It most likely needs an inspection and the Swiss pollution rules, etc., may well prove hard to pass. I can't imagine it would be worth shipping it - hardly if the company pays, and almost definitely not if it is out of pocket. Cars are cheap here, too.

Less paperwork (likely only in French, German, Italian or Romansch).

Definitely have the papers in order before you send it.

you will need to get it modified for swiss/european standards. i.e. speedometer must show kms, turn signals cannot be orange, tail pipe must not point to the side, but downwards. but, if you only intend on staying 1 year or less, you can keep your us plates (and insurance) and not have to import the car and pay the import tax. and picking it up in antwerp is ok, just be able to prove you have int'l insurance coverage.

For many reasons, some mentioned above, this is just a bad idea. 

Cars in Europe must pass an annual roadworthiness test once they are more than 4 years old (yours is). You will not get insured until you have passed the test. For sure, you will have modifications to make e.g. lights, speedometer etc.

Antwerp to Geneva is about 900km so that will take you at least a whole day if not two as you need to go there and come back.

Finally, id the reasons outlined by others are not sufficient, think of the environmental impact of hauling a car from USA to here. There are plenty of cars here, people buy and sell all the time as they come and leave the area.

You must try a real car like an european one...

Faster, better design, less fuel...

what else? ;-)

Unless it's a collector or it has a lot of sentimental value, I must say that spending effort driving from Antwerp (BE) to Geneva, then having all the customs, inspection, qualification, etc etc paperwork.... you're just asking to waste time and money. 

Here you have all the buy/leasing options you are used in the US as well.

But if it's a collectible... or some brand new Ferrari.. sure you are right to ship it  ! 

I had a similar dilemma with my beloved Audi 100-UK spec.

It was ok to drive it here for one year with insurance from UK on Uk licence plates.

After 12 months the kindly  Montreux police told me it had to be converted to meet Swiss regulations which were stricter than EU e.g no body rust even in non load bearing areas.

Conversion would have cost CHF 3-4000.

The temporary solution-park overnight in France for a few weeks and then sell to another Uk expat.

A similar age Swiss Audi cost me CHF 4500 and was in much better body condition.

Since then I have had 2 'USED CAR' best buys Ford Mondeo breaks which as corporate fleet cars are very good value-best to buy in Swiss German cantons.

you're better off picking it up yourself in Antwerp or Bremerhaven (where mine went) and then driving it all the way down to switzerland.

have in mind you'll need proof of insurance valid for europe and also depending on your status in switzerland you might have to do some modifications to your vehicle.... the shipping company might be able to give you a temporary plate while you do all that stuff

now if your status here is working for some foreign diplomatic corp or the UN or something like that you'lI fall under a lot of exemptions so u don't have to worry about it.

now if you're just a normal person who will work here as a regular civilian with some type of work visa, you'll have to have your vehicle complying with european inspects and it will be extra money and a LOT OF BUREAUCRACY.

Jason --

I have imported a few cars from the US over the years (incessant relocations). The cars which I was able to get European Certificates of Conformity for were easy to get registrations on. If not - bit of a disaster (but not impossible - there are specialized outfits that refit / arrange).

Actually just bought a new car in the Netherlands (new cars for whatever reason very cheap & good discounts). The authorities there can issue "transit plates" with insurance that are good for 14 days, handy cos I think you will find that your US insurance will not cover you in Europe - I always had a Euro insurance on the VIN-number for US-reg. cars. You would have to ship to Rotterdam, do not know if the Belgians have such a system (the Germans do - ship to Bremerhafen). Make your life easy and have a logistics company take care of the formalities @ harbour (they know the ropes!).

Officials at Swiss border/customs extremely helpful with import (even fill in the forms for a small fee), just make sure you have all the correct documents with you. Importation also gets you an Immatricule-number, which you need to transfer to Swiss insurance.

Last step is the Service de Navigation for inspection - they send you a nice letter inviting you along & again very helpful on the phone. Inspection is a 40-minute affair, again this assuming you have a Certificate of Conformity...

