Hi All,
So, long story short - dented and scraped my (not very expensive Japanese) car by reversing too close to a pillar. The insurance is half-kasko. Garages around ZH quote between 3 to 4k for the fix. The current car value won’t even exceed 10k at present 
I heard travelling to Germany might reduce cost substantially.
Appreciate if anyone can share their experience - where to go, recommended garages, cost difference, any points to consider ..
Thanks in advance !
So your options are somewhere between perfect for 4k and exclusively functional for 0-40 or so for any exposed metal protection only.
Also it seems you lost a coverage above the wheels?
These back to gray/silver and your car’s back under the radar imo. (Might be colour deposit from the pole rather than scratches)
Plus the missing half circle coverage above the wheel unless it’s a design feature.
Both could be a nice DIY job.
Or buy an unscratched car for 4k and sell this one with scratch as a feature.
I’d never fix the scratches in my car, it took me years to get them 
Really, I was looking for cars with such damages when shopping around: They cost less and they are also less attractive to thieves.
Doesn’t it eventually rust and destroy the car?
not as long as there is still the white „base layer“
This may sound like smartypants but … this is just esthetics, not a major mechanical problem preventing you to drive, even far distances. So… how about vacations in Croatia coast? Poland mountains? Italian countryside?
With a little bit of a research upfront you could combine vacation (where you do not need a car during your stay), fix a car and perform annual maintenance at a well-established dealer. My quite inexpensive 16-years old japanese 4x4 liked this a lot.
Just a disclaimer: repair and maintenance costs over 150 CHF have to be declared at customs.
To be more precise: parts above 300 CHF that are imported into Switzerland have to be declared. Labor costs does not have to be declared.
Not according to the official website.
Treibstoff und Fahrzeugreparaturen (Arbeit und Teile . BTW not 300 CHF, but 150 CHF limit - mea culpa and corrected it above)
You’re right. I stand corrected. (It’s different for bicycle repairs.)
Amazing! Who even made all these rules up!
I don’t think I would have even thought about this if I had had my car repaired. If the car gets towed… would that count?
I once got my hair cut on vacation… 
(Lucky me, didn’t cost 150, not illegaly imported…)
What about dental work?
Actually every import over 150 CHF has to be declared at customs to calculate VAT on import (Einfuhrumsatzsteuer), and actually cars have some exceptions because of real life issues (like fuel and consumables).
Otherwise we would be flooded by chinese, non VAT subjected imports.
No idea why you all get so hyped about it. Switzerland chose to not be part of the EU, that is one of the consequences.
Labour is weird though, I believe it’s unique to motor vehicles?
Nah, when you import any product, labor is also not done in Switzerland and you still pay on the full price. So here it is actually following the general rule, that the full price (without eventual VAT of the origin country) of an imported service/product has to be submitted to Import-VAT.
On each border crossing you got a poster with the rules and limit values. Yes people will try to just drive through, and most will not be catched since controls are pretty lax. This is simply tax fraud. Afterwards each one can do as they like and bear the eventual consequences accordingly.
Oh ok. Does it also apply to stuff like haircuts (e.g. if you do colours) or dentist work (braces, …)? Or hair transplants in Turkey? Technically, you’re importing a product, even if it’s on/in you.
I’ve never heard anyone declaring this kind of stuff.
But I guess something like a diploma or a certification wouldn’t count (even though you could argue there’s the official piece of paper, and the paper itself is valuable because it allows you to prove it)?
Anyway, although I’m genuinely interested in the answers if you know them, I’m being a bit facetious here.
Still, I find those kind of laws weird as they’re either arbitrary in what they cover, or mostly unenforceable.
My post seems to have been flagged/hidden, and I’m honestly a bit puzzled by that.
I did not say that people should break the law. My point was the opposite: that there should be a law, or at least some legal principle, which protects people from having to comply with rules that are plainly petty, disproportionate, or bureaucratic for its own sake.
Maybe my wording was too ironic, but “there should be a law mandating civil disobedience” was meant as a criticism of absurd regulation, not as encouragement to ignore the law as it currently stands.
The point I was making is simply this: when a rule is so impractical or disproportionate that ordinary people are expected to declare minor repair or maintenance costs at customs, it starts to undermine respect for the legal system itself.
I go to Germany for the purchase and the service of my bicycles. My mechanic always hands me one receipt with all the parts that are new on the bicycle as part of the service. That’s the receipt which I present at customs together with the Rückerstattungsbeleg. The labor costs are billed separately.
