New to Australia? How to Choose a Car Wisely

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Are you at the start of your latest life adventure? If so, you may have just arrived on Australian shores and are trying to get your bearings. You may have found somewhere to live and have connected all of the utility services, but now you need to focus on your transportation. As everything is so spread out, you really do need to have a car just to function, let alone to get back and forth to work. So how should you go about this, and why do you need to exercise some care?

The Private Route

If your budget is fairly tight, you may be tempted to cut corners as much as possible and may be looking to buy privately. You can certainly save some money this way as you scour some online noticeboards or have a look at classified ads, but always have your wits about you if you're going to buy wisely.

Smart Buying

Usually, you will get very little if any guarantee when you buy a car from the private market. Consequently, you need to make sure that the vehicle has been well looked after and has a complete service history and will ideally buy a car that has not had too many previous owners.

Roadworthy

You must also ensure that the vehicle is safe and legal to drive on Australian roads. For this, you will need specific items of paperwork, one which is called "rego" for short. You can't drive a vehicle on the road in Australia without this registration doc.

You have to do some research to understand the requirements for roadworthy certificates in your specific state or territory, as many places require you to have a roadworthy certificate test each year. Some states can be a little less restrictive and may give you some leeway as a new arrival, but in general you will need to get this roadworthiness test done at some stage in the near future.

Registration

Whenever you buy a car privately, make sure that you get the registration slip in return for your cash and take this into the nearest motor vehicle registry. They will then make a note of your ownership. Sometimes, you can buy a car that has several months of registration left and can save some of your budget on the day as a consequence.

Buying In-State

If you can, always buy a car that is registered locally, as if it is out of state then you will have to fork out for new licence plates, an interstate transfer fee and other documents.

Authentic Certificate

While you may buy a vehicle privately, always ensure that you take it into a registered mechanic to perform the roadworthiness test. They'll be able to issue you with a legal version of this all-important certificate.

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13 August 2018

Getting an auto service for my racing car

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