Purchasing a New or Used Car Interstate

• 

  Muzeeb on 03/07/2020 - 00:27

  +2

  Looks like so much effort.

  Buyers market. Negotiate hard on a local car.

• 

  metadata101 on 03/07/2020 - 01:46

  +3

  HI,

  I will try to answer as much as possible.
  Open to feedback and advice from all members.

  -For a new car, what sort of costs am I looking at (approx) for Dealer Delivery and Freight? So freight is a big one. Does anyone have estimates for WA/SA/QLD/NSW to Vic? Is it worth to check various freight websites for this? I'm just after ballpark numbers.

  I have moved quite a bit around Australia. There are actually only one or two vendors who ship vehicles across, however they have many logistics companies as agents. Ball park, paid AUD 795 to ship a car from Perth to Sydney. Paid a local logistics company. Car was shipped via CEVA logistics. Note that you may have to drive 10-12 kms on both sides to deliver and pick the car up. Most of the shipping company warehouses are outside the city. You save $$ by dropping and picking your vehicle. Door to door delivery costs more.

  • For a new car, I have seen that some cars are unregistered on carsales. Will the sales help me register the car in my state? Or do I get the car delivered to a Vicroads branch and walk through the door and manually pay stamp duty/rego? What's the process?

  Walk to your state's Gov Service office and get it registered. If the car is beyond 5 years, it may need additional checks such as road worthiness certificate. You can drive to a local workshop and get this done. However, not recommended to drive around without plate or Toll Tags.

  • For a new or used car, do I have to pay stamp duty in the sale state? Will the dealer take it off during negotiations so I only pay this in Vic?

  Limited knowledge here but i assume this is paid only once.

  • Will a Used car dealer help with any of the transfer of rego/stamp duty for Vic? Or will they just deliver to my door and I take care of the rest? In Vic MV Duty is $8.40 per $200 of the market value or part thereof.

  You should be able to negotiate this with the car seller IMHO.

  • For a new or used car, what coverage do I have for damage in transit?
    Take pictures, Its covered by insurance. However, make sure that the windshield doesnt get damaged / chipped. If they ship your car via road transport, chances are gravel will hit the windshield. I would totally avoid that. Get them to put up thermocol on the windshield / windows etc if they agree.

  • For a used car, what (approx) cost would I be looking at for an inspection?

  Not sure…

  For New or used car (video walkaround), I intend to do a video call showing:
  - VIN
  - Photo of the odometer
  - Photo of the Manufacturing date on the door

  For a used car, I'd do the same as above, but also have a local mechanic inspect the car. However, I expect the car to have low (up to 1000km) if it is on the Used lot. I know it's low km's, but it pays to be sure, right?

  Definitely does.

  I would recommend you look at dealers such as carsaleselite.com.au. I have had a great buying / selling experience with them.

  good luck, Happy and safe driving.

  cheers.

  • 

    daoople on 03/07/2020 - 23:13

    This is a great reply. Thanks so much for the info and the referrals. I'll take this into account if I end up going down this line.

• 

  Euphemistic on 03/07/2020 - 05:50

  +1

  After seeing a few different ‘it’s not what I paid for’ threads on here: Don’t buy a used car without physically inspecting it. One exception is if you are a car enthusiast, it is a rare model and you expect repairs to be done. .

• 

  inherentchoice on 03/07/2020 - 07:53

  +1

  would get a local mechanic inspection if it was Used.

  I think the cheapest and best way will be to find a local, independent mobile mechanic and get him to do a full inspection and test drive. Should be able to get this for under $100. Some places will charge over $300 for this which I think is a rip off.

  Instead of freight I would at least consider going to pick up and drive it back. You can get an unregistered vehicle permit for that and its not too expensive.

  Moving an unregistered vehicle, trailer, or caravan interstate
  You will need an unregistered vehicle permit to move an unregistered vehicle from Queensland to another state or territory…

  Your Queensland-issued unregistered vehicle permit can be used throughout Australia

  Source: https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/buying/unregistered/selling

  However if you're from Melbourne that's probably not possible right now with all the restrictions.

  Or do I get the car delivered to a Vicroads branch and walk through the door and manually pay stamp duty/rego? What's the process?

  No need to take the car there, you only need to go in there to provide registration papers and get plates. Car can just stay wherever it gets delivered, and as mentioned above get it delivered to the transport company depot. If its a used car you will need a roadworthy certificate. If so then here is the process.

  1. Find a mobile roadworthy guy who can inspect the car when it arrives in VIC. You may not even need to meet them for the inspection. You may not even need to meet them at all. The freight company might even be able to recommend a roadworthy mechanic for this. If it does not pass roadworthy though then you will need to organise repairs. Hopefully repairs will be simple and can be done by mobile mechanic though.