Hope this helps!

Just a quick note to say thanks for all of the insights! The car is, indeed, european, in great condition and would cost much more to replace than I could sell it for, even if I need to make a few modifications! I will also be relocating under international organization status, so this info was extremely helpful. Looking forward to being in your neighborhood! 

Oh yes and as an expat' you have up to 12 months to register your car when you arrive in Switzerland so there's no huge rush.

Swiss insurance companies also accept foreign license plates.

I brought my car from france and indeed customs paperwork was not complicated and around 25 CHF if I remember well..

See you soon in the neighborhood !

Ioan

Try comparis to find insurers that may be able to assist.

I have sent you a pm with details that I found on shipping from the US. You will need to shop around and I suggest you have all the documents.

Ship to Geneva not to any other country.

Best wishes

Swiss customs officials must be informed as soon as a vehicle being imported arrives in the country. Customs will provide a form to be completed and shown along with the following documents:

Tax and import duty will be charged; the amount due will depend on how long the owner has had the car.

Customs will inform the Road Traffic Office (Service des Automobiles et de la Navigation), who will send the forms required to apply for Swiss licence plates.

No import duty will be charged on a vehicle owned for more than six months. A clearance request form (available from customs) must be completed.

A vehicle may be driven with its foreign licence plate for one year.

Cars and motorcycles imported from Europe may be brought in tax-free provided proof of origin can be presented.

The following taxes are due on an imported car owned for less than six months:

Cars imported from the United States must have the correct tyres adapted to the maximum authorised speed, shatter proof windscreens, the speedometer must display Kilometres per hour (Km/h) and headlights need to be adapted to suit European regulations. 

Imported cars should have a catalytic converter fitted in order to reduce pollution. 
Note: Most modern EU and US approved vehicles already meet this requirement.

Approximately a month after importing a vehicle, the motor registration office will write, informing the owner that they have up to a year in which the vehicle must pass the official technical inspection (Contrôle technique du véhicule).

Documents required for the technical inspection:

Both the Automobile Club of Switzerland and the Touring Club of Switzerland are able to carry out a technical inspection which will highlight any necessary modifications that need to be made in order for a vehicle to pass the official technical test.

A foreign car must have the CH sticker on the back. All cars must have a triangular warning sign in the car.

For more information contact the local Road Traffic Office.

Anybody knows of an insurance company that can accept imported cars on foreign license plates? I just imported my car from the US and I don't want to go through all the registration process; mainly considering that I plan to sell my car in 1 year.

Hello Jason

Can you share your experience? I have same situation as yours.  I am planing to ship my car to Antwerp , but don't know how to release and do Customs clearance in the port Antwerp. Would you mind to tell me the detail steps about  how to pick up the car and drive back Geneva

Thanks

Allen

Hi Allen,

Hard to believe it's been two years since we started the thread and imported the BMW. In the end, it was definitely worth doing. See WallStBanker's excellent reply above. He was really spot on.

Before talking about pick up, let me just highlight that one necessary conversion -- installing a "washing system" for my xenon headlights -- was an expensive pain in the neck, totalling about 2500 CHF in the end, largely due to computer software and liscensing challenges where BMW won't share computer access codes internationally, meaning the system could be installed but wasn't recogniyed by the car's computer, causing warning lights to go off.

Shipping to Antwerp was great. Our shipping agent provided detailed instructions on what we would need to do when we arrived, but in short: We easy jetted from Gva to Brussels then took the train to Antwerp (about an hour). We had a taxi meet us at the station and then take us 1) to a downtown shipping agent who recieved funds from us and gave us the necessary paperwork and the 2) to the port itself where we stopped at the customs office with the paperwork and then went to the specific doc where we picked up the car.

We left our apartment at 4:30 AM and by noon the same day, we were on the road back to Geneva. At that point, the car had its US plates with valid registration and we had arranged for international insurance (from Geico international I think) before picking it up.

