Hi,

I've been browsing autoscout for cars and arranging viewings and test drives. I found (and viewed) a car with the specs I like, but I was surprised that the dealer actually doesn't have a physical office or garage, and just rents parking space where he keeps his cars. It's not an "official" reseller, he does parallel imports like many others, but I don't mind that part (let's not discuss the merits of swiss vs import, plenty of other threads on that).

But I am a bit weary at handing over money to a dealer without premises in case, well, he just disappears with my money.

I've seen the car and the papers (it's ultimately from an official Toyota dealer in Poland), the price seems right for an import and in line with other importers (not "too good to be true" or anything). His business is listed on vfas.ch which seems to be a registry of independent dealers. But there are no reviews for his company anywhere, he says he normally does b2b only and just starting b2c using autoscout now.

Could it be a scam? I haven't bought a car before, what is the procedure usually like? Do you sign some contract? Or you just do a bank transfer, the dealer prepares the paperwork when he gets the money, and you go collect it a few days later (this is what he suggested)? Is there some way to get protection (escrow)? I feel uneasy just handing over the full price of a car without any guarantees. Is this the normal way?

Thanks for your opinion!

First thing to check: If he normally does b2b he'll have a legit GmbH that you can verify online.


Edit to say he must have if he has a VFAS membership. To be a member you need legit authorised premises, VAT registration, liabilty insurance and be in business minimum 2 years.

Yes, he has a GmbH and I found a record of it online. Also VFAS as mentioned. (from his own social media pages it seems he's had the company for 7 odd yeras, but this is obviously self-reported)



He has now offered for me to come pick up the car first, and do a bank transfer on the spot before driving away, so I think I'm comfortable with that.


Anything other gotchas to watch out for?

Is it a new car? Otherwise if it is coming from Poland it could be a refurbished write-off.

Personally, I would not buy a car from a dealer that doesn't have premises.

If it were a scam he'd have no car to show you, just an ask to transfer X% of the money as deposit. He'd ask you to transfer to an offshore account, and the whole conversation would be in email, and he would be writing to you from another country.



I suppose that if you sign the contract, you get the papers but not the car, then it's your turn to pay. Once paid, you can take the car. Just make sure you check all the numbers match


Another thread of interest: https://www.englishforum.ch/transpor...-contract.html

Ask to have the right to inspect the car and walk away if not satisfied. If all good, do the bank transfer or you both can drive to the nearest bank.

Have you confirmed that Toyota-CH will take responsibility for warranty?

Have you confirmed that Toyota-CH will take responsibility for warranty?[/QUOTE]

FYI, Toyota’s warranty is Pan-European. I know local dealers may try to deny it but there is nothing they can do legally.

FYI, Toyota’s warranty is Pan-European. I know local dealers may try to deny it but there is nothing they can do legally.[/QUOTE]

Yeah but this is also one of those situations where it will be up to you to legally enforce it and will be a pain. What will you do when dealer refuses to take you in? Sue?

Arrange to meet him in your local Strassenverkehrsamt office and hand over the money against the vehicle registration certificate which you can immediately register.

There are plenty of cars on the market. I wouldn't do it if you have any doubt as it's not worth it. If this is not for you, then go to the Toyota dealer.

This does not make a whole lot of sense…. If he has been running this company successfully for the last 7 years he’d have established a place of business. Also to do legitimate business the way you are describing, the revenue authorities would require very heave financial guarantees to ensure he and the cars don’t disappear into the woodwork… I can’t see why any businessman would adapt such an approach.

If it were me, I’d pass and keep looking…

The catch is, of course, they will expect 1.5x the money, and they don't usually sell older cars... which may be what OP wanted to buy.

Thanks everyone, let me think about it. I am looking at a new car, not used, and I've already seen it, looks normal!



It's a Yaris hybrid, about 4-5k cheaper or so when imported, compared to official toyota dealers here. Originally I wanted a used car, but the market seems weird right now, I find that used prices are comparatively extortionate - a 5 year old Yaris might sell at 20-25% off list price, that's in the same ballpark as an new imported car... which is what has led me down this path.

You want to buy a new car from a guy in a parking lot?

Not having the overheads of a garage is probably how he can offer these attractive prices.
As others have said I would do the full paper check (inc checking VIN numbers match) and conclude the deal at the Strassenverkehrsamt office. For added peace of mind you can also check the VIN number against a registry to make sure its not got a shady history (e.g. reported stolen, fallen off a transporter and then repaired etc..). I am not sure if these are part of the Swiss registration for an imported car, but it doesn't harm to do your own due diligence.

You could also consider a Mazda 2 hybrid, which is the same car as the Toyota Yaris, although specification varies.

This is mine when I collected it new from the supplying dealer last May. Mazda 2 pricing is a little lower than the equivalent spec of Toyota.

I was offered a 10% employer discount, and was given more in part exchange for my old car than I had paid for.

It's already driven almost 30k km. In Geneva, the tax is CHF 110 a year, the real fuel economy average was 3.6l /100km, and it's first annual service cost CHF 220.

Some people sneer at small cars. I'm tall and big boned, and find it super comfortable and full of useful tech. I never thought I'd care, but the adaptive cruise control, and lane keep assist, makes motorway commutes (on the crappy A1) almost relaxing.

I will replace it with another in a few months.

Yeah, the whole point of buying a new car is to make sure none of those happen that you listed above - and if they do, you have someone to sue. And how about the warranty? This whole thing makes no sense to me.


And Carvertical is a scam. They sell you false security. But they push their PR and advertise agressively so they make you *think* they are worth anything.

Fair enough, I just saw them sponsor some of the Youtube car channels I follow and they don't tend to promote scam companies.

I test drove the Mazda 2 as well, it's nice, basically identical to the Yaris. But the cars in stock are more expensive (they come with various extras), or else I have to wait many months.


My budget was originally 20k for a car, seems I'm overshooting now by 1-2k, but, basically, if I want a Yaris (hybrid), the options right now seem to be:
- Get a ~3 year old swiss car, maybe 30,000km or so.

- For about 1k more, get a new imported car from a "car supermarket" like ADU (see other threads about these). They have premises but offer zero service, it's 'part of the deal'. Theoretically warranty is valid in Switzerland.

- Get an imported car from some other dealers like the one from this thread. Also zero service presumably and again, theoretically the warranty transfers.

- Get a new 'swiss' car for about 4k more. Using corporate discount, this could be maybe only 2-3k more for the "barebones" model but no dealers have this, they all have extras like leather seats or whatever which drives up the price. I'm quoted 7 months waiting time for getting a plain one (by multiple dealers).


Maybe I just don't buy anything, who needs a car...

Yeah but this is also one of those situations where it will be up to you to legally enforce it and will be a pain. What will you do when dealer refuses to take you in? Sue?[/QUOTE]

Well, contact European headquarters of Toyota in Austria, and let's see if Toyota Europe does not force the local ass***** to do their job as they are supposed to, based on signed contractual agreements they have.

One could say, well I don't want to deal with that and it's fine, then go ahead and pay 7-8k more for the same exact car just because it's a "Swiss" version. Funnily, many have the impression that "Swiss" versions are better quality. So naive! All European Toyotas are produced in the same factory, the only thing that could differ is default equipment etc. Just my 2 cents, each one to his own decision.