  2. Take roadworthy certificate and rego application to Vic roads. Get plates.

  3. Go pick up your car, put plates on and you're done.

  • 

    daoople on 03/07/2020 - 23:16

    Thanks for the advice. I had no idea about the Unregistered vehicle permit. I'll keep that in mind. Also, it's good to know I can keep the vehicle at home, but still go into a vicroads without needing to bring the vehicle in.

    • 

      inherentchoice on 03/07/2020 - 23:47

      Yes I believe all States offer such permits which usually include CTP. Would still need to get your own normal insurance for the unregistered vehicle, then just tell the insurer once you get the rego.

      Yes you can keep the vehicle anywhere, but read the new registration form carefully to check, as I may be wrong. In QLD the new registration form says something about needing to bring the car but I think it's only in exceptional circumstances.

      • 

        daoople on 03/07/2020 - 23:58

        OMG - did not even think about the insurance. So there's an extra step. Get insurance and tell them it's unregistered. If I do get the unregistered vehicle permit, then I'd have to coordinate the physical permit, get it to the dealer, then get the car to the freight company. Unless the freight company or dealer can do that for me.

        Nice one.

        • 

          inherentchoice on 04/07/2020 - 05:16

          @daoople: Umm, the unregistered permit is only if you are driving it unregistered.

          No need for the permit or insurance if it's going on a truck. That's why I said to consider it "instead of freight".

          And no need if the seller lets you keep the interstate plates on it. But they can't transfer the rego to an interstate buyer, so they're supposed to sell it unregistered and take their plates.

          Here is the official explanation in Queensland:

          Buying a Queensland registered vehicle from interstate
          A vehicle must be garaged at a Queensland address to be registered in Queensland. If you live interstate and purchase a vehicle that is registered in Queensland, you cannot register it in your name in Queensland unless you have a Queensland garaging address.

          If you can’t transfer the Queensland registration into your name, you may ask the seller to cancel the vehicle’s registration at a transport and motoring customer service centre. You can then apply for an unregistered vehicle permit to transport the vehicle to your home address. To register the vehicle you will need to contact the transport authority in your state or territory to find out their registration requirements.

          Source: https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/registration/transfer/inter…

          As one more option, an interstate private seller might even be willing to drive their vehicle to VIC, take the plates off, and then fly home. But probably not at the moment if they have to quarantine coming back to their home state from Melbourne.

          Or another option still is that you meet them half way or at the border. Maybe they would drive it to a mechanic in Wodonga and you can get it inspected and VIC registered from there. Would need to talk to the workshop first but I don't see why not if you're paying them for a roadworthy.

• 

  RockyRaccoon on 03/07/2020 - 09:02

  If you expect to save $3000 before doing it, it’s very unlikely you will buy an interstate car.

  New car dealers can’t offer $3k off more than any other dealer unless it’s a dog of a car and they don’t sell well. Plus add your costs of shipping as discussed above so your $3k cheaper car has to be at least $4K lower than local price. If there is $4k margin that the interstate dealer can throw away that a local Victorian dealer can’t match then something doesn’t add up. - note this isn’t the discount you negotiate it’s the difference in the discount. Eg local dealer gives $2k off then interstate dealer needs to give you $6k off.

  Used? You are not comparing like with like. One used car while looking the same may not be as good as another. Getting a local mechanic to check it out sounds great but really how can you tell. Then you spend $300 and they tell you it’s not worth it, so you have added $300 to your costs and still don’t have a car.

  Now if the car you want is rare, eg 1957 Chevy, then buying interstate is worth looking into but otherwise why buy blind.

  • 

    daoople on 03/07/2020 - 23:22

    +1

    Yep. The car I had in mind is $50k driveaway in QLD, but $56k+costs in Vic. I did mean to say that I wouldn't do this unless it was $3k after all costs/trouble. But buying interstate is really a last option.

    In terms of Used (and I didn't make it clear in the post) - was that I was looking at a New car that was put onto the Used car lot and further discounted (I heard that's what they do with new stock they can't sell). But since it's classed as used, all the "used car risks" apply.

    Your math is right. Not worth the bother unless the car is truly ~$6k difference in price.

• 

  Kandrew on 03/07/2020 - 09:35

  +1

  I have both purchased a car interstate and had a car inspected interstate and subsequently decided to not purchase the car.

  The car that I purchased was in Victoria and I live in southern NSW. I drove to Melbourne, met the dealer, inspected the car myself and told the dealer that certain repairs were needed before I would purchase the car. He agreed to get the repairs done and that was it.

  When it was time to collect the car, I caught the train to Melbourne and drove my ‘new’ car back home. I drove on the Vic plates that were on the car and there were no questions asked.

  I’m still driving that car, 200,xxx kilometres later - and loving it!

  My wife won’t drive it, however, as it’s a manual gearbox. So we’ve been looking for something similar but with an automatic transmission.