Once back in Geneva, we took all the paperwork to the customs/import office here to "declare" the car (which had been listed on the forms to import our other personal effects). At that point, we thought they would inform Canton Vaud (where we live) of the import, but they did not.

As we approached the year point, we went to the auto registration station in Nyon to ask what was needed. They referred us to the station in Lausanne. We informed them of the import and that triggered them sending us an invitation for inspection about two months later. We made the changes and voila...

Jason

Hello Jason --

I have shipped a number of cars from the US - but since I am Dutch, I generally have Rotterdam as the destination port.

Out of the US - easy - get someone to ship the vehicle to Rotterdam (or Antwerp). So far, so good. On the receiving end, get a reputable logsitics service provider such as VAT Logistics to deal with the paperwork, customs clearance, etc. (they will tell you what to submit, have stamped, or not as the case may be).

Make sure you coordinate between the shipper and the logistics service provider in the destination port - every day a car is parked dockside (i.e. does not clear), fees are assessed! At the end of the day, you can just pick up the car at the logistics service provider (bring jumper cables in case someone drained the battery!). Also - any time the vehicle is parked at the logistics service provider - fees are assessed. So plan well!

Insurance is going to be the challenge at the end to the day - I used to run my car on US tags with minimum US insurance coverage, with a Euro insurance coverage based on the VIN number (but regulations are tightening year by year).

I never ended up shipping anything back - the CH homologation is a pain if you don't know what you are doing (or have a certificate of conformity - http://www.eurococ.eu/en/certificate_of_conformity - importing Euro car is a doddle), but this process is easier in some other Euro jurisdictions, so if the vehicle is current, it should sell.

Hope this helps.

Hello Jason

Thanks you very much for sharing your experience with me, I am Canadian and am working in an international organisation inGeneva

I just am not sure how to deal with the customer cleanness in the port Antwerp, and what documents I should prepare. Would you like to give me more detailed instructions on this part.  

One ship company told me I have to pay the value of VAT 21% and duties 10% on the value of the car when I pick up the care inAntwerp, but this will be reimbursed to me once they have the proof of clearance from their Swiss colleague. Did you do the same thing?

BTW, Would you mind to tell me which company provided the service for you?

Quote from a  shipping company

"The car should go in transit in Antwerp and final import should be in Switzerland.

To protect ourselves and to be sure that customer will really appure our T1-form ( for which we are responsible ) , we ask a deposit for the value of VAT 21% and duties 10% on the value of the car. This might be a considerable amount.

This “bond” will be reimbursed in full to customer once we have the prove of clearance from our Swiss colleague.

Car has to be all board documents ; license plates and a valid European insurance certificate."

Many thanks and best Regards.

Allen

Hello Jason

Thank you very much for sharing your experience , Would you like to tell me the detailed instrucation about how to deal with the customer cleanness in the port Antwerp, and what documents I should prepare. and What fees did you pay for releasing the car in the port Antwerp.

This is quote from one agent.

Our French agent has quoted the following expenses which will include his Customs clearance fees in order for you to drive on to Switzerland:
quote

Best way in my opinion is to sell that old Americian beater for as much as you can get for it, and buy a car when you get here.

As you can see it is a pain in the arse to import an American car here.

Hello -

does anyone have information or tips about shipping a car from France to the USA (Boston).

I live in France outside Geneva, but could drive the car to Lyon if that works.

Many thanks for any advice -much appreciated!

Karen

Hi Karen

Immediate thoughts to consider: will you be transfered to USA as a diplomatic or VIP with an NGO holding diplomatic status?

If yes, you will be granted in US special license plates exempting from taxes and turning your car into US specs.If not, start drafting a comparative budget because of all costs involved beyond sea transportation(eventually paid by your employer) such as adapting your prefered car to US standards, like headlights,specific catalytic exhaust/muffler, and more...In general, your car must be part of your removalist inventory in your household goods, and the automobile is eithe a limited edition/vintage or collectible or very recent model to be very close to US automotive standards.

Good luck and do let us know.