Landing soon... Buying a car in Victoria... Rego and insurance

We're arriving in Melbourne from the UK in a couple of weeks :-)

we're staying with friends in Lilydale until we find a place to rent.

I want to buy a car within a week or two max. Do I need a Vic licence first? Is insurance reasonable and if the car has a few months of Rego left can it be transferred to me?

also, do private sellers and dealers expect buyers to haggle a bit as they would in the UK?

thanks in advance :-)

Dave

You dont need a Vic licence to buy a car ,the rego can be transferred to you but make sure you car has a RWC (roadworthy certificate) same as an Mot but a requirement for sellers to provide when selling a car in Victoria

you can buy a second hand car without a RWC which are often cheaper but you will have to organise the RWC yourself before you can register the car in your name.

Insurance depends on what you buy your rego will give you third party but strongly advise you get fully comprehensive policy as well.

Yes most will haggle or do a deal

RWC rules are very tight so I advise you buy with a RWC or you might have a car that takes 2-3 weeks to get it on the road if you are waiting for parts etc

Getting a RACV check before you buy is probably not a bad idea either. They can ensure the RWC has been covered properly.

Haggle as hard as possible. second hand Cars seem to be dropping in value quite fast so shop around a bit, and do some homework before you arrive on what you fancy, and what are they really worth.

http://www.carsales.com.au

http://www.carsguide.com.au

http://www.drive.com.au

http://www.carcity.com.au

www.ebay.com.au

most cars have some rego left which is transferred with the car.

Shop around for insurance. again you can do a bit of research on the net before you arrive to give you an idea of what to expect.

Thanks for that folks... Had a good look and the prices, pretty steep as compared to the UK, a small price to pay though - might even get one with a sunroof ;-)

i like the idea of having 3rd party insurance included in the Rego, is the Rego the same price for all cars? - and is the RWC like an MOT in the respect it has to be valid all the time but you don't need a fresh one when you buy the car?

thanks again

Dave

The insurance component of the rego does not cover damage to property, it funds the cost of medical care for people injured on the road.

You should always get separate insurance, either comprehensive or 3rd Party plus property which covers damage you make to another vehicle.

A RWC is the same as an MOT but you don't have to renew it every year. Only when selling/buying.

If you buy second hand have a look at getting RACV (recovery) cover as well. Not expensive , but always useful to have just in case.

If you have any no claims bonus in the UK bring proof with you. My Oz insurance company gave me full no claims based on my full no claims from the UK. As already mentioned the rego only includes third party cover for personal injuries, so if you have an accident which is you fault you will have to pay for the repairs to the other car as well as your own.

Thanks Folks,

brilliant advice Nikko, I've got 7 years no claims and AXA are now sending me proof in the post... :-)

can I ask what company you have your insurance with?

cheers

i used a comparison site to get a few quotes http://www.iselect.com.au . When filling the online form i just entered maximum no claims bonus. The company i chose was AGI. When they sent me my policy they requested a copy of my NCD which i photocopied and sent to them in the post. They never even questioned the fact that it was a UK NCD.

As for buying a car defo haggle, dealers and private sellers are always open to negotiation. Make sure you are quoted the on the road price as some dealers quote the price less stamp duty which you have to pay on any car purchased. Also dealers have to supply a RWC (road worthy certificate) which is like a UK MOT, but in Victoria you only need one when buying or selling a car not every year like in the UK.

You may have already seen them but here area couple of sites to get some idea on price.

http://www.carcity.com.au/used_cars_Melbourne.asp?location=Ringwood (this is a car supermarket with lots of dealers so you can play one off against another)

http://www.carsales.com.au (like the auto trader bak in the UK)

Any other questions please feel free to ask.

Nick.

Also (forgot to say), one of the first things i did on arrival was get a Victorian driving license, it makes things a lot easier (including buying a car). It is an easy process, the only problem we had was that we did not have a permanent address to send it to but our holiday rental allowed us to use that address for important things (we were there for 4 weeks).

That's great Nick, cheers... the problem is I start off looking off at $5K cars and end up around the $15-20K mark!

