As I live close to the German border, I purchase the tires and get them changed in Germany.
I usually order it from Euromaster or ATU which have competitive prices. You can also get the VAT back on the tires, however you will have to pay the Swiss VAT if the tires are mounted on the car or if its above the import limit (300 CHF per person per day).
Same applies for the car service, I have been getting German VAT refunds as recently as 5 months ago.
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I usually don’t save money on car’s service and safety. I do not have the knowledge to do it myself and don’t want to have a problem that could quickly be expensive or even deadly.
I don’t mind doing the service, but changing rhe tires 2x/y gets on my nervs and is getting complicated to organize with work and kids.
On the other (bright )side, let’s face it, winter is getting warmer every year, so I think more and more about all year (4 seasons) tires.
I know all year ones will never be as good as summer and winter ones at the proper time. At least in theory / in the lab. But I have the feeling I would be ok with 4 seasons tires (and winter chains in emergency) 99% of the time with my car in ZH.
I would like to know if you guys already tried 4 seasons tires and how it went (where in CH , which car, safety/ handling, how long did they last etc).
I did this exact switch to all-season tires and could not be happier. All seasons have gotten very good recently, just make sure to get a top end model such Michelin CrossClimate3/Sport, Pirelli SF3 or Goodyear Vector Gen4. Check the latest test reports for a similar car, more importantly wheel size.
I have the Pirelli SF3 and they are just as quiet and comfortable as my old summer tires. I have had them for about 15k km so not that long, so far they have not “degraded” in any way (noise, handling) and still have good tread life.
If you ever drive to the mountains in winter, check what the max slope is you have to drive up, you can then check if the all-seasons will have enough traction to make ot up (2WD vs. 4WD is different!). Never had to use the snowchains yet, I imagine thats a pain, so I should probably test them out beforehand.
I’m using 4-season tyres since 10 years, happy with them. The guy at the service tried to convince me against them, but he drives some big Porsche…
Leaving around Geneva BTW
Thanks for the feedback.
Anyone with bad experience?
I think for sure you could no longer safely go skiiing with the car for instance. If there’s a big dump of snow and you cause damage you exposure yourself.
For me it’s more a liability problem. Same goes for letting it go below 3mm (not 1.6, the legal minimum).
It’s just one of those picking up pennies in front of a steam roller things. I change my wheels myself, and I try and drive slowly (win win). Otherwise I just do the tire change seasonally (I live >1000m)
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Any evidence to backup those ideas?
When you drive you have third party coverage through your insurer for 100m. If something goes really bad and it ends up in court one could be accused of being under equiped. I wonder if gross negligence coverage would even be relevant here
Then no more fire 
Yeah, I understand the idea, but so far it’s just that, an idea /a claim / a statement.
To give an example: I could claim that driving with tires that are more than 6 months old could be regarded a risk. Now what?
You claim that following (what seem to be) official CH Rules might be considered creating a risk that one shouldn’t have. That’s a claim that should be backed up imo. Do you have precedence? Similar cases?
Or maybe the official CH rules don’t allow all season tires under specific circumstances?
Ok, out of interest, I’ve googled myself and the info concerning the “official rules” that I have found so far isn’t so clear to me so far actually. Well not going to investigate further tonight… But you may be right for the reason that the official rules might not be so clear finally.
For the sake of precision, I think the amount of insurance coverage can differ, but it should be in that ballpark yeah.
Drive with all season tires idgaf.
Yeah sorry that’s just wrong.
look I drive in a lot of snow on steep roads and I promise you there is a lot of difference between good and bad winter tires. All seasons are negligent in my opinion.
I don’t understand why I need evidence, it’s a statement of fact.
all seasons perform worse in bad conditions. Hey, I’ve had to buy more expensive tires Because I feel the difference between cheaper and more expensive winter tires.
even if it’s not problematic for liability, there’s also the risk of personal injury right.
Do you want evidence that car accidents cause injury?
There is no winter tire requirement in Switzerland (but, depending on region and/or weather conditions, in parts of Europe). If you have an accident in wintery conditions and it is determined that the accident was because of you driving with summer tires, this will be deemed as gross negligence (can be insured against) or even intent (can’t be insured against), and the insurer will only pay partly, or maybe not even at all, for the damage.
All-season tires count as winter tires if they have the 3PMSF mark (Three Peak Mountain Snowflake), which most do. So there are no legal problems to be expected because of the tire type when having an accident in snowy weather.
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Hi everyone
Thank you very much for your feedbacks.
On the legal side, I do not think it is a problem, as 3PMSF all season tires are validated for winter. Considering of course they still have enough profile, good pressure.
I would say it could be a problem if you change the tires on your own and the insurance can show the work was not legit.
I live in ZH, do not go skiing etc. So heavy winter conditions are the exception.
I know all seasons tires will allways have reduced performance compared with the saisonals.
My question stays: does the difference in my context play a relevant role?
In ZH and in the “flachland” in general, streets are cleared pretty quickly. But the performance drawbacks of all season tires are actually more pronounced in the summer compared to summer tires. Braking from 80 km/h to 0 on dry asphalt is ~40m vs. the 35m of the best summer tires, whereas grip and braking on snow and ice is pretty close to winter tires.
As only the absolute best, newest-gen all season tires have about the same performance as good (but not excellent) summer or winter tires, I would only go for those. Personally, I would choose the Continental AllSeasonContact 2, which is the only model that got a “good” in each weather condition by ADAC.
Tests for all season tires by ADAC/TCS come out around June/July, and haven’t been released for this year yet. So if you can, wait for a few weeks and check out this year’s tests; maybe there’s a new gen of a model.
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Tires sure, wheels, I really struggle to see where one can go wrong other than the star pattern but am keen to hear if this is case. Torque wrench obviously is important.
I cut back on the WHEEL changing and storing costs and just plan to take the car to the garage having ordered on reifendirect when it’s time for a tire change.
I know people say those tires can be old but I eat through them on the model y with 40k km a year.
every var manual explains how to do it, so I guess it will be just fine if you doing it yourself. Even with putting your tires under the rims, we should consider that in Switzerland there’s no need for special authorisation to open a business not like in Germany where they for example require a “Meisterbrief”. So technically even if you bring your car in a shop, you have no idea if the people are working on it are properly trained.
Thanks to everyone.
I think I will try the premium all seasons when I need new ones.
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