Geneva Car Hire: Check your Vignette

Hire cars at Geneva Cointrin should all carry a motorway 'vignette' - These expire every February. Occasionally, the Geneva car hire people miss replacing the vignette, so it's worth checking. The Swiss police are very hot on picking up and stopping people without them. The 2013 vignette is no longer valid - it must be a 2014 one.

I agree with the above . It's not only the police who can stop to check also private companies are hired to check and you can get a instant fine for not displaying. This applies then using your own car or hired. You used to get them at the boarder but now I believe you can get them from local cafés or shops. They are only needed when using motorway, but as most routes use a motorway they are nearly always needed and last a year.

I hired from the French side last year and you generally don't get a vignette with the car. I had no problems going from the airport to the resort and I used the Swiss motorway. On the way back to the airport, I bought a vignette at the border. No problems, no fines. If I do this again this year, am I going to get pulled over and receive a fine?

See my other reply. I would not risk it . I would buy one straightaway . I drove there last year on a motorcycle and when they did not ask me to buy one at the boarder I assumed motorcycles did not need one. However, I would buy one next time as the fines are quite high. Private companies issue fines so would guess the are not at all forgiving.

View this as the same as not having a tax disc in the UK. It's just a different way of funding the roads.

We were stopped 2 years ago in a hire car that hadn't had its vignette renewed. The police were indulgent and said we should stop and the next service station and get one. We then had an argument with the car hire return who just wanted to give us a credit note, not reimburse us, to which we said no, obviously. Really, you don't want the hassle - especially if you're driving back to GVA to get a 'plane.

If you're in your own car then compared to the cost of the fuel, tolls, insurance etc. a vignette seems reasonable to get access to the Swiss autoroutes. If you don't want to pay, then you can opt to use alternative roads.