You mentioned stamp duty and RWC, on a car costing $10K, what would the stamp be? Would you assume the dealer would provide the RWC or is that something you'd negotiate?

Thanks for your help :-)

That's great Nick, cheers... the problem is I start off looking off at $5K cars and end up around the $15-20K mark!

You mentioned stamp duty and RWC, on a car costing $10K, what would the stamp be? Would you assume the dealer would provide the RWC or is that something you'd negotiate?

Thanks for your help :-)

Dealers will sell the car with a roadworthy (i think they have to by law). Also if the car has less than a certain amount of kilometre's (i think it is 165000) they have to give 3 months warranty, this is why some dealers only sell high milage cars. The warranty is quite good (i had a new radiator fitted in our car because it developed a leak after about 9 weeks) but they might not mention the warranty if they think you don't know about it (being new in the country).

They will offer to sell you an extended warranty and these are not so good, there is a lot of clauses in the extended warranty which they can use to get out of paying a claim, even if they do pay out it is usually only a percentage of the total amount. I did not get one (and never would in the future) but it is down to personal choice.

As for the 'on-road costs' on a car of $10,000 it is not that much (thats what we paid for our car). Depending on what type of car you would like you will get a lot of car for between $10k and $15k. Bigger cars (Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore) are getting cheaper as most people who want a big car seem to buy a 4x4 (suv). We have a Commodore, it has a 3.8 litre v6 engine and is a little thirsty (i would not have been able to afford to run it in the UK), but fuel is much cheaper over here (especially when earning the Ozzie $).

Calculator for on-roads (second of the three calculators).

http://webapps.vicroads.vic.gov.au/vrne/VRCALC.NSF/fee?OpenForm#calc2

If we can be of any other help please ask.

Nick.

Check out dual fuel vehicles also, especially if looking at gas guzzlers. I run my Ford Falcon on LPG, and with the cost of that being roughly half that of petrol, it is a large saving if running the car daily or doing long haul trips. Nearly every servo sells LPG these days.

I brought my car from a dealer using my uk licence and temporary address without any trouble. Insurance was straight forward too, my uk NCB was accepted.

I then obtained a vic licence (after 2 months) when I had my permanent address. Vic roads manage both rego and licences, when I got my licence the rego was updated at the same time, updated insurance details separately.

I'm insured with bingle.com.au

Another price comparison to try: www.comparethemarket.com.au

I believe you can drive on a uk licence for up to 3 months, vicroads website will give you more details

We will be arriving in Melbourne next month and looking to buy a car too. According to Vicroads, we need to show evidence of residence in Victoria to obtain a license or register a car:

http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/Home/Licences/GetYourLs/EvidenceOfIdentityDocuments.htm

http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/Home/Registration/WhatHasToBeRegistered/EvidenceOfIdentityDocuments.htm

What document did you show to prove residence in Victoria? We won't a rental lease initially as we will be staying in short term accommodation for a month.

Also, do we need to give any tests or is the license automatically converted?

I purchased my car within 3 weeks of arriving.

As far as I can recall all I had was a Aus bank account (which I set up in the UK prior to leaving & already had money transferred into it). I activated this account the day I arrived, using my temp address - the debt cards arrived a few days later.

Aus licenses are given to UK license holders without any test. This also applies to motorbikes - not test required. Although you are expected to know the road laws, no tests or checks are made for this either.

Also (forgot to say), one of the first things i did on arrival was get a Victorian driving license, it makes things a lot easier (including buying a car). It is an easy process, the only problem we had was that we did not have a permanent address to send it to but our holiday rental allowed us to use that address for important things (we were there for 4 weeks).

I suppose the only snag there is that any, ah, transgressions resulting in demerit points (perhaps more likely for new Aus drivers?) will end up on the new licence, whereas on a UK one they will disappear into the ether...

I suppose the only snag there is that any, ah, transgressions resulting in demerit points (perhaps more likely for new Aus drivers?) will end up on the new licence, whereas on a UK one they will disappear into the ether...

they don't disappear. As soon as you apply for an Aussie driving license, they will be there, don't worry.

Really useful info folks!