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?

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.