Buying a car in Sydney

[tim the pool man]

I'm about to buy a car in Sydney (I'm in Perth). I want to transfer it into my name in NSW as the stamp duty is about half tthe rate in WA.

Does anyone know if I need a Sydney address to do this?>

[tim the pool man]

Just spent an hour on the phone to the NSW RTA. They are telling me I have to gp into their office in person to transfer the reg as I don't have a "customer number"

No amount of explaining that I'm in Perth made any difference.

Just kept quoting "it's the policy"

Any ideas? PLEASE!!

Stamp duty in NSW is $1350, in WA $2935.20 so a $1600 saving!

I suggested I went into a WA police station with the required ID etc, but they refused to think outside the square.

[deviant]

I always thought that they just transfer the rego as normal or that you could do it here in WA and that the other state plates stay on the car until the next time you need to pay rego?

Is it possible to have them turn the plates in then take it over the pits here and get new plates?

[tim the pool man]

deviant said:

I always thought that they just transfer the rego as normal or that you could do it here in WA and that the other state plates stay on the car until the next time you need to pay rego?

Is it possible to have them turn the plates in then take it over the pits here and get new plates?

I can do it in WA no problem, just that the stamp duty is nearly triple here I asked the WA office for advice but they weren't fooled by my "moving to NSW" story. She said they get 10 calls a day asking the same thing; how do you transfer it interstate?. Her reply; you can't. You need a NSW address, licence, and you need to go there in person. She also told me that the car is considered "unlicenced" when it arrives, I can't drive it except under permit to the pits to licence it in WA. A driver with an ES licence can drive an ES car for up to 3 months.

[deviant]

Looks like another loop hole in to cheap motoring has been closed then!! I'm sure you used to be able to do it...

I dont know why every state has to have such massive variations with this sort of thing...it restricts trade between states and leaves us getting ripped off!

[tim the pool man]

Quick update, car gets picked up in Sydney tomorrow, then 10 days (!) to get to Perth.

[deviant]

Very nice! I will be interested to hear your ownership experience with one...I keep having a look at them myself but keep getting drawn to the idea of a 350Z with track pack...

[tim the pool man]

I would have cosidered a Z but I need 4 seats (well 3 really but a Mc F1 was stretching the budget a bit )

Will do the lazy cruizy Monaro thing for a year or 2, then might look at something more "sporty". Maybe do a Turbo or supercharged RX8...

Then again, I'm still thinking of a sports car in addition to the Monaro, either a L7 type clubman or the ubiquitous MX5 :hairdresser:

[deviant]

Have you ever driven a Monaro before?

What are they like to drive? I keep looking for a car that can cop an on track flogging once a month as well as be a nice daily.

I always imagined the Monaro would be a bit heavy and Commodore like in the handling department and would need a few bolt on tweaks to handle and stop nicely?

[tim the pool man]

Yeah I think you're right. I'm planning on doing a Wanneroo tuning day in the car, but will be driving it as a fast road rather than a racetrack.
I really don't think it will be that great around the track, and I don't want to stuff it up. Planning on keeping it low milage, and nice and cruisy to drive.

I now have access to a Commodore saloon car racer to drive so will be doing plenty of laps in that

[tim the pool man]

It's on it's way! A pic of it leaving its old home.

[Fiddlemesticks]

Nice car Tim - Look forward to the follow up!

Just quick question. We are thinking of selling my wifes Kia Sorento as at 3.5 V6 its a bit testy on the fuel.

So thinking of selling for c.$19k if possible and putting that money into something smaller. Now there are a load of boring Astra's or Focus' (Focii?) in Perth, but if i look east there are some lovely options:

VW Golf GTi Mk4 1.8T
Audi A3 1.8T
Alfa 147

So, my question is, did you buy the car without looking at it? And how did you find the shipping and how much is it?

I just want to go on the net, buy a car from a dealer unseen and just ship it back. Could be financial suicide but hey, i'm up for the punt.

Any tips?

[tim the pool man]

Prices are generally better in the E/S than Perth. I found mine on Autotrader, used an independent inspection service who I would recommend (Trakonline).

Transport is costing around $1200 from Sydney, using Toll Autotrans.

Cheers

Tim

[Fiddlemesticks]

Good stuff. How much was the inspection and what sort of feedback do you get?

Also, bit personal, but how much do you think you saved going over east?


edited to add: just seen Trakonline - that looks great doesnt it.

Edited by Fiddlemesticks on Friday 7th March 02:07

[tim the pool man]

Bit hard to quantify the saving as I haven't seen anything quite the same in Perth. I would guess between 3-5K cheaper though.
Inspection was $250, service was superb, from the girl who took the booking to the inspector. He was there for over 2 hours and I had an email with a link to the report online a few hours later. Very detailed report with photos.

[Fiddlemesticks]

Thanks for that Tim. Sounds great and pretty cheap.

How long does the shipping take?

Is there a really expensive process to get it rego'd in WA when it arrives, and does it need to go over the pits to get it?

I'm just wondering about the financial viability because if you're spending $40k then total cost may be c.$2k to ship over giving a saving.

But if the car i want is $16k in say Sydney and $19k in Perth, than that $2k eats in to the saving an awful lot. A $1k saving is not a lot if theres an issue with the car i suppose.

PErhaps i could buy private over there to make it worthwhile, but then i have potential seller issues with no recourse.

[tim the pool man]

If I could have found the car I wanted in Perth I would have bought it, even at a higher price.
Trouble is, I knew exactly what I wanted (VZ, manual, low km and yellow, or light blue) and couldn't find one.

I think I have been careful enough, but won't really know until it gets here...

If I could have spared the time I would have travelled across and looked at several.

[Fiddlemesticks]

yes thats the problem i'm having. No affordable nice cars here, or $2-4k more expensive so makes it easier to get it over east.

Will have to weigh up the costs, but congrats on yours.

When does it arrive?

Do you have to put it over the pits for rego?

[tim the pool man]

Forecast to arrive 17/3 which is the Monday before Easter.

Yes it has to go over the pits, just tried to book it but they only take bookings for Midland, Kelmscott and Warwick. Not Welshpool, which is 5 minutes from home you just have to get there early and queue...

I'll keep you posted, and let you know how painless(/ful) the process is.

I'll also revive my "Perth PH meet" thread when it gets here

[deviant]

hahahaha...Just my luck that we are about to do a meet up and I'm about to sell my toy car!