Hello!

I've been living for the last 5 months in Switzerland, St. Gallen, and I brought my own car along but I know that after one year I either import it or buy another one from here. So, I have decided to buy a second hand car from Switzerland. The budget is around 8.5k CHF and I would like to use the car to go daily to work which is around 80km per day, and also for trips.

There are a few topics on which I would like to have some information ahead:
1. Where do you recommend me to search for a second hand car?

2. Should I search for one from a garage or from a private person?

3. Based on what is the annual tax car calculation in St. Gallen?

4. Could you please tell me what costs are involved beside the price of the car?

5. Does the MFK is enough or should I try to also do a TCS inspection?

Thank you in advance!

If you already have a car, why do you want to buy another one?

Is there a reason why you can't continue to drive this one, seeing especially that you don't want to overspend on a "new" car?

What country was it imported from?
How do you want to get it back to there? And how are you going to sell it there?

I would like to buy another car because this is my parents car and I have to return it. They will come and pick it up in a couple of months, so that's why I'm somehow forced to get another one.

4. Suggest you look at Car Insurance comparison cost for a few cars that appeal to you. Hailstone protection in Switzerland is a good idea.


Think about where you will be getting your car maintained, repaired. Large known brand or small local garage. If a small local garage check what cars they maintain, they tend to specialist in some and not others.


Good luck.

Thank you for your information I will take a look.

I guess you will have established from on line research that car ownership in CH is a lot more expensive than UK. Insurance for example will typically be x3 what you would pay in uk. Similarly maintenance and garage bills are very high, you wont be getting the £150 fixed price minor services you get in UK, assume every time you go to a garage you will get a bill for chf1000 (labour rates about chf200/hour). Therefore even though your budget is modest choose the newest car you can find with the longest service intervals, ideally one without a cam belt (this will definitely be chf1000 to replace about every 4 years, or make sure its done before you buy it). The MFK tends to be thorough on brakes/tyres so if it has just done a test then you can assume they are good for the next 2 years, conversely if they are even slightly marginal it will fail and will need replacing. ....and make sure the buyer includes both summer and winter wheels, they almost certainly have both so get them to throw them in!

OK, that's understandable.
I was confused because you said "my car".

8500 is not much, it puts you in the used Dacia Sandero category, if you want something with warranty.

Most of these cars go into export, because the dealer usually has to provided some sort of warranty (by law) and there's just not enough money to be made on such a cheap car to enable that.

Also, at 20k km per year, you will need a lot of maintenance and any car (new or old) will quickly show that.

Are you sure you can't or don't want to take public transport?

You may get lucky and find a good car that lasts a season or two without too much hassle - but be sure to budget for a lot of expensive visits to the garage.

They said that my brakes were marginal (about 0.2mm left above min), but passed it anyway. Another had tires with some minor cracking, but it passed as well.

And it's CHF 80/hr around here at an independent garage.

Tom

I agree the MFK is a doddle as long as the engine is clean. ) 0.2mm above min is 100% a pass, rules are rules in CH.

Ok, let's say i might be able to extend to 10k max. I guess that I have the chance to find a Skoda from 2015-2012 that is good enough.

I've tried to search some cars on autoscout24 and comparis(which is pretty much the same) until now. There are any other sites beside these two?

I guess that a new Dacia Sandero will be around 8.5k. I guess that a 2nd hand Skoda will be better than a Dacia Sandero.

For example: https://www.autoscout24.ch/de/d/skod...dy=1&vehtyp=10

Comparis searches everything.
OK, it looks like with the exception of anibis and tutti.

The Dacia is a Renault built in Romania. Basically that says enough.
Skodas are VWs built in Czechia.
That said, I would pick a used Skoda over a new Dacia any day.

In addition some cars are perhaps better off new.
https://www.iseecars.com/cars-to-buy-new-study

And having new tech like lane assist can be helpful in the Swiss congestion.

Personally, I would go for the Impreza.
New or used.

https://www.subaru.ch/de/Impreza/1079/Modelle.htm

https://www.comparis.ch/carfinder/ma.../show/25158319

or a CNG Skoda or SEAT!

https://www.seat-cng.ch

You might find a better deal in Germany. Look at these sites:
https://www.mobile.de/
https://www.autouncle.de/

For the scheduled maintenance you might also go to some shop near the border, on the other side. It's about 3 or 4 times less compared to Switzerland.

If you go to Germany or another country, you might want to go to a dealer in order to get the VAT back. If you stay with Switzerland, go to a private person.

Insurance - I would stay with the compulsory one, no need to overspend.

Additionally look for a car where the maintenance intervals are around 25-30k km.

For me the most expensive item is the parking slot, both at home and at work.

Thank you for the advice! I'll keep it in mind

Why do you limit yourself to these two?
Can't you just wait and have a larger budget after a few more months of saving?

How very little you actually know ! Typical expat getting screwed royally each and every time !!

My garage charges 99chf/h.