Buying Cars Interstate??? is it worth it???

[blondy]

hiya,

i live in SA and cars are quite expensive compared to what i can get say in NSW...

just wondering if anyone has ever bought a car from interstate and whats involved in doing so?

i know thers the option of plying over and driving it back, but i was thinking of probably getting it trucked or trained back?

besides the fact that i got to get it back to my state, does anyone else know what else is involved. thers the transfer of ownership, and i've heard rumors of maybe also having to take it to regency to get it checked out and registered for my state (SA).

has anyone been through this process already, or have looked into it and the costs and if its worth doing?

have also thought that if i couldn't make it over ther...i hav been hinted that say..RAA you could get them to go around and do a check on the vehicle and then they report back to you on the condition of the car at a cost for doing so, or if your a member it may be at a reduced cost.

but yea...any info would be great in my quest for knowledge on this new adventure that i'm thinking of partaking in.

Thanks

[Jerram]

gday matey.

I've thought of doing this myself. The cost of getting your car over to you is one worth considering. If you're going via road freight, it's a great deal cheaper to have the car transported from depots. You'll find that your depot to depot price will be around two thirds the price of door to door. If you're buying an unregistered car then putting it on a trailer to the depot would probably still be cheaper. If you buy unregistered however the seller doesn't need a RWC, and realistically can sell any heap of crap to you.

If the car is registered you'll need to apply to both your transport office and the transport office of the state of it's origin for registration transfer. You'll have to pay a full registration fee in your state, however you can organize a refund of the remaining registration in the state of origin; you'll need to destroy the registration sticker amongst other things.

It's always a safe idea to go and look at cars before you buy them. In this day and age, where cars are hard to sell, there will be many people trying to pass off average cars as "mechanically A1" to just get a decent amount of money. (You'll get next to nothing from a trader or dealer these days). Because of this I'd recommend going interstate just to make sure. If the car is a piece of crap, well, you've spent the money going out there but at least you don't have a lemon on your hands. Besides, you can think of it as a holiday. Price wise, driving the car back involves the cost of
-Flights
-Accomadation & Living Expenses (food etc.)
-Petrol
-Your time (I always look at my time as something that's worth money).

Buying a car interstate seems to be quite an expedition, but if the savings to be had are good (and I know they can be), then it can be worth it in the end).

[Wraith]

I too have looked into this myself numerous times...including ATM for a new Audi.

Basically it's only worth it, if the savings are large, (at least 5-10%) no point otherwise.

It also depends if your buying new or S/H.

If S/H you may have to go interstate to find the vehicle type of your choice.

In my experiences (including ATM in this economic climate) I've found little or no differences in the pricing of new cars...

[Calibrated]

It also depends if your buying new or S/H.

If S/H you may have to go interstate to find the vehicle type of your choice.


yep, just any car like a falcadore or corolla etc, you can pick up on any street corner.

but something like a calibra turbo for example. you'd probably have to go interstate just to find one, let alone one of your choice.

i didnt find it to be that much of a hassle when i brought lex's up from canberra.

[oneightoo]

i sold my last Calibra to a kid interstate..

cost him about $400 to have it shipped from Sydney to Mildura..

think of it this way - $100 single air fare, $100 worth of petrol, $50 for food/drinks, 15 hours driving..

i'd rather get it shipped and sit at home while its brought to my door.. as long as you've had someone check it out for you..

[Calibrated]

i sold my last Calibra to a kid interstate..

cost him about $400 to have it shipped from Sydney to Mildura..

think of it this way - $100 single air fare, $100 worth of petrol, $50 for food/drinks, 15 hours driving..

i'd rather get it shipped and sit at home while its brought to my door.. as long as you've had someone check it out for you..
yeah, depends though. i treated my pickup as a holiday.