  We found something on maybe Gumtree and I rang the seller and spoke to him for about 15 minutes. He made the car sound good, but something didn’t sit right with me. So I organised an RACV inspection. It was a couple of hundred dollars but it confirmed my suspicions about the car.

  There wasn’t anything majorly wrong with the car, but there were so many little things as well as ‘half way’ items, that the car was going to end up being a medium priced car with a long list of repairs needing to be done. And that was going to make it a very expensive car.

  A couple of hundred dollars for the inspection saved me a lot of money and heartache. I don’t regret for one moment spending that money on the inspection.

  • 

    daoople on 03/07/2020 - 23:22

    Thanks for the reply. If I buy used, I'll 100% get it looked it. Even if it's got little/low km's.

• 

  pegaxs on 03/07/2020 - 10:32

  +1

  1a: Dealer delivery would only be on new cars and can vary from dealer to dealer and is just cream they rake off the top for no other reason that people blindly pay it. $3,000 to pull some plastic off the car, clean the residue off it and take it out of pre-delivery mode.

  1b: Freight all depends. Get on some websites and ask for quotes. I would bank on about $800~$1,500 depending on where it's coming from and if you are prepared to pick it up from the closest distribution centre.

  2a: No, the sales guys wont help you register it in your state unless they have a franchise in that state. And if they do, you would probably just be better off buying it through their Vic. branch.

  2b: For Vic, you would need a RWC if it is a used vehicle, if it has been registered before, or has more than "pre-delivery/dealership" km on it. So, a car with 80km might be ok, a car with 1,000km may not. If it is a brand new car that has never been registered, you will need to show this and provide a contract of sale (as well as other documents).

  3: You pay stamp duty at time of transfer/new registration. If you are buying interstate and unregistered, you wont pay stamp duty there, but at VicRoads when you get it registered. They wont take it off at negotiation, because they wont have added it if you are buying the car unregistered and interstate.

  4: Probably not. They will sell you a car minus all the registration costs. That is their "help". So, if you are looking at a car advertised as $49,990 drive away, you can remove all the costs associated with registration from that state. (This may be rego, tax, CTP, transfer, plate and stamp duty if it's a "drive away" price.)

  5: Some or none. Depends on what you pay for. Some carriers are "all care taken, no responsibility" and you pay extra to cover for damages. Obviously, open car freighting is going to be cheaper than covered in if you are worried about damage.

  6: Depends who you go through. Ring around a few places and get some quotes on car inspections. Expect to pay $200~$300 for a comprehensive inspection and condition report.

  At the end of the day, unless you are getting a stellar deal on a vehicle, most of the time, the headache, time and money you invest in it just about breaks you even once the cars in your possession and ready to roll. Not to mention the inevitable disappointment you will have when the car turns up and it's not exactly how you thought it would be.

  Can it be done, yes, easily, not really, worth it, seldom.

  • 

    daoople on 03/07/2020 - 23:32

    +1

    Thanks for the detailed reply. If a dealer does have a Vic franchise, I'd definitely prefer to bargain here, but I don't know whether they would ship a car in QLD down to Vic for me to collect (or if they would build that into the price or not). I also will keep the types of shipping and the risks of buying an unsighted vehicle in mind.

• 

  daoople on 03/07/2020 - 23:53

  Thanks for all the ultra-detailed replies.

  My "actual" situation is that I'm after a new MY20 car with MSRP of $63k. In Vic, the "going" price of the car is $54-56k for near new/demo cars. However, in QLD, there are some new cars (of the same spec/year) on the Used lot (20km on the odometer) for $50k driveaway - but I'm not considering a genuinely used vehicle, just in name only.

  I'm very hesitant to buy a car interstate as it is a hassle (as everyone has pointed out) - and I'm even more hesitant to buy an interstate Used car, but if I can walk away with a few more hours work and save ~$3k, I'm open to the thought. I also take away that additional freight/inspection/handling costs could be about ~$3k, so the initial price difference would have to be at least $6k to be worthwhile.

  If a dealer has a franchise interstate, can I really bargain? Will they really ship the car down the east coast for collection in another state?

  Thanks for all the insight!! Do appreciate it.

  • 

    inherentchoice on 04/07/2020 - 06:10

    additional freight/inspection/handling costs could be about ~$3k

    Are you sure? Someone mentioned it was $800 to move a car from Perth to Sydney. Or click here for a quote that's $780 door to door. So how do you get $3k?

    If it's brand new and never registered in Australia before, you can technically just buy it unregistered off the dealer, go to your local Vicroads to provide your contract and pay rego/duty for some plates, then mail the plates to someone in Queensland who can drive it to meet you at Ballina airport.

    With current border restrictions IMHO that would be the cheapest way of getting the car if you have someone in QLD or Northern NSW you can trust.

    Or pay a towie to bring it from the dealer to Ballina Airport, and put the plates on yourself. Not sure airport security would let you take metal number plates in your carry-on though.