Owning a car in Victoria

Hello forum! New poster here....

I move to Melbourne in a weeks time and was wondering how owning a car works.

1) I assume eventually I'll need an AU driving licence - what are the rules around this?

2) Car insurance isn't a legal requirement like it is at home but I assume most people get it anyway - will I hit high premiums with my UK licence?

3) Good places to buy a car in Melbourne? Any car supermarket type places?

4) any MOT style requirements?

Anything else relevant would be really useful. Thanks!

Bring proof of your UK no claims bonus - some insurance companies will accept it

I believe you have to have an Australian licence if you have PR - I'm sure someone on here will know the rules

Look at the Vic Roads site, it will give you all the information about owning a car.

In Vic, you have 6 months to get a Vic licence. Book an appointment at a Vicroads Centre and it all gets done in a few hours.

You may find that insurance quotes are reasonable enough. We did. Do the usual internet online quotes to compare the market! :-) Some people have experiences of using a UK no claims letter to get a discount too. I think that letter from your UK insurance company is only valid for a year though. Try your luck.

Try Carsales.com.au to get an idea of car prices. There are plenty of used car dealers around. Several car supermarket type places, but some try to get the quoted price for a car as cheap as possibly by eliminating on-road costs and roadworthy certificate costs. So be aware of what you are comparing when searching.

A roadworthy certificate (valid only for 30 days) must be presented when registering a car in your name (at a vicroads centre). Some sellers will advertise a car for sale minus a RWC (sold as-is), but strictly speaking, if a car is still registered then the seller MUST provide a RWC to the buyer. Reasons why people might sell a car "as-is" could be that they know that it requires $$$$$$ spent on it for a RWC. AGain, be aware.

Also, don't forget stamp duty. Stamp duty is an additional charge paid to Vicroads at the time you register the car in your name. The Vicroads website has all of this info too.

Hello forum! New poster here....

 

I move to Melbourne in a weeks time and was wondering how owning a car works.

 

1) I assume eventually I'll need an AU driving licence - what are the rules around this?

2) Car insurance isn't a legal requirement like it is at home but I assume most people get it anyway - will I hit high premiums with my UK licence?

3) Good places to buy a car in Melbourne? Any car supermarket type places?

4) any MOT style requirements?

 

Anything else relevant would be really useful. Thanks!

1) I assume eventually I'll need an AU driving licence - what are the rules around this? - Depends on which visa you are on. If you are on a temp visa, you can continue to drive on your overseas licence.

2) Car insurance isn't a legal requirement like it is at home but I assume most people get it anyway - will I hit high premiums with my UK licence? - possibly.

3) Good places to buy a car in Melbourne? Any car supermarket type places? - car city is a car supermarket type place.

4) any MOT style requirements? - no annual one, but you must have a roadworthy cert if you sell your car or if a policeman pulls you over and asks you to get one.

Thanks for all the info folks, lots of reading up to do!

Car insurance is a must!!! The car insurance covered by rego only covers people not cars. You must take out car insurance - either fully comp or third party depending on how old the car is you buy.

You can drive on a full uk licence for 6 months. Or it costs $17.95 for appointment and $75 for 3 year licence $399ish for 10 year.

Get insurance, they drive crazy here. Yesterday I saw someone cut up two lanes of traffic and a cop car to turn left. Nearly caused serious crash