[oneightoo]

yeah, depends though. i treated my pickup as a holiday.

i guess that would be my deciding factor as well :)

[blondy]

Thanks for the replies guys...big help.

so would i be correct in saying then that the mumbo jumbo that i was told about having to go to regency to get the car looked at is all bull then??? and i only have to worry about changing rego from interstate rego to my local state rego???

the main reason that i was going interstate is that thers crap all in 4X4 dual cab utes in SA available with low k's at a good price...i was actually looking at two different nissan navara's from NSW's, a 2002 model ($18,000 and 84000K on the clock) and 2003 model ($21,500 and 55000K on the clock). Which i think are bargains...

if i think its worth it i was just gonna get mayb RAA round to check it out, or see if ther was a willing person that we may no lives over in the area that could check it out to save me a trip if i think its worth it...unless thers any1 willing to do a good deed 4 me on here that may b in the area that would like to take a strangers car for a spin..which is always fun...hehe.

but who knows...sumthin might suddenly appear one day when i get the money together..but that would require things to go my way for once....lol

[PrincessPeachey]

I bought my GSi from NSW. It was a fun road trip but you can't test the car out before you buy it.. and the headf***'s we've had with that car...

Worked out to be the same price, as we got her for $3500 and we've spent $2500 on it since we got it, and $6k is the average price they sell for here. But this way we also sort of know what has been fixed - we could have paid the $6000 and still had to fix things.

Before you buy the car, do a Vcheck. It's run by the Qld government but covers all the cars in Aus except for those registered in Tas. It costs $25 but it gives you that piece of mind that you're not buying a stolen car or a previously written off car, and that it doesn't have anything owing on it.

With the rego, you have to get an Identity Inspection done. This is basically them checking the VIN number and the engine number and running it through the system to make sure it's not stolen, etc. If you live within 60km of the CBD, you will have to go to Regency Park to get the Identity Inspection done. However if you're from the country like me, you can get your local copper to do it. This costs about $46 bucks.

Then on top of that you have stamp duty (there's a calculator available on the transportSA site somewhere), actual rego fees (the ones you usually pay, around $120 depending), and the cost of plates ($21, and if you want them posted, another $15).

Hope that helps :)

[blondy]

cool...thanks for that....that's what i needed to know...

well looks like i've got sum thinkin to do, and some other queries to find out...like if RAA would do an inspection for me on the vehicle's condition if i cant make it out...or puzzle for fam to see if we no any1 over ther.

thanks again guys

[PrincessPeachey]

The RAA thing definitely sounds like a worthwhile thing to check out. I wish we could have done that with the GSi - we wouldn't have bought it otherwise. You never know what you're getting yourself into.

I mean, the car could be perfectly fine and the seller could be perfectly legit but then again, you could end up with a deathtrap of a car like mine >.<

[ASTRAY]

nsw version of raa is called nrma, nrma can do checks and let you know about the car etc.
if you contact your raa office they might be able to request that nrma check it out for you.
i know when i was living in vic and had racv membership, i broke down in nsw and racv sent nrma out to help me.

as for what you have to do after purchasing interstate,,,,
in nsw you only need to get a car inspected when rego is due, so once a year, this is called a pink slip. (unless youve swapped engines or bodies etc, that requires a blue slip which is a very detailed look over the car)

in vic you only have to get the car inspected everytime the car changes owners.

im unsure if sa is like vic or nsw.

if it is like vic, you can buy the car in nsw, drive/ship back to sa and then sort everything out from the comfort of your own state.
of course you will have to change the car into your own name, if you drive to nsw yourself, try to change ownership over in nsw before you go back to sa.

if its like nsw id just buy from nsw, drive/ship back to sa and leave everything untill rego is due. you will still have to change ownership over though.

when i lived in melb i bought a car, i later moved to nsw and didnt bother changing plates etc for over a year lol.

heres a few numbers that will help you..
the rta will help you out on what you need to do with rego and changeover etc.

rta
132 213

nrma
131 122

also here is a link to nrma car inspection page, for around $60 you get roadworthy inspection (carwise) report, revs check report, and car valuation certificate.
http://www.nrmacarwise.com.au/faq/about-nrma-carwise.aspx

[PrincessPeachey]

try to change ownership over in nsw before you go back to sa.

Problem with this idea is that you'll pay more for stamp duty in NSW than you will in SA guaranteed as we researched that option.



if its like nsw id just buy from nsw, drive/ship back to sa and leave everything untill rego is due. you will still have to change ownership over though.


In SA you only have 14 days to transfer the registration to your name from the date of purchase regardless of where you purchase the car from.

However, the advantage about changing the ownership over in NSW before bringing it back is that when you do register it in SA, you're eligible for a refund on the remaining registration time when you cancel the NSW registration. You're not entitled to it if you're not the registered operator though. This probably cancels out the cost of stamp duty in NSW but it depends on how much cash you have upfront, of course.