Looked thru the forum and am getting a mixed feel for the answer to this question. We moved to Switzerland back in late January from the US. As we had heard that public transport was good, we decided to keep the car in the US for the time being and use public transport. After enough long cold walks to the train station, we decided we wanted to bring the car over as a personal good.

Due to COVID and the whole situation, the car ended up getting in Switzerland in October. My question is, do I need to put Swiss plates on the car based on the entry date of the vehicle which is stamped on the 13.20 A and 18.44 form as 10/20 OR do I need to put Swiss plates by my personal entry date which is on my B Permit as late January.

January.

Or take it off the road.

Tom

Have no problem not driving it until we get Swiss plates. The only catch 22 I see is getting the vehicle to the inspection without driving it

On the off chance I am stopped by the police on the way to inspection, do you think they would deem that a violation?

Getting to the inspection (it must be the most direct way) is a special case.
You have the following options:
A) Drive on US plates and valid frontier insurance (It is btw. CHF 250 for one month)
B) Get Swiss day plates.
C) Drive w/o any plates, plus an active insurance quote.
D) Bring it on a trailer.
If option C is possible depends on the canton. In some (AFAIK in ZH) it is, in others you have to use option B. Check with the local SAN/StVA-

E) Have a garage drive it there on their plates.

Tom

Thank you for all the information.

I currently have Swiss insurance with US plates. Using this forum, found a 3rd party that issues Zurich Insurance on my vehicle. Since I have Swiss insurance, does that change my options?

F) borrow garage plates

what car is it that you considered it worth the hassle of bringing it over vs just buying a car here?

The rule can be found in the ASA directive No. 1 https://asa.ch/it/biblioteca-online/direttive/

According 243 and the example given you must get Swiss plates 12 months after taking up the Swiss residency. (Or store it on private property and not use it on public roads which is also o.k.)


Note 1: To legally use an US plated car on European roads you will need a valid third party liability insurance in form of a frontier insurance/Green Card insurance. (Available at a Swiss customs offices https://www.ezv.admin.ch/dam/ezv/de/...herung_dfi.pdf or http://www.tourinsure.de/en/internat...nce/car/europe ). This is quite costly and getting Swiss plates an proper insurance is usually cheaper. Your US liability insurance is not good enough and is not accepted!

Note 2: Your driving license is independent from the car. You need a valid driving license to drive the car. Your US license will be void to drive on Swiss road 12 months after taking up residency. It is best to exchange it before the 12 months are up. And yes, you can drive a US plated car with a Swiss driving license.

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What?