How does transferring rego from a SA reg to a QLD reg work when buying a car?

My girlfriend and I are in Australia on working holiday visas and we're keen to buy a car in order to travel down th East Coast. We have found a car that looks decent, but the car's rego is for SA and we're in Cairns (QLD) and the rego is up in a few days. How will it work, renewing/transferring the rego from QLD and how much should it cost? The car is a ford falcon station wagon if that matters.

I have lived in Cairns and am now a Mexican (south of the border) living in Victoria. If you are certain you could trust the seller, you could pay the renewal Registration for S.A., leaving the vehicle in his name, which would give you some more time to sort out registration in another state. The registration certificate he receives should be signed on the back to indicate you as the new owner though. Although you are supposed to update your address for registration, licences, etc. Within 14 days, it may be worthwhile waiting until you have a fixed southern address before changing the registration. So, if he leaves the date off it may give you more time to process the ownership of the vehicle. Reason is that you will have to provide a roadworthy certificate to change that registration over to your name. Any excess from the S.A. Registration could be reimbursed once a southern state has returned the registration plates to them. The new registration branch should issue you with a form so the "owner" can submit this to obtain any applicable refund. Hopefully you are certain the vehicle has no major defects that could classify it as unroad-worthy, or you will be paying for yet another appointment, (not mentioning time wasting), and for any required work that needs to be done on the vehicle. I would think it is necessary to ascertain if the owner of the vehicle is an honest individual, or a very unfinancial one, as it is always easier to sell a vehicle that is up to date on registration, since it is a simple procedure for him to pay and renew the registration, then claim any excess paid if he decides to cancel (or change) that registration… Therefore no loss, just a little patience required on his part. It is not as simple as it sounds really, as not only does the registration certificate need to indicate ownership is being transferred to you, which would then require a roadworthy in that state, and a physical check by that authority to make you the legal owner. It may be best for the seller to pay the jolly registration and then sign the new registration paper over to you, giving you 14 days to submit the paperwork to that authority, then when the plates are submitted the process goes through for him to receive his overpayment.

By all accounts he should have changed the registration over to Qld before; his obvious error… And why not? No reason why he can't do this right now, before the vehicle becomes unregistered… Why has not he done so? Lazy or is there something that needs attention to obtain a roadworthy certificate? If everything is above-board this should have been done. All he has to do is take the paperwork (and roadworthy certificate) to the Qld registration people and have it changed over. Then he can change the title over to you at the Qld registration branch too., indicating vehicles value, and you have to pay the transfer fees. If he wants the registration money refunded to him then you will have to decide if the car is worth that… A car fully registered for 12 months legally. Then when you have settled obtain another roadworthy certificate (should not be a problem if one has just been done) and take it into the new registration branch to change over. You are required to do this within fourteen days usually! Many people prefer to wait until the registration has almost expired to change it over then. Just remember that every time the registration is changed from state to state, that an officer has to check the vehicle over again, and you have to provide an up to date roadworthy certificate. Can't tell you how many days one is valid for, but check, because a waste of time if you go into a registration branch with an expired certificate.

Good luck with this. I would be a bit wary though. My suggestion is to tell him to change the vehicle over to Qld plates right now, and work out a deal with you then, when you know the vehicle is registered, legal and roadworthy. If he hesitates then I would be suspicious. My old vehicle was reregistered 5 times (including from Victoria to Qld and back to Victoria too) without a hitch. Ring, check the Qld Registration site or go in and ask for the procedure yourself if unsure. I'm not certain but I'm of the understanding that Qld registration is preferred over the southern states as it is cheaper; you would need to check this though… But remember that 14 day change of address…