Thread: motor insurance Australia

Peter, my car is registered in my company name, no such luxury as 6 month rego.

it is over here..........I had the company car regoed as needed and when I was due to get rid of it I put 3 months on it with no probs.probably the only advantage of living in Sth Oz I guess

I have fired off a couple of technical questions to the rta in NSW and VICT.
and after reading all those regulations on their web sites I should now be in a position to answer any questions from australian forum member enquirers

A couple of things you should be aware of:
Although Australia adopted unleaded fuel in the mid-1980s the standard stuff is pretty low octane stuff compared to fuel in Europe. Higher octane unleaded has really only been widely available in the last few years, so an Australian car with a 1.6l engine is probably equivalent to a European or Pommy car with a 1.3l engine (performance wise)
It can be an expensive hassel to reestablish registration where it has lapsed on an older car.

ian

Thanks again Ian for those gems.

By the way has fuel gone over the $1 a litre in Oz yet?

Originally Posted by jow104

By the way has fuel gone over the $1 a litre in Oz yet?

seems to be averaging about $1.20/l at the moment

Originally Posted by ian

It can be an expensive hassel to reestablish registration where it has lapsed on an older car.

ian

In Vic in order to reregister (or transfer the rego to another person) you only need a Road Worthy Certificate. Not expensive as all vehicles should be road worthy.

Of course once it is registered you'll never need a RWC as there is no annual testing of vehicles on registration renewal.

Peter.

So, I don't buy a car unless it hasd some registration documents in force .

What if its a pensioner car and needs re-registering does that need RWC to be obtained again?

Originally Posted by jow104

What if its a pensioner car and needs re-registering does that need RWC to be obtained again?

Yes, any transfer in Vic needs a RWC, and if the registration fee was the reduced pensioner fee then, unless the purchaser also qualifies, the prorata balance of the waived fee is also payable. In other words the reduced fee is a concession to the pensioner owner but doesn't stay with the car.

John, I went through this process last week and I also asked all these strange questions to the lovely lady that fixed it all up for me at VicRoads.


Peter.

Then there is the transfer/stamp duty fee, as I haven't bought a second hand vehicle for a number of years now I have no idea what they are.
If you buy the car from a dealer all this should be taken care of (at your cost though) and a RWC should be supplied.
Are you coming to Vic or starting in NSW?
The reason I ask is because registration is much higher in NSW and if you take up residence in Vic you are required to re register the vehicle (after a period of 3 months I think).

As well as the motor reg (which should not be an issue if you get a car already registered) you should consider RACV membership though you may be entitled to some services if you are in the UK motoring organisation.

The RACV has emergency breakdown service for members reciprocal through all the aussie states. They also have a car insurance arm.

The key points seem to be:

when you buy a registered 2nd hand car in Oz the registration and 3rd party injury insurance cover transfers to you

you have to pay a fee (plus a tax) to transfer the registration to yourself

the details of the transfer process differ depending upon whether you're in NSW, Victoria or Queensland (I'm assuming you'll fly into Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney and buy the car in the arrival city), some states require a road worthiness certificate upon transfer, in others the previous owner will have satisfied the road worthiness requirements when the registration was last renewed.

BUT one of your risks is that, the reason the car is for sale could be that the cost of satisfying the road worthiness requirements is more than the car is worth.

What is worth considering is buying a cheap new car, and then selling it after 6 months. Might be less hassel and at $11,990, incl rego etc (I wasn't paying a lot of attention, but I think that was the price on the TV tonight) it might be a reasonable deal for you


ian

Nice thought Ian.

Thats a good point, Kia, Hyundai or Echo all under $15k driveaway, and after 6 months should have a reasonable re sale value.
Someone on the board could be interested.