YOU start the clock ticking. So when you come in October, your car will be how many months old? Consider buying for immediate export if you're determined?
Is your US-sourced car EU-homologated? It will likely need work doing to it - that work will not be free.

Again, try buying for immediate export and get a European-spec model.

But again (again again?), I would not bother.

I did not understand this. Could you please elaborate/explain?

Also what exactly does 'immediate export' mean?

YOU have to have OWNED the car for SIX MONTHS or more when you first arrive to live in Switzerland. I cannot think of words to make this even clearer.

If you're going to be in a position to pay taxes on import, why not buy the car for EXPORT?

Beyond this, I don't know what more to suggest to you.

Oh I see.

Well, swissbob had already explained (above) that I can't import the car (without paying taxes).

So when you wrote 'YOU start the clock, you have ONE year to import the car' I misunderstood and thought that you are saying the other way (that I can import the car).

I am trying to understand the ways to import a car to the country, with or without paying taxes.

Why would I export something out? Seems irrelevant.

OK, we definitely have a language barrier here.

I don't know what 'why not buy the car for EXPORT' means. Sorry!

Anyway, thanks everyone for all the help!

visit a local car dealer and ask them "can you sell me a car for export". They should have an idea of what they can do.

I'm trying to help you avoid paying taxes in two places should you decide to go ahead with your plan. I'm also trying to highlight that it would be easier for you with an EU model rather than a US model.

I thought you would be talking big feck off USA car - not a little Japanese model, not that they are not very sexy... sorry, mind started to wander a bit there.

Anyhoo, as the Lob says, your US spec Toyota will require fettling to make it EU compliant. This will cost a bit. Maybe a lot. Sometimes it's not even possible.

It might also help to know that the majority of people here do not buy cars outright but lease them - leasing is cheap (compared to the UK for example).

It means that you won't have to pay sales tax, because the car will be exported and not be registered in the US.

However if you're looking for Camry or similar, I strongly doubt that it's worth the hassle, the costs for shipping, modifications, etc. will most likely eat any savings...

On the suggestion of driving the car here on US plates and Insurance. You should tell you insurer what you are proposing and find out if they can extend your insurance to Europe.
In Europe we have a ‘Green Card’ which is a document that confirms our insurance meets the minimum legal requirements of the various countries. If there is an accident in another country a local insurer will handle the matter on behalf of your insurer.
You would have to ask your US insurer how any claim would be handled.
Personally I would agree with Lob Rockster and Mark75 and say I don’t think it’s worth importing a car. Buy or lease one here, it’s so much simpler.

Understood.

Thank you everyone for your time (especially swissbob and Lob )

You convinced me to buy/lease a Swiss car.

If you're only going to be in Switzerland a couple of years, you might want to look into the expat programs that various European manufacturers have (Volvo for sure, maybe BMW, Saab, etc. - visit their websites) and buy a car that's built to cover both US and European specs. You can then ship this back to the US when you move back. Most of the time the cost to ship it to the US is covered in the original purchase price.

BMW do this - I understand it can be very worthwhile.

The swiss gouverment ist about to change the law for car import outside the EU I head yesterday in the radio news. With the new law, it will not be allowed any more to import cars from the US or any other country outside the EU. Unfortunately I haven't found the news peaces on the Internet about this yet.

I don't remember acutually when this is gonna happen, but the car importers are angry, because the change comes so quickly. They compain, they didn't have enough time to change their business model.


So, my advise: Hurry!

cheers!

Christian

What exactly are you talking about????

Hi Shorrick,

I'm talking a new law which will soon be implemented in Switzerland allowing only importing cars from the EU because of safety reasons. Only cars that have passed the crash-tests in Europe can be imported to CH in the near future.

Cheers!

Christian

US cars imported into Europe already have to pass the EU standards and get a conformity certificate. Or are we only talking about cars that don't have this but can still be imported to Switzerland at the moment - in which case this new law would bring Switzerland in line with the EU?

Like I said, it's just something I heard on the news, so my information is just very vague on this. The way I understood it, they have to be tested IN Europe and a certificate won't do it anymore. One of the importers said, that this was a stupid law, because the US have even tougher test by wich they also have a special side crash-test which the EU doesn't have. To this critisism a spokesman from the gouverment replied, that it has first to be proven by the importers that the US-Crash-Tests really comply with the Europeans and that they are comparable.

I'm sorry, I don't have more infos and there is a lot of confusion about this. I'm sure, once the law has passed the "Nationalrat" and "Ständerat" there will be the news in the papers and on www.swissinfo.ch

I just wanted to inform, that there will probably be a change soon.

Cheers!

Christian

I found something on tagesanzeiger.ch, unfortunately in German only.

In a nutshell:

• According to the article, cars which do not comply with EU requirements regarding crash tests, can no longer be imported into Switzerland since July 1.
• The independent importers are mad as hell, because the clueless bureaucrats at FEDRO (Federal Roads Office/ASTRA) didn't bother to inform them or talk to them in advance. (In case you forgot: The FEDRO/ASTRA is the same bunch of useless morons who arbitrarily reinterpreted the law regarding GPS navigation systems with photo radar POIs earlier this year.)
• At least in the case of the US, it doesn't make sense at all, because US crash requirements are at least as demanding as those in Europe.
• One independent importer suspects that the law was changed due to pressure from the major (official) importers.
• There seems to be a loophole but at added cost; the importer needs to obtain some certificate which states that the foreign crash tests are indeed as good as the EU ones.

[quote=Mark75;80329]

"According to the article, cars which do not comply with EU requirements regarding crash tests, can no longer be imported into Switzerland since July 1."

I take this to mean July 2007 (or are we talking 2008?).
I'm just about to import a new US car but this has put the skids on that...
Clarification would be really really appreciated!

I phoned ASTRA today to check and indeed the new rule came into force on July 1st 2007.
Explaining that I wanted to import a new car from the USA (it makes financial sense for me) the official from ASTRA, who kindly spoke (broken) English to me, said that if if I imported a brand-new car it wouldn't be allowed to be driven in CH without "special papers" from the manufacturer which, he said with a mild laugh, would "be very hard to get". I couldn't get any further info as to what exactly the "special papers" would be (his English was at full-stretch) but he suggested that the Dynamic Test Centre would help me further (032 321 6600).
I have a feeling getting such "papers" from Chrysler in the US would be lke extracting teeth with the distinct possibility that they would never fill the Swiss conditions...
Bang goes my (already 1 year old) dream of the new 2008 Town & Country for my expanding family ... bugger!

Surely not one of these ? I applaud the new law.

dave