Purchasing an L405 from other side of country - keen to hear your experience/advice

[JL89]

Hi team, I am new here, and have been reading up on all the L405 threads.
Being on the west coast means looking for cars on the east coast.
I was wondering if folks have had experience purchasing from a private seller outside of their state and the effort that is required on your (buyer) part to ensure a troublefree purchase?
How good are the PPI's facilitated by that large online sales platform?
Do you need to physically eyeball the car or can you rely on the PPI?
How are funds best exchanged in a safe manner?
What transport options are best?
What steps can you take to protect the car while in transit?
Lots of questions so appreciate any responses from you all.
With thanks, John.

[Laurie]

John
You will pay more on the East Coast than the West, looking at past sales. If desirable to view the car, you can get a comprehensive inspection done by one of the reputable independents and based on that fly across and drive back or have it transported. Or you could use a broker at a cost ! Payment is really dependant on the seller in the first instance, but an comprehensive invoice with the sellers name, address, phone number etc and the vehicles Rego, VIN, model and MY etc would be a good starting point if you don't come in person. There is always a risk, but you can minimise it by taking the simple steps like getting a Rev's Check and vehicle history with as much information as you can. If it is a Company Registered vehicle; all the details should all be on Company paperwork including TFN for the Company.
If you're going to transport the car, shop around as prices can vary greatly depending on how urgent the delivery date is ! I would stay with the big firms, I don't know who transports for LR Australia at the moment, but they would be a good starting point, given the drivers etc are familiar with LR's and their travel needs (suspension lock etc). Some firms offer enclosed vans, but again you will probably pay extra. Just make sure the insurance cover for transport is comprehensive and covers total loss ! Also a good idea would be to get a "Cover Note" from your insurer, for further peace of mind, but be sure to inform them it is being transported from interstate. I hope this helps, I would shop around for transport prices now, so as to give yourself an idea on costs.

Laurie

[101RRS]

With most insurers cover notes are a thing of the past. Most insurers require you to take out full insurance and then if you do not want to continue with the insurance, seek recovery of the premium via the legislated cooling off period rules.

[Laurie]

With most insurers cover notes are a thing of the past. Most insurers require you to take out full insurance and then if you do not want to continue with the insurance, seek recovery of the premium via the legislated cooling off period rules.

It's been a few years since I brought a car, that is a big change, thanks for the update ! 👍

[BradC]

It's been a few years since I brought a car, that is a big change, thanks for the update ! 👍

Spot on. I sold my grandmothers car a few years ago to a lovely woman who was buying it for her daughter. I requested she get at least get a cover note for third party before leaving the driveway in the rare event her daughter hit a porsche on the way home. I even gave her a laptop to arrange it. Turns out cover notes are well and truly a relic of the past and you need to get full insurance, relying on the cooling off period should it be required.

I was a bit dumbstruck, as I hadn't bought a car in may years, so I didn't know how it worked.

Don't back out of the driveway without some form of cover in place.

[JL89]

Thankyou for that Laurie. Great information. So 2014-16 are cheaper in WA than East? Wow, thats a turn...but will I grow old waiting for one to turn up though? [bigsmile1]

Have seen a few independants mentioned here so will line them up. Any developments in this space? Is there a goto Independant for Victoria and NSW?

I'll start looking into transport companies now and that tip on suspension locking is a good one. I presume this requirement will seperate the men from the boys when it comes to transporting the car across?

I'd like to drive it back but can't get a straight answer on how to do so without running foul of all the beauracracy across this land. If anyone has WA experience would like to hear it. For example, can I, as a WA resident, buy a VIC licensed car whose rego expires sometimes next year and drive it back into WA? Of course will have the "cover note' in the form of an RAC(WA) policy before I turn on the ignition. Was thinking when I get here I would need to get it WA inspected etc for WA plates and I woud return the VIC plates, for example, before having to pay stamp duty in Vic? But the WA Transport site intimates I need a movement permit that I can only purchase when I cross the border at SA...yep, its confusing...

Anyways, I thought I'd stumbled onto a beauty but turns out despite it being 50k on the clock its only had one service at 40K (and that bizzarely wasnt even recorded on the JLR online service record website???)...I think I'll keep looking.

Enjoying the discussion, thanks again. John.

[chuck]

I recently sold an LC76 to a WA resident.

He bought the car unseen although with plenty of photos, records & receipts.

He was going to get it transported across however cost & lack of firm delivery dates became a problem as he wanted the car for a certain date.

His neighbour was coming to Vic so his neighbour ended up driving car across.

You can leagally drive a Victorian Registered car to WA however it has to be registered in WA withing three weeks of purchase.

You do not even need a Vic Roadworthy certificate because WA will not accept it anyway.

