I went to test drive a used car on Friday from a dealer and on my way back to them, I was pulled over by the police and given a ticket for driving an unregistered vehicle!
I said I was testing the car from a dealer and the constable said it was the responsibility of the driver to ensure that the vehicle was registered.
Has anyone had this happen and do I have any recourse (car dealer said they would pay the fine)?
Thanks
I've been test driving cars for probably a year and also driving rental cars. Not once did I check it. Its not normal for people to check registration from a reputable establishment. Look at the outcome though. The fine has gone to the operator so it has correctly worked at preventing this again.
I wonder if it would be ethical for a goodwill gesture considering the inconvenience and anxiety you would have got being pulled over for their mistake.
used to be easier with the rego stickers.
OP still has a mark on his licence history for driving a car unregistered
A rego LABEL check was 1 second. What if I don't have an internet-enabled device on me? Why has the Tasmanian rego check website recently introduced a captcha check, rendering it less reliable?
States have pushed the hassle onto us and saved themselves (actually taxpayers) a piddling print and postage bill.
Labels worked fine for decades. Bring them back!
WA & NT send multiple SMS reminders and emails before it is due. Not sure about other states.
NSW get sent a snail mail renewal, but don’t think reminders are a thing
I'm in NSW and get paper reminder, SMS reminder and email reminder about 4 weeks out. Once it gets closer to the date (a day or two before it's due), I get the email and the SMS again. Once it goes over the renewal date I get another paper reminder, another SMS and another email.
Irrelevant. If you own the car, then your liable either way.
Problem is when you drive a car you don't own. It's fairly ridiculous for tourists to expect to check the registration of a hire car.
Cool story
probably the more relatable situation for most would be rental cars - do people check the car is registered before driving off? I suspect not …
It is an offence to OWN an unregistered motor vehicle on a highway, and as such an infringement can be issued to the owner of the vehicle.
Road Rules regulation 7:
Own or use unregistered motor vehicle on a highway (2 axles) - $826/0
?
Own or use
Both.
It's against the Vic. Road Safety Act as the registered operator to "permit or allow" the use of an unregistered vehicle as much as it is to "actually use" it.
Both the registered operator and driver can both be fined, hence the Own or Use clause in the Act and in the fine.
Either
Lol love this thread, all these high and mighty ozbagainers who apparently immediately check the rego of every car they drive no matter whether it's a test drive, rental or friend etc.
Do not know anyone has done that, if you do, you would be in the absolute minority of people, absolutely miniscule percentage of people doing that.
As someone else mentioned, used to be easier with a rego sticker!
yeah you’re right. If you’re test driving a vehicle from a reputable place such as dealership you’d expect it to be drive ready and roadworthy. I guess its normal for people to pass on blame after an incident. but thanks to this post i’ve learnt this kinda things can happen and be aware of it.
I've never thought to check the rego of a rental vehicle or when test driving a new car…. I've also never checked the pilots license credentials or plane safety records when purchasing airline tickets. I must be living life on the edge.
Back in March I had to look for a new(used) car. I only ended up doing 1 test drive and the car dealer said the car was out of rego and would be reg'd to purchaser. He put dealer plate on for test drive and all was good. Turns out 3mths after buying it the rego renewal paperwork turned up and was due in June (it was on current 6mths rego ending late june). Contract said rego to sept so contacted car dealer and told them the car was short 3mths rego. He paid me the amt for 3mths rego. Apparently they were told the vehicle was out of rego when it came into the used car yard and so that was what they worked with.
I never knew at the time that you could check rego status for a car you don't own, so of course I didn't check it. Last car I bought was back in 2002. To assume everyone test driving, getting a rental or using a friends car would know this is crazy. It is not advertised anywhere so why would most ppl know about it.
Constable was being a dick… a lot of that going around lately
Most interesting thing for me in this thread is how passionate some people are about stop signs.
Also I think I've noticed a law of forums - the degree to which you are convincing the other party of your point, is inversely proportional to the length of your wall of text.
Wasn't the dealer in the front passenger seat, when you got pulled over? If not, this is unusual for a car dealer to let someone just take the car for a test drive.
I took numerous cars for a test drive when I was shopping around ~2 years ago, and on the majority of them I was simply given the keys after having provided my license and signing some documents, no salesperson in the car with me.
Dealers are not allowed in the car during “social distancing” times. Would have loved to see her face when I got pulled over :-)
Time to go test drive that Lamborghini!
I’ve test driven plenty of both new and used vehicles over the years, and most of the time the dealer has scanned my licence and handed over the keys. Driving around with a customer for 30 mins often wouldn’t be worth their time when they could be chatting up another potential customer. Car is insured, so no real risk to them.
Personally I much prefer a solo test drive.
This is the problem with not having rego stickers. Yes it’s not a guarantee that the car is registered as the sticker shows up in the mail before you pay, but I’d expect people are less likely to apply the sticker without paying.
Wow. What a very long thread for something that is already resolved. :-)
I’ve learned now that one cannot “assume” anything when it comes to the law (common sense or not). I now KNOW that the driver is responsible rather than the owner and I’ve downloaded the VicRoads app and will now always check the rego of an unknown vehicle, friend or not.
Thanks for the comments.