Our very own Escort
Buying a car in Switzerland is no easy feat… the cars are more expensive, insurance is ridiculous (and compulsory), you need to have a local address for all the forms and insurance papers, and they send all the ‘old’ vehicles off to Eastern Europe because the Swiss can’t stand the thought of driving anything that’s not in ‘mint’ condition. To add to that, even after you pay your money for the car, you aren’t allowed to drive your new car away until you get your new plates (after getting insurance; which you need the ownership papers for, and of course.. a swissy address!!)
We bypassed most of our problems with the aid of our super swiss guide – Fraenzi. She let us register the car in her name making the insurance possible as well, otherwise we would have been kicked out in the cold. (or hot… it is summer here when it is not snowing).
Sweet as, now we just have to find a vehicle (re-read the first paragraph if you imagine it is easy). After much searching on the internet and traipsing around car yards we were left with very few options. Then just when all was seemingly lost the guy at the cheapest car yard in Interlaken calls us up to let us know he had a 1992 Ford Escort which we might be interested in…
Choice bro… an Escort with tinted rear windows, black steel rims, complementary different coloured panel, and an 1800 fuel injected beast of an engine complete with front mount radiator and only 126,000 km on the clock… Ah we’ll take it au.
I asked him to put some custom undercoat grey patches on it but that was going to be extra… stink au. Still no worries ay, I’m sure we’ll get some before long.
Anyhow one good thing about buying a car in Switzerland is that it’s illegal to not service your car when required, which gives the buyer a lot more faith that a vehicle has been looked after.
We might even make it too Norway…
Our very own Escort
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