Fleet maintenance alerts in Switzerland: avoiding breakdowns, missed MFK inspections and lease return costs

Fleet maintenance alerts are automatic warnings that tell a fleet manager when a vehicle needs a service, has a fault, or is due for its periodic inspection at the cantonal road traffic office. In Switzerland the biggest risk is rarely a major mechanical failure: it is the missed deadline, the 12 V battery that dies on a January morning, or the service done too late.

This guide is written for international fleet teams running cars in Switzerland. It explains the Swiss inspection system (MFK / expertise / collaudo), which alerts are worth having, who pays what under a lease, and what a breakdown costs in Swiss francs, with a worked example on 50 vehicles. None of it needs a box any more: Voltaback telematics reads mileage and manufacturer alerts straight from the connected car.

Key points in 30 seconds

• What to monitor: service due (km and date), warning lights and fault codes, 12 V battery, tyre pressure, inspection date, and for EVs the charge level and battery health.
• Why: in 2025 the starter battery caused 37.2 % of the roughly 368,000 breakdown call-outs handled by the TCS (Touring Club Switzerland). It is often a failure that gives warning.
• Inspection: passenger cars are inspected after 5 years, then 3, then every 2; light vans after 4, 3 and 2 years.
• Leasing: servicing is often included in full-service leases, but abnormal wear and damage are billed at return.
• Payback: about CHF 5'100.– a year for 50 vehicles in our cautious example, mostly in admin time.

What does a Swiss employer have to do about vehicle maintenance?

Three pieces of federal law work together:

• Road Traffic Act (SVG / LCR), Art. 29: vehicles may only be driven when they are roadworthy and meet the regulations. They must be built and maintained so that traffic rules can be followed without endangering anyone.
• Code of Obligations (OR / CO), Art. 328: the employer must protect employees' health and take the measures that experience shows are necessary and appropriate. A company car is a work tool.
• Accident Insurance Act (UVG / LAA), Art. 82: the employer must take all necessary measures to prevent occupational accidents.

In practice, a company that provides vehicles has to make sure servicing, tyres and inspections are done on time. That responsibility cannot simply be passed on to the driver.

Day to day, it often works differently. The driver refuels or charges, drives, and reports a warning light, or does not. The fleet manager often hears about it only when the car is already at the garage. The maintenance file is also the evidence, after an accident or an inspection, that the company did what it had to.

Sources: SVG, SR 741.01 ; Code of Obligations, SR 220 ; UVG, SR 832.20.

The Swiss periodic inspection: MFK, expertise, collaudo

The periodic vehicle inspection is called MFK (Motorfahrzeugkontrolle) in German-speaking cantons, expertise in Romandie and collaudo in Ticino. It is governed by Art. 33 of the Ordinance on the Technical Requirements for Road Vehicles (VTS / OETV) and carried out by the road traffic office of the canton where the vehicle is registered: Strassenverkehrsamt in Zurich, Zug or Basel, OCV in Geneva, SAN in Vaud.

A company car follows exactly the same intervals as a private car. There is no special schedule just because it belongs to a business.

How it differs from other European countries

International fleet teams are often used to a fixed national schedule run by private test centres. Switzerland works differently:

The practical difference: in Switzerland you do not book the test yourself by default. The canton sends an invitation (Aufgebot / convocation), and that letter goes to the registered keeper.

Invitation, postponement and consequences

In a fleet, the registered keeper is often the company or the leasing company. The invitation then lands with someone who never sees the car. That is where appointments go missing.

A vehicle that is not presented, or fails with defects, can face reminders, extra fees and, as a last resort, withdrawal of the vehicle registration document and plates. A car without plates is a car off the road.

A useful tip: many cantons accept a pre-inspection at an approved garage. For a leased car that goes in for its service anyway, the inspection can often be combined with the service if you know the date early enough.

Sources: Canton of Aargau, inspection intervals under Art. 33 VTS ; VTS, SR 741.41.

Which maintenance alerts are worth having?

