Steps to buying a car in Brisbane

Hello. We've just arrived from the UK and are looking at buying a car, as it seems like such a false economy to rent for more than the first week or so. We have no idea what's involved here though... Do we need Aussie licences before we can buy or is a UK licence ok? Will we need a permanent address to register a vehicle (we are in holiday accommodation until early Jan)? What are the main steps to taking over ownership of a vehicle here (we'd be buying 2nd hand). Any advice on whether better to buy from a dealership or private sale? Thanks for any help you can offer.

I can't really help you with buying a second hand car, but I just bought a brand new one a week after I arrived. I still had only a Canadian license at the time and was in an AirB&B. The dealership took care of the paperwork. I just showed my license, passport an a couple of bank/credit cards. The department of transport can give people a kind of reference number so it's possible to buy without a local license. For an address, I just used a friend's in Brisbane, but I can't see any reason you couldn't use the place you're currently staying. No paperwork was mailed there.

Once I got an address of my own, I exchanged my license and they updated the car ownership paperwork at the same time. Pretty easy.

One thing to note, the price of insurance will change depending on the address you use. In my case, quotes for insurance at my friends address (Brisbane) were more expensive than the place I actually moved to (Gold Coast). Luckily I had found my place before I bought the insurance to get a cheaper rate!

This website by the Queensland government has some important and useful information about buying a 2nd hand car:

https://www.qld.gov.au/law/your-rights/consumer-rights-complaints-and-scams/buying-products-and-services/buying-products/buying-a-used-car/

Thanks for this - really useful. :-)

We had to buy a car with cash as we could not get finance as were too new to the country. You will need a Queensland licence to purchase from a dealer so swap your UK one as soon as you can

You will need a Queensland licence to purchase from a dealer so swap your UK one as soon as you can

This isn't correct. I bought one a few days after I arrived with my Canadian license. It's a little bit more paperwork for the dealership but otherwise no more difficult.

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This isn't correct. I bought one a few days after I arrived with my Canadian license. It's a little bit more paperwork for the dealership but otherwise no more difficult.

 

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I concur. We bought a car with UK drivers licences. I sorted out my Qld drivers licence afterwards. Good idea to get your DL sorted as soon as possible though as it is used almost like an ID card over here. Really useful.