Moving Interstate: WA >> NSW

[mills_88]

Thought I'd ask here as you will all be very familiar with the requirements of owning a car in NSW.

I will shortly be moving to NSW for a year, I know that after 1 month you need to get a NSW license (possibly 3 now?).

But what is the situation with driving a car from WA there. I'm assuming they will want me to register the car there? What is involved in this, does it have to pass a roadworthy check?

Is it easier to retain the WA rego? Or are the police really hot on this over there. Important to note trying to keep the car WA registered for a year probably wont work because my plates will stand out quite a lot in a small town in NSW.

 

[fieldy107]

Cops will probably pull you over, ask what your doing in nsw, tell you you to rego it in nsw and if your polite, let you go with a warning.
And you will need a roadworthy to get it rego in nsw, but they dont care if your loud and low. Depending on the mechanic, they may ask for import/compliance documents also.

 

[tails]

I'm not suggesting this, but when I moved from Adelaide to Melbourne I didn't change my licence or rego. That was for a year and I was never pulled over (though I was driving a standard Subaru Outback, so not really drawing much attention to myself).

 

[pu-11-me]

http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/getnewrego/interstatevehicles.html

Its like Boost Cruising in here. Took 10 seconds to find it on the RTA website

 

[mills_88]

Yeah I have looked at that. That tells me the legal requirements. I am more trying to gauge what I can get away with.

 

[pu-11-me]

Yeah I have looked at that. That tells me the legal requirements. I am more trying to gauge what I can get away with.

It says specifically that if your vehicle is garaged here for three months you have to register it here.... Whether you do or not is up to you!

How in the funk will they know you live here? Will you still have a residential addy in WA? Parents address or something? Just change your licence and rego to thier address so if it would all check out I suppose?

 

[fieldy107]

You can get away with it Matt, do what Dawso said and make sure you have your story ready, your just in NSW on holidays. And if you don't have someones address in WA you can use and collect mail from, just tell them you have only recently moved (the only record they have of where you live is in your rego).
I kept QLD rego for almost 2 years before changing it over, ran out of warnings so thought I might as well do it before I cop a fine. I wish I had never changed it, the cost and hassles of registration in NSW are so ridiculous I would of been better off getting a fine.

 

[Lasiorhinus]

Keep the WA plates - seriously. SO much cheaper and less hassle than changing, especially if you're only staying for a year.

When/if you get pulled over, they will ask you how long you've been in NSW for. The correct answer to this is "I come and go a lot, it's probably been a couple of weeks since I came in to NSW this time."

Pick your nearest state border, and "invent" regular business interstate.

Australian state borders do not have any paperwork involved in crossing, so there is no way to prove that you have not been outside NSW.

 

[mills_88]

Nice, good to know the above. I will definitely be doing this after some researching on the matter. Still a little worried I'll get defected or something but shouldn't be too hard to pass.

 

[leggei007]

I know of a place that will look after u if needed they r in Tuggerah just north of Sydney but it also depends on where ur going to whether these guys can help

 

[Lasiorhinus]

And on being "defected" - the NSW police cannot issue a defect notice for any vehicle registered in a jurisdiction that is not NSW. It makes no difference what the applicable standards are in NSW - the vehicle is not required to comply, and it is not for the NSW police to make an assessment of what is or is not legal in Western Australia.

Radar detectors, though, are not part of the vehicle, and mere possession of one in NSW is an offence.

 

[mills_88]

Good to know. I'll just have to "pop out of the state every few weeks then" and I should be alright.

 

[mills_88]

So you only need a NSW license if you're there for longer than 3 months. Easy... I'll just keep "leaving" the state.

And you only need to re-register you're car if it is garaged in NSW for longer than 3 months. Easy... I'll "leave" the state in the car.

But, I am going to tell my insurance company of the new address so that it isn't voided. Can the police get access to this information and determine I have been residing in NSW for longer than 3 months? Will the insurance company ask me to get a NSW registration?

 

[leggei007]

I don't believe they would as its where ur staying whilst ur here n then u will b going to a new address