My suggestion would be to research VicRoads online to confirm above.

Then when you have found car put a deposit (subject to document checks,photos etc) on it that your are willing to lose.

The fly over & drive back if the car is as described.

[PhilipA]

When my son bought a Falcon Typhoon in Victoria several years ago, the dealer removed the plates and he had to get a permit to drive back to NSW, so just check that out. I guess it would be more complex driving across two states. We got pulled up by the NSW Highway Patrol for no plates but no problems with the permit.
Also check that the VIN is notated correctly on any interstate registration document. I bought a caravan in Victoria and didn't really register that the VIN was one letter out. Took me a fortnight in NSW to solve the problem.
Regards PhilipA

[gavinwibrow]

I recently sold an LC76 to a WA resident.

He bought the car unseen although with plenty of photos, records & receipts.

He was going to get it transported across however cost & lack of firm delivery dates became a problem as he wanted the car for a certain date.

His neighbour was coming to Vic so his neighbour ended up driving car across.

You can leagally drive a Victorian Registered car to WA however it has to be registered in WA withing three weeks of purchase.

You do not even need a Vic Roadworthy certificate because WA will not accept it anyway.

My suggestion would be to research VicRoads online to confirm above.

Then when you have found car put a deposit (subject to document checks,photos etc) on it that your are willing to lose.

The fly over & drive back if the car is as described.



Unless the rules have changed recently, they are a dogs breakfast to legally drive the car from the east.

for my first foray, I bought my D2a from a lady in Vic and just drove it back without checking the legalities.

Then I bought my RRC from Queensland (now knowing the regs) and did a deal with the seller that ownership of the car would remain with him until I got it back to WA and was taking it to DoT for rego transfer. In effect I did a rather long one way test run. Otherwise I would have had to get permits for each state, and yes the WA permit is a doozy and if I recall correctly you only have 48 hours to get it home from the border.

[Old Farang]

Depending on which state it is coming from; I recently had a look at buying an MG TF here in WA. A lot of interest from the eastern states according to the owner, but each one backed out when they got trucking costs. The quote to Sydney was over $3,000, plus insurance.

About 20 years ago I had a vintage car trucked from Adelaide to Perth, I think it was $800 then.
I spoke with the driver before loading it and he made sure it was loaded in the best protected area of the transporter. As posted, at that time it had to have a road worthy inspection before I could register it, although I did drive it around on its personalised plates from SA.

[TonyC]

If you buy from Victoria.

Vicroads say the seller completes a notice of disposal on the the sellers Vicroads app, to do this they need your Victorian drivers license no. or Vicroads customer no.
I think you then have a few weeks to transfer it into your name, but it's still registered, so you drive it home, cancel/cash in the rego, reregister it in WA.

Vicroads do recommend that a vehicle sold to interstate have it's rego cancelled before the sale, but also say what to do if this was not done.

Just a moment... (https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/registration/buy-sell-or-transfer-a-vehicle)

If it's not registered then an unregistered vehicle permit, Vicroads state this must be issued in the state the journey starts in.
I would check with SA and WA that the Vic permit is valid.

Just a moment... (https://transport.vic.gov.au/Road-rules-and-safety/Permits/Unregistered-vehicle-permits)

If it looks like you might buy in Vic, it's probably worth getting a Vicroads customer number.
Shoot them an email saying what you are doing, ask how you get a customer number and if a Vic unregistered vehicle permit is valid in SA and WA.
I would still check with SA and WA

You won't pay stamp duty in Vic as that is paid when you transfer it into your name.

Tony

[gavinwibrow]

If you buy from Victoria.

Vicroads say the seller completes a notice of disposal on the the sellers Vicroads app, to do this they need your Victorian drivers license no. or Vicroads customer no.
I think you then have a few weeks to transfer it into your name, but it's still registered, so you drive it home, cancel/cash in the rego, reregister it in WA.

Vicroads do recommend that a vehicle sold to interstate have it's rego cancelled before the sale, but also say what to do if this was not done.

Just a moment... (https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/registration/buy-sell-or-transfer-a-vehicle)

If it's not registered then an unregistered vehicle permit, Vicroads state this must be issued in the state the journey starts in.
I would check with SA and WA that the Vic permit is valid.

Just a moment... (https://transport.vic.gov.au/Road-rules-and-safety/Permits/Unregistered-vehicle-permits)

If it looks like you might buy in Vic, it's probably worth getting a Vicroads customer number.
Shoot them an email saying what you are doing, ask how you get a customer number and if a Vic unregistered vehicle permit is valid in SA and WA.
I would still check with SA and WA

You won't pay stamp duty in Vic as that is paid when you transfer it into your name.

