Car advice - new to Switzerland

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Looks like i will be moving to the Vaud area soon...

Shifting the family over ( Wife and 2 eyar old).


My question is - is it easy to buy a decent second hand car for around 12-15 CHF. Is it less hassle just to lease? Would a 1K CHF per month get me something decent ( Including insurance, service etc.)

My company has mentioned that they have discounts with manufacturers on new cars as well.

I know this is a how long is a piece of string but just some general pointers would be nice...

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Whitean3 said:

Can't comment on leasing, as I've only ever bought cars outright here.

It really depends what sort of car you have in mind for your 12-15K budget- how old, how common, how many KM etc.
Start by having a look on https://www.autoscout24.ch and you'll see what you can get for your money.

Other things to bear in mind:
2nd hand cars are likely to be a fair bit more expensive than they are in the UK
But they are likely to be in much better condition. If not- walk away!
Likely to be a huge variation in price, based on how many KMs the car has done- again, huge variation for garage queens vs autobahn mile munchers...
Forget about finding an incredibly good value shed that is loved on PH and in Readers cars- there are no ridiculous bargains here!
Insurance is a lot more expensive, but you get what you pay for; insurance may be more i fyou lease vs own; likewise, lease vs own can have a bearing on your income tax declaration...
Ditto road tax. Road tax is calculated differently in different cantons; typically by weight, plus CO2 emissions in some cantons and/or by power output in some cantons. I seem to recall that Vaud is pretty expensive if you have something powerful; e.g. my 996 was about 550 CHF per year to tax where I live, but would have been 1100 in canton VD. Worth checking on the English Forum Switzerland (be warned- not a lot of petrolheads on there!)

Thank you thats great

Have been reading up a lot on EF CH - while its a great resource i have found they sometimes get their knickers in twist when it comes to asking for sepcific examples..

Even when trying to figure out what a 'decent' moving package was - it seems their standard response is 'look at old posts dating back to 2006' and dont ask the question - fair enough once should always make an effort to do their ground work but sometimes they get a real bee in their bonnet especially when someonce brings up higher slaries or specific cars.

Would you know if main dealers offer competitive terms on loans for used cars?

Essentially i have these options...

I lease a brand new car - ( though i understand leasing in Switzeralnd is the equivalentof PCP here with balooon payments etc).
I purchase a used car 3- 5years old from a main dealer financed by a loan
I purchase outright with a budget of upto 15k CHF although I have always wanted a C63 so would be tempted to extend my budget to one of these.

I dont mind buying an older used car but my concern is how easy is it to sell afterwards.

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Thanks for the reponses..

While I would love to go car free - i think we want one as a) will be staying in a smaller town like Morges or Nyon in Vaud and b) want a car for weekend trips exploring switzerland and grocery shopping excursions over the border in france.

It seems winter tyres is the norm - where do people store their summer and winter tyres? Likely we will be living in a flat with no garage...

Going to carry on keeping an eye out on EF for a good used car..

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Thanks again....


What’s the consensus on diesel vs petrol in Switzerland?

I have only ever owned 1 diesel and I gave it up after 6 months..

Vowed I would never do diesel again however the choice of cars seems heavily weighted towards diesel ..

Is there likely to a ban on them?

The car will be used for both short and long trips (weekends in Europe or even occasionally driving back to the UK)..


Also discussed with wife last week and our cash budget has gone up to 35k CHF which now puts us into the possibilities of Cayennes / X5 but my sensible head say go for 5 Series Touring instead.

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HIAO said:

There is far less of a bias towards diesel cars in Switzerland than in the U.K.

35k should buy you a 6 year old Cayenne, with hopefully less than 100km and an up to date 'expertise'. If you're not planning to stay in Switzerland permanently, buy a car that you can easily sell quickly, without owing a lot of finance on.

In Vaud, tax on cars I is based on the cars weight and power, KW. A 2010, 2.6 tonne Cayenne with 240kw will cost chf 1100 a year tax.

An awd Mazda with a spare set of winter wheels / tyres / roof bars serves us well since we came here 8 years ago. It's the family bus that takes my daughters every winter weekend to the Jura or French alps with their classmates.

I'm unaware of plans to prohibit diesel cars. Some diesel models of Audi and VW were prohibited for a time after the emissions scandal came to light.

Edited by HIAO on Sunday 24th March 14:14

Thats very helpful...

Although would love a Cayenne my sensible head says dont do it ...

We have decided we definitely dont want to finance now as I dont know if I will be here for 2 years or 10 years..


Currently thinking a 2014/2015 BMW 3 Series X drive touring would be happy medium.

Any particular cars more popular than others?

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housen said:

My colleague is leaving Geneva very soon and has his cayenne to sell will come cheap

literally just past its expertise (mot) today

lemme know if u want details

ahh - a well priced Cayenne is very tempting despite my earlier post

That is very kind - maybe a PM is easiest?

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So having been here a couple of weeks and doing the rounds at car garages ...

In the end upped our budget ...

1) Dealers seem to be hard work here - they don’t really seem they want to sell..

2) Private much better priced but not that many private sellers


Seems I may have found a decent looking private car in Zug

Being in Lausanne area does anyone know or recommend a decent independent garage that can service modern BMWs? I want to avoid main dealers if I can

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crypto said:

Why do you want avoid main dealers ? Only main dealers have the right equipment (engine and car diagnostic analyzers) to diagnose and service your car. Independent dealers are not really allowed to stamp your service booklet unless they are accepted as a service agent.

I'm near Zug, if you need any help ...

Peter

The car will be 4 years old so out of warranty and everyone i have spoken to here says that they main dealers here in Vaud are extremely high ...

In the UK I had 2 really good specialists that were half the price of the main dealer so thought if there was something similar here then would try and save a little ...

If there are no good specialists with equipment then yes totally agree that should just go to main dealer..

Thanks for the offer of help- much appreciated ..

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SaulGoodman said:

Where did you end up moving to?

Moved to Pully, Vaud