Not every alert matters equally. These are the ones that count for a fleet manager:

Three honest caveats:

• Available data depends on brand and model. Almost all recent connected cars report mileage. Warning lights, battery voltage or tyre pressure vary between manufacturers.
• Mileage remains the basic figure. Most deadlines depend on it. How to manage odometers and lease allowances is covered in our guide to fleet mileage tracking.
• The inspection date is a calendar deadline. It comes from the first registration date, not from vehicle data. A good tool combines both.

Tip: sort alerts into three levels. Red (take the car off the road or call the driver the same day), amber (appointment within 15 days), grey (information). A fleet manager who gets 200 unsorted alerts a week soon stops reading them.

Many fleets still get this data from a box fitted in every vehicle. Voltaback collects mileage and the alerts each manufacturer exposes with no box and no installation, directly from the connected car, petrol and diesel included.

Seasonal issues: winter tyres, Alpine passes, batteries

Winter tyres: no legal requirement, but liability

Switzerland has no general winter tyre requirement, which often surprises colleagues from Germany or Austria. Art. 29 SVG does, however, require a roadworthy vehicle. A driver who causes an accident or blocks traffic on snow with summer tyres risks a fine, and the insurer may take recourse or argue contributory fault.

For a fleet that drives in Graubünden, over the Jura or into Valais, the answer is simple: the switch to winter tyres belongs in the maintenance plan, with an appointment in October or November. The legal minimum tread depth is 1.6 mm; the TCS recommends at least 4 mm for winter tyres.

Snow chains are only compulsory where the "snow chains compulsory" sign is posted. For a car that regularly crosses Alpine passes, they still belong in the boot.

Source: Comparis, winter tyres in Switzerland.

The 12 V battery in winter

According to the TCS, the starter battery has been the top cause of breakdowns for years, in combustion cars and EVs alike. In 2025 it accounted for 37.2 % of about 368,000 call-outs, ahead of tyre damage (16.5 %). In four cases out of five, the driver could carry on after the call-out.

The TCS itself points out that modern vehicles report battery condition, pressure loss and system errors early. A fleet manager who receives those signals centrally sends the car to the workshop before the driver is stuck at the roadside.

Source: TCS, breakdown call-outs 2025.

Preventive, corrective or predictive maintenance: what is the difference?

There are four approaches for a fleet:

The right strategy for a company fleet combines the three preventive approaches:

1. The manufacturer plan as the baseline, which the lease requires anyway.
2. Condition-based to react fast: a warning light triggers an appointment without waiting for the driver to remember.
3. Predictive where it is reliable: the 12 V battery is the clearest case, because its decline shows in the data before it fails.

Be wary of the word "predictive". Many offers promise to predict any failure. In reality, you mostly anticipate what the vehicle measures itself. Five reliable alerts beat an opaque risk score.

Electric cars: less wear, different weak points

An EV needs less maintenance than a combustion car: no oil change, no timing belt, no clutch, no exhaust. But not everything goes away:

• Brakes: regenerative braking means the discs do little work, and that is exactly why they can corrode, especially with road salt in winter. Regular brake checks remain essential.
• Tyres: higher weight and instant torque wear them faster.
• High voltage: work on the traction battery belongs in a workshop with staff trained for high-voltage systems. It pays to know which garages near your sites can do it.
• 12 V battery: an EV has one too, and it fails in the same way.
• Battery health: some manufacturers report a state-of-health figure for the traction battery, useful for residual value and warranty.

Who pays for maintenance: owned or leased?

Company-owned vehicles

The company pays for servicing and repairs. The vehicle policy sets out what drivers must do: report warning lights, attend appointments, check fluids if required.

Leased vehicles

Under a full-service lease, offered for example by AMAG Leasing, Ayvens, Arval or Alphabet, servicing and wear repairs are often included, and tyres depending on the contract. Under a pure finance lease, the company pays for everything.

The last line is the most underestimated. The leasing company pays for the service, but the company has to get it done on time.