Tony




I was told I could not get a Vic customer No. ( or drivers licence) unless I could prove I had a Victorian address.

[cjc_td5]

Thankyou for that Laurie. Great information. So 2014-16 are cheaper in WA than East? Wow, thats a turn...but will I grow old waiting for one to turn up though? [bigsmile1]

Have seen a few independants mentioned here so will line them up. Any developments in this space? Is there a goto Independant for Victoria and NSW?

I'll start looking into transport companies now and that tip on suspension locking is a good one. I presume this requirement will seperate the men from the boys when it comes to transporting the car across?

I'd like to drive it back but can't get a straight answer on how to do so without running foul of all the beauracracy across this land. If anyone has WA experience would like to hear it. For example, can I, as a WA resident, buy a VIC licensed car whose rego expires sometimes next year and drive it back into WA? Of course will have the "cover note' in the form of an RAC(WA) policy before I turn on the ignition. Was thinking when I get here I would need to get it WA inspected etc for WA plates and I woud return the VIC plates, for example, before having to pay stamp duty in Vic? But the WA Transport site intimates I need a movement permit that I can only purchase when I cross the border at SA...yep, its confusing...

Anyways, I thought I'd stumbled onto a beauty but turns out despite it being 50k on the clock its only had one service at 40K (and that bizzarely wasnt even recorded on the JLR online service record website???)...I think I'll keep looking.

Enjoying the discussion, thanks again. John.

Hi mate.
Driving a vehicle in WA that is registered in another state is a minefield!
If it was vic registered for instance, you would be considered unregistered as soon as you crossed the border in to WA. You would have to get an Unregistered Vehicle Permit at the border (can be done online) to continue driving west.
I bought my D4 in 2014 from NSW, but I am lucky as I am still on their system there, so I could transfer the rego to my name there, then have it trucked over.

I have even had it explained to me at DoT that an interstate registered vehicle is not considered legal to drive/use in WA if the owner is not in the vehicle! A couple of years ago my father brought over a car trailer for me to keep. I used it for a couple of months until close to when the rego was due, then went to transfer the rego over. Was told in no uncertain terms that as I was not the registered owner of the trailer, it was unregistered, and I would have to get a Permit in order to bring it in to be inspected! When I explained to them that I had permission from the owner to use the vehicle, they look you straight in the eyes and say "that is your risk". I have had multiple people at DoT and Inspection stations say exactly the same quote, so it must be gospel somewhere....

Another consideration is that WA has one of the most expensive Stamp Duty rates in OZ. With the D4 above, it was cheaper to pay NSW Stamp Duty and truck it over than it was to buy in WA and pay WA Stamp Duty....

Chris

[oka374]

Having bought a couple of vehicles over the years that were registered interstate I would try and buy one from your home state if you can, much easier and without as much stress.

[PerthDisco]

I bought D3 in Victoria remotely it’s easier if buying from a dealer. Private would be highly complicated as dealers are used to trucking and you basically factor this into deal. There’s also the dealer inspection factor and it was quite new at the time. I used my relatives address in Victoria to transfer rego to my name and she arrived in WA not long after.

After driving around WA for a year I changed over to WA plates. If you move to WA and bring your car across there’s a simple system to swap rego at a nominal cost. Insurance never an issue as they cover cars anywhere in Australia. There’s lots of theory about dos and donts but cars are moved every day and drive around on out of state plates.

Yes, if pulled over cops will say you need to change plates etc. but we know people who moved back to WA from east and drove for years on the east coast plates.

[JL89]

Just a moment... (https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/registration/buy-sell-or-transfer-a-vehicle)

If it's not registered then an unregistered vehicle permit, Vicroads state this must be issued in the state the journey starts in.
I would check with SA and WA that the Vic permit is valid.



Cheers Tony, looks like the UVP you pay for in VIC is ok to use upto the WA/SA border because the "buyer" is a resident of WA. At the border you jump onto DoT website and buy the WA version of the UVP which has the idiotic 2day limit imposed on it. I say idiotic because is it really safe to drive 15hrs over 2 days from Border Village to Perth? The other consideration is that Vic will sell you a UVP for $54 valid for 7 days. WA will sell you a 2 day UVP for $31. Interestingly it also appears you can venture into SA and NT from WA with a WA UVP but, given the wording, potentially not the other way around???

Get a temporary movement permit (https://www.transport.wa.gov.au/licensing/get-a-temporary-movement-permit.asp#footnote_3)

And people thought Brexit was hard...

