I have been in this country for over a year, and I have yet to find, or know how to ask for an auto parts store. It appears I have a hole in the radiator pipe/tube something or other, a piece that everyone back in Detroit laughs whole heartedly on the phone that I should be able to repair by myself, and it is leaking coolant every time I stop the car and the engine starts to smoke. Well I think it's the coolant spewing onto the engine, rather then the engine itself smoking. If parts don't exist, does anyone know a respectable shop I could go to in the whole Zurichsee region? The kind of shop that I enter that repairs only the parts needed, not my brakes as well?
I prefer a parts store.
Thank you

People are very shy of DIY here, hence less shops that supply parts etc. Usually the garages can be trusted to do the work you ask them to do as labour is expensive.

Part of the problem here in Switzerland is where do you want to do this repair work on your car? Most people live in apartments and it's strictly forbidden by law to do repair work on vehicles parked in the garages of multiple family homes.

There is a motor factors in Hinwil, I can't remember the name of it but it is off the street that goes between Wetzikon and Hinwil near the McDonalds. There is a big furniture store in the area too. You will see it easier if you come from the Hinwil side and drive towards Wetzikon. It will be on your left.

You could try Derendinger for the parts.

Not exactly cheap (in some cases more expensive than genuine dealer parts compared to UK!), but you do save on the labour costs...

If all else fails, you can certainly buy the parts from the local car retailer.
Aftermarket are harder to find and don't always pass the MOT test.

Seriously? I'm interested as we are soon buying a motor bike, and I'm sure I will need to adjust the chain, top up the oil etc etc from time to time. Do you know if that sort of "repair work" is allowed? Any idea where I can find more details (preferably in either English or French)?

Thanks!

I know this for a fact because I own my apartment and we just had an inspection in November of our garage by an official from the local fire department. He sent us a statement showing improperly stored materials and it stated that repair work was forbidden on all vehicles in the garage. He pointed out the repair work violation because one of owners has a couple of motorcycles which are clearly in the middle of tear down and repair. The bikes ironically belong to a police officer (who should know better).

OK thanks, so it sounds like an afternoon of light tinkering should be ok, but leaving it for more than a day not fully back together is probably not going to go down too well...

If all else fails, try eBay.

There's a DIY rent-a-space garage near Zürich in Dietikon, it's called www.selfmech.ch

I haven't used this place but I will be soon as I need to do a few little jobs on my car - the garage it looks very well equipped.

Just try your luck here www.ricardo.ch. But it is in French/German and you need to register first. I got my spare parts from here.

There's also a DIY garage in Zurich-Oerlikon: www.do-it-yourself-garage.ch

Nice place to buy auto parts: http://www.autoteile-meile.ch/

It is only in German, but google translate can handle it: http://translate.google.com/translat...istory_state0=

The prices are a way lower if compare with http://www.derendinger.ch/ and for sure are lower than in any swiss garage. In Toyota official garage for a boot drive shaft I was asked 180 CHF (just for a part), in derendinger 120, while in autoteile-meile it is 40. There is difference, huh?

when I do things like check the oil and coolant levels etc before a long journey my neigbours make snide remarks and give funny looks, I'm sure most swiss people wouldn't even know where there bonnet release switch was

Not sure. My neighbor on a parking place is a swiss, he is quite old, well, not young. 60 I guess. Recently I saw him mounting a windshield on his Honda Shadow motocycle, it was 22.00 and he was in the garage. So I commented: wow, cool shield. He sad: yea, and cheap: 400 CHF if order in USA, 1000 CHF if order in local Honda garage ...

The second neighbor is having his pontiak currently mounted on a special "stands", he is probably changing transmission. I can make pics if you want

I forgot to mention that it makes sence to buy several parts, because they charge for delivery 20 CHF in CH.

But at the same time, I was shocked, when I saw the prices for distributor for my car in www.derendinger.ch it was 152 CHF, while in http://www.autoteile-meile.ch/ it is 50 CHF. What shocked me, is that both shops sell the same model, BERU and the same id of model ... And the price is different in 100 CHF ... That is, even with 20 CHF fee for delivery it is still much cheaper

Have you actually ordered and received parts from http://www.autoteile-meile.ch/ ? I ordered a fairly basic and common VW/Audi part from there - price was good - but received an email after a week saying they couldn't supply it.

This i believe is the basis of capitalism; sell for whatever the market will bear

In our particular case it is speculation.