Buying and running a car in NSW/Queensland
Discussion
My Daughter has just moved from England to the NSW/Queensland borders and now wants to buy a car. She's shown me a few and they seem horrendously expensive S/H, cars that would be £200 breakers here going for AUS$2-3K. One was a 1995 323 mazda for $2900 whih would be a scrap car in the UK
So what's involved in car ownership there, I.E. MOTs taxes, registration, insurance etc. I believe she can exchange her UK licence for an Australian one but I have seen things about P plates, what's that all about?
Any help or advice welcomed.
So what's involved in car ownership there, I.E. MOTs taxes, registration, insurance etc. I believe she can exchange her UK licence for an Australian one but I have seen things about P plates, what's that all about?
Any help or advice welcomed.
Licence - What visa is she on? Working Holiday / Business 457 - remains on uk one entire time, no problem, no points will be given but may be held against her if she converts later on. Perm resident/citizen etc - NSW/QLD licence, she'll need to get one (simple swap/application) when she becomes a resident but not until then.
Cars - Yep. Expensive. My MX-5 2000 with 100k kms just sold for $10K, expect 1.5k gbp in uk. The lower the value the more multiples it costs over uk equivalent. There is no such thing as a roadworthy car for a couple of hundred $. It really comes down to budget, how long she'll have it, what she wants to do in it etc. Old Mazdas and hyundais are cheap, most people get their cars on tick here and buy new. When you buy second hand you pay stamp duty on the car private or dealer, dealer look at on road costs, private bear this in mind as when you swap the papers you will have a bill...3% or something I think.
Insurance - Seperate green slip compulsory 3rd party insurance renewed with rego/road tax (called CTP)
- Annual roadworthy certiicate needed after 3 or 5 years old (cannot remember which)Same as MOT at rego time
- Rego = Road tax
- Insurance Seperate from compulsory 3rd party but not legally required I believe...mind you would be stupid not to have it.
Costs - Rego + CTP + Roadworthy = about $1k....insurance on top. I pay about $100 a month but thats for a 6L V8
Driving - Expect to get points. its a major source of revenue here. Speed limits are low. Just came back from UK visit home, loved driving there compared to here. It sucks but there you go.
Cars - Yep. Expensive. My MX-5 2000 with 100k kms just sold for $10K, expect 1.5k gbp in uk. The lower the value the more multiples it costs over uk equivalent. There is no such thing as a roadworthy car for a couple of hundred $. It really comes down to budget, how long she'll have it, what she wants to do in it etc. Old Mazdas and hyundais are cheap, most people get their cars on tick here and buy new. When you buy second hand you pay stamp duty on the car private or dealer, dealer look at on road costs, private bear this in mind as when you swap the papers you will have a bill...3% or something I think.
Insurance - Seperate green slip compulsory 3rd party insurance renewed with rego/road tax (called CTP)
- Annual roadworthy certiicate needed after 3 or 5 years old (cannot remember which)Same as MOT at rego time
- Rego = Road tax
- Insurance Seperate from compulsory 3rd party but not legally required I believe...mind you would be stupid not to have it.
Costs - Rego + CTP + Roadworthy = about $1k....insurance on top. I pay about $100 a month but thats for a 6L V8
Driving - Expect to get points. its a major source of revenue here. Speed limits are low. Just came back from UK visit home, loved driving there compared to here. It sucks but there you go.
Edited by TAS1981 on Friday 6th September 00:54
Mattt said:
She must have owned & used it for 12 months in the UK before she moved here, and she must be on a visa that allows her to remain there (i.e. not WHV).
Not sure what visa she has apart from it lasts 4 years and she has owned the car for over a year here.I assume depreciation isn't as dire as in the UK so at least she wont lose a massive amount when she sells it, providing it survives her driving.
I just paid $663 for 12 months Qld registration for the S2000. This includes the compulsory third party insurance of $334, more than half the cost. This is the same for all 4 cylinder cars, dearer for a 6, & now not much under $1000 for the V8 TR8.