[TonyC]

Cheers Tony, looks like the UVP you pay for in VIC is ok to use upto the WA/SA border because the "buyer" is a resident of WA. At the border you jump onto DoT website and buy the WA version of the UVP which has the idiotic 2day limit imposed on it. I say idiotic because is it really safe to drive 15hrs over 2 days from Border Village to Perth? The other consideration is that Vic will sell you a UVP for $54 valid for 7 days. WA will sell you a 2 day UVP for $31. Interestingly it also appears you can venture into SA and NT from WA with a WA UVP but, given the wording, potentially not the other way around???

Get a temporary movement permit (https://www.transport.wa.gov.au/licensing/get-a-temporary-movement-permit.asp#footnote_3)

And people thought Brexit was hard...

The Transport WA web site states.

"All interstate vehicle permits authorising the use of a vehicle on a road will be recognised in WA, provided the holder is not ordinarily resident in WA. This includes any type of permit issued by an interstate authority, such as;

Club permits issued to vintage and veteran vehicles.
Rally permits.
Short term permits.
Temporary movement permits.
Unregistered vehicle permits."

So I, as Victorian, can drive to Perth on Victorian UVP, but you, as West Australian, can't.

You couldn't make this up if you were writing fiction!

Tony

[PerthDisco]

The Transport WA web site states.

"All interstate vehicle permits authorising the use of a vehicle on a road will be recognised in WA, provided the holder is not ordinarily resident in WA. This includes any type of permit issued by an interstate authority, such as;

Club permits issued to vintage and veteran vehicles.
Rally permits.
Short term permits.
Temporary movement permits.
Unregistered vehicle permits."

So I, as Victorian, can drive to Perth on Victorian UVP, but you, as West Australian, can't.

You couldn't make this up if you were writing fiction!

Tony

Yes but in practice there’s no actual problem. Insurance don’t mind which is the main thing.

If you have a friend or relative in the state you are buying in transfer the rego to your name at that address. Car can then be driven anywhere in Australia and insurance is valid.

After you’ve been in WA one year you can transfer to WA plates and not pay stamp duty only a nominal plate charge for people relocating to WA and bringing their car.

[JL89]

Yes but in practice there’s no actual problem. Insurance don’t mind which is the main thing.

If you have a friend or relative in the state you are buying in transfer the rego to your name at that address. Car can then be driven anywhere in Australia and insurance is valid.

After you’ve been in WA one year you can transfer to WA plates and not pay stamp duty only a nominal plate charge for people relocating to WA and bringing their car.

Its the VIC TAC or NSW CTP we are concerned about here from what I can tell. Need to be careful about "insurance." Fairly sure I can ring my insurer in WA, and get cover for a car I've purchased in VIC or NSW. But that insurance covers the car if someone hits me or I hit them. Its this TAC or CTP I am concerned about. This is what expires at the WA/SA border, for example, if you buy a car in VIC, get a UVP there and drive it. You will have the VIC TAC (CTP) up until the WA border. At this point you need the WA UVP which gets you the WA recognised CTP from the border onwards...without this form of "insurance" you are unregistered, and I doubt that in the event of an accident, your "car insurer" will pay out on an "uninsured" car...

Enjoying discussion and learning as I go...

[PerthDisco]

Think about if you are towing a caravan around Australia as half of the population is doing. You drive through different states spending several months in each all whilst insured and registered in your home state. You only need to replicate that.

Many people do truck them over unregistered and then get the permit to drive to the pits and get inspected for local rego.

My way keeps the car in rego where you can swap to local plates at a later date for a very small fee.

[Arapiles]

If it was vic registered for instance, you would be considered unregistered as soon as you crossed the border in to WA. You would have to get an Unregistered Vehicle Permit at the border (can be done online) to continue driving west.



It that's correct then if my friend drives my car (registered in my name) to WA it's unregistered as soon as it crosses the border?

Doesn't sound right.

[cjc_td5]

It that's correct then if my friend drives my car (registered in my name) to WA it's unregistered as soon as it crosses the border?

Doesn't sound right.No it sounds crazy. But it is what I have been told at the DoT counter. I even used the example of borrowing my fathers car (when they were visiting from NSW) to drive around the corner to get some milk, and their reply was "that is your risk"....

[PerthDisco]

Beware

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20241117/9a3216316d11990013ab79de86b86a8e.jpg

[Laurie]

CarSales as of today !

carsales.com.au (https://www.carsales.com.au/payments?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1133+-+C2C+Payments+onboarding+launch+EDM&utm_id=603182)

A great step forward for private sales. if it works as advertised !

Laurie

[David J H]

I bought an L405 from a dealer in NSW back in July and had National Car Movers truck it over to Perth. They are seemingly just an agent and subcontracted to Nick's Transport, and then passed me on to Nick's for any queries. I should have gone direct to Nick's, had I known. They brought the car over undamaged, although I experienced my first L405 related breakdown - their truck had a wheel bearing failure in Ceduna.