At return, the garage draws up a condition report. Normal wear is covered by the lease payments. You pay for abnormal wear and damage caused: paint damage down to the primer, burn holes in the upholstery, missing items such as the warning triangle or manuals. AXA's guide recommends checking the report carefully and noting any objections on it.

Tip: ask your leasing company for its damage catalogue and the list of recorded services per vehicle, and compare it with actual mileage. Gaps show up at once.

Source: AXA, frequently asked questions on car leasing.

What does a breakdown or a day off the road cost?

A car off the road keeps costing money. There is no official figure, because it depends on how the car is used. Here is the method, with assumptions to replace with your own:

Cost of one day off the road = lease payment still running + replacement car + lost work.

• Lease payment still running (CHF 750.– a month): CHF 25.–
• Hire car if the contract does not provide one: CHF 90.–
• Work lost or postponed (half a customer visit): CHF 105.–
• Total: CHF 220.– a day

For a sales rep it means postponed meetings; for a service technician, unbilled jobs; for an executive car, often very little. Calculate per vehicle category, not for the whole fleet at once.

Then add what the calculation does not show: the fleet manager's time on the phone with roadside assistance and the garage, the driver stuck by the road, and sometimes a heavier repair because a fault was ignored for too long.

What maintenance alerts pay: example with 50 vehicles

Take a fleet of 50 cars on four-year full-service leases, based in Zurich, Zug, Basel and Geneva, so about 12 returns a year. All assumptions are shown.

That is about CHF 100.– per car per year, from maintenance and alerts alone.

The 40 % is a cautious assumption: alerts do not prevent every breakdown, but the top cause, the starter battery, is one that gives warning.

The figure is deliberately modest, and that matters for an honest business case: maintenance is one lever among several. The bigger savings come from combining data: mileage (lease contracts), driving style (fuel, charging, claims) and alerts. Driving style is covered in our guide to eco-driving in company fleets, and the full picture in our analysis of fleet total cost of ownership.

Data protection: a maintenance alert needs no location

Mileage, battery voltage or a warning light say nothing about where someone drove. The revised Federal Act on Data Protection (nDSG / nLPD) requires that only the data needed for the purpose is processed (Art. 6) and that systems are privacy-friendly by default (Art. 7). Article 26 of Ordinance 3 to the Employment Act also prohibits systems intended to monitor employees' behaviour.

Voltaback never passes drivers' locations to the employer. The limits on tracking are covered in our guide to company vehicle geolocation. Sources: nDSG, SR 235.1 ; ArGV 3, SR 822.113.

Setting up maintenance alerts in five steps

1. Inventory: plate, first registration date, fuel type, registered keeper, lease (term, mileage, included services), date of the last inspection and last service.
2. Check connectivity: nearly all recent cars, combustion and electric, send data through their factory connectivity. Older ones stay on manual follow-up until they are replaced.
3. Set thresholds and recipients: the fleet manager gets deadlines, the driver gets the booking request, the team lead hears about a car off the road.
4. Write it into the vehicle policy: who books the appointment, how soon after an alert, which garage, what to do with a red warning light. Tell drivers which data is collected.
5. Redirect inspection invitations: make sure invitations from the road traffic office or the leasing company reach the person who plans appointments.

For leased electric cars, our article on electric company car leasing and tax completes this guide.

What changes in practice

Voltaback reads data directly from the connected car, with no box and no installation, for petrol, diesel, hybrid and electric cars from more than 48 brands. No hardware to maintain or remove before the lease ends.

• Alerts: the signals each manufacturer exposes arrive automatically.
• Planned maintenance: deadlines are tracked against real mileage, so appointments are booked before they become urgent.
• Mileage and contracts: an up-to-date odometer for every car, with gaps to the lease visible before it ends.
• Beyond maintenance: the same fleet telematics provide an eco-driving score, fuel or electricity consumption and a report on CO2 avoided.
• Data protection and security: the company never receives drivers' locations. nDSG compliant, ISO 27001 certified since 2 December 2025.

Want to see which alerts your cars could already send? Talk to the Voltaback team.