At least in Qld we don't have some bloke with an inspection station trying to tell you some perfectly serviceable part needs to be replaced, as you do with annual inspection in NSW.
At least in Qld we don't have some bloke with an inspection station trying to tell you some perfectly serviceable part needs to be replaced, as you do with annual inspection in NSW.
Cars don't depreciate as fast as in UK and for their age are generally in way better condition with little or no rust even after 20 years so in most cases the Australian car would be in much better condition than the equivalent UK car. You only have to drive around to not the car population in Australia is much older than the UK. ( we have not had a scappage scheme here either).
She's just looked at a 2000 Mitsubishi Magna, which we don't seem to have in the UK and seems quite cheap. She sent me a photo of under the bonnet and I thought it was a small car with a 3 cylinder engine, I then put the picture on my PC and I've just noticed the other 3 cylinders sitting at the back of the engine bay. 
My son had a 2.4 Magna for a while and he always had a petrol tanker chasing him down the street, it's thirst was horrendous.
Falcodores will be cheaper 2nd hand than a smaller 4 pot of similar age because they are seen as expensive to run, but then there is the once a year hit for rego
Falcodores will be cheaper 2nd hand than a smaller 4 pot of similar age because they are seen as expensive to run, but then there is the once a year hit for rego
A car sold in QLD MUST come with a roadworthy certificate, & a transfer document. These must be presented when changing the registration to her name.
The 6 cylinder will cost another $150 or more in annual registration, so something over $700.
There is also a transfer fee of 2% or 3% of the purchase price, which the seller must put on the transfer document.
The 6 cylinder will cost another $150 or more in annual registration, so something over $700.
There is also a transfer fee of 2% or 3% of the purchase price, which the seller must put on the transfer document.
Hasbeen said:
A car sold in QLD MUST come with a roadworthy certificate, & a transfer document. These must be presented when changing the registration to her name.
The 6 cylinder will cost another $150 or more in annual registration, so something over $700.
There is also a transfer fee of 2% or 3% of the purchase price, which the seller must put on the transfer document.
This one is in NSW, the confusing bit for her is that she is in Coolangatta/Tweed Heads.The 6 cylinder will cost another $150 or more in annual registration, so something over $700.
There is also a transfer fee of 2% or 3% of the purchase price, which the seller must put on the transfer document.
In that case I believe she would have to transfer the registration to her name in NSW, then get it transferred to QLD registration. This may be more expensive.
I ran into trouble with interstate transfers a while back.
We registered the TR8 in my sons name, to allow him to take it to NSW. As a defense force member he doesn't have to transfer the registration to the state he is serving in.
He kept forgetting to keep the registration up when he went to sea, & it ran out. He reregistered the car in NSW, then let it expire again when on another sea posting.
When I brought the car back to Queensland, not only did I have to get a government inspection, I had to get a new compliance on the modifications, [big engine, brakes etc.], even though it was registered with these modifications previously in QLD. All up this cost about $1100.
It can be a nightmare, & best avoided, I think.
I ran into trouble with interstate transfers a while back.
We registered the TR8 in my sons name, to allow him to take it to NSW. As a defense force member he doesn't have to transfer the registration to the state he is serving in.
He kept forgetting to keep the registration up when he went to sea, & it ran out. He reregistered the car in NSW, then let it expire again when on another sea posting.
When I brought the car back to Queensland, not only did I have to get a government inspection, I had to get a new compliance on the modifications, [big engine, brakes etc.], even though it was registered with these modifications previously in QLD. All up this cost about $1100.
It can be a nightmare, & best avoided, I think.
She'll have to sort all that out, I can't keep up with which state she's in or which state she's bought it in. I'm pretty sure she's in NSW now but moving a few roads away to Queensland next month. Back to the car, it looks nice and quite a bit different to the Renault Clio she drives here.
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