I used the car for commuting to and from the UK. He seemed quite keen that this should be the case, so that he didn't have to investigate any further. So I assured him that this was exactly the situation, and suddenly everything was fine. It probably helped that the car had recently been cleaned, and I happened to be wearing my best business suit. If the car had been in its usual state, with me in my old scruffs, the outcome might possibly have been different - who knows.

Likewise, my old car is a soft-top which I'm too attached to....I also use it to commute to the UK to my UK home.....as there are no real border checks on travelling into the CH it would seem easy to play the tourist.
The only time I've been stopped in a UK car was my company car before I quit my job. They just asked did I have anything to declare, I said the car was full of personal items I was moving to my house in Zurich from the UK...no further questions, no documents needed to be shown.
The Swiss seem less interested than the UK customs....I've been stopped almost every time going to and from the UK in a Swiss registered car and only once in a UK company car.
However, my wife's colleague and his partner had their car virtually stripped looking for contraband coming into CH from Germany.....luckily they removed labels and packaging off everything they bought in Germany...mainly clothes and cosmetics.

I don't believe that the CH or UK customs are particularly interested in the legality of your vehicle. I have several times driven back to UK with a tax disc and MOT which may not have been entirely as one would have wished, and I never had any issues.

It's the spot-checks you have to watch for here, where the police check your tyres, lights, driving licence, car documents and so on. Might be worth carrying a print-out of a booking for a ferry crossing, just to give you something to talk about in case you get stopped.

Hi Guys

I'm moving in soon (Lausanne, 2.06.2014) and I will bring my car FULL of our belongings. It will have back seats folded, roof box attached and 2 bicycles on the towing bar. Do you think it will be a problem on the border? I intend to cross in Les Rouses (i think) - it is a small crossing. Do you think it is ok to do that or should I add some distance by going via Geneva? What documents do I need - some customs declaration forms to print out before we go?
Ps. My car has Irish plates. Do I need to adjust the light beam somehow in order to make them road safe?

Probably a good idea to prepare the documents, just in case, but I would avoid getting into a proper customs debate if at all possible. I have made about five journeys with a fully-laden Transit van, and the one time I volunteered the documents at the Swiss border I nearly ended up in a three-day queue of lorries. If you look like you're on holiday, you're probably fine.

If you don't have one already, buy a motorway vignette before you bring the car over. Otherwise you're guaranteed to be stopped at the border.

Are you suggesting I should not declare my belongings on the border? I would rather like to come clean. We won't look like tourists with all the stuff and a cat inside

How can I buy vignette before coming to Switzerland?

PS. Our car is a Volvo S40 saloon