Purchasing a car in Australia, where to start and what you need to do. Just giving you a heads up each state is different in Australia with regards to the different driving restrictions, laws and rules for purchasing. Make sure you are checking all the information on the states government website first before purchasing your vehicle.
You first need to make sure that you have a full drivers license, including an international driving license as well. If you are reading this from the UK you can pick these up at a main post office, usually in a large town, and they cost five pounds. That’s it. It doesn’t look very official when you receive it so don’t be alarmed. It’s basically just a folded piece of card with your name, license number and an approved stamp. Job done. This is what will get you on the road.
Where did you find your car?
Autotrader is always a good start, other options include looking in local newspapers for the area. If you are in a city (we were in Melbourne) you can head into hostels and look on their notice boards to see if anyone is selling a vehicle. There are also other websites besides Autotrader for example gumtree, carsales.au and drive.au. Vehicles will be easier to find if you are in a city or large town – it’s just population, more people, more chance of sellers.
I don’t know if I need to say this but make sure you have contact with the seller and you see/test drive the vehicle before any money is exchanged. Be savvy guys. There are a lot of scammers out there and no, you do not have to pay someone to go and view their vehicle.
How did you find all your information?
Vicroads.gov.au, this website is going to become your best friend so make sure you have it saved for reference in a bookmark on your internet browser. You will also need to create an account under ‘myvicroads’.
Current owner of the vehicle
For someone to sell a vehicle they need to fill in a transfer form their end, done on Vicroads for them to be able to transfer the car into another person’s name. This form then needs to be filled in by the seller as well as the buyer. What’s nice is that the current owner of the vehicle should know exactly what they have to do to transfer the vehicle over to you, which makes your life a little simpler. It’s still a good idea to know all the steps and get completely clued up before you meet though, in case they try to scam you.
Roadworthy?
A test for the roadworthiness of the vehicle needs to be done. Also known as a roadworthy or a RWC form. This needs to be paid and dealt with before completing registration. This can either be paid by the current owner of the vehicle or the purchaser of the vehicle. You would have to discuss this between you. Payment will need to be taken for the transfer of the vehicle and the roadworthy test fees. Hopefully the owner should have already done this (ours had).
Vehicle Registration
When you have completed the vehicle registration you will automatically get a third party insurance included. If you want to purchase another insurance, you can to cover yourselves. We didn’t, and touch wood, we were fine. We didn’t feel it was necessary and the third party is the minimum you need to drive your vehicle in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland (East Coast).
Top tip: if you are purchasing a car from a city there is usually an office you can go to, to register your vehicle if you aren’t able to do it online. These people are from Vicroads, the government, and they know everything. If you have any questions you can go down there and ask. I would go in the early morning when they open though as queues for the services can get busy quickly.
If you have any further questions regarding purchasing a vehicle please get in touch.
LEAH HANCOX 