New caravan

Perhaps a call to the friendly people at the NSW RTA might be able to help (but perhaps not). Depending how long your trip is, you may be able to just register it on temporary permits and get the full rego' when you return home.

If there are any problems, you could try playing the ever-so-fashionable "environment" card: Emphasise to the RTA that it would be "environmentally irresponsible" to burn up fossil fuels by dragging your caravan all the way to NSW just to get it registered and then having to tow it back again to begin your trip... (although we all know that if you really believed that tripe, you'd have bought a tent, not a caravan).

Failing all that, you may be able to have it registered in Vic initially and transfer the rego to your home state later (you may need an address in Vic for this though, and it's technically not the way you're supposed to do it).

Hi Sandk33,

My understanding is that you can get an unregistered vehicle permit to bring it back home. Have a read of the link below and see what you think? I have had friends do the same with cars etc and I can't see that it would vary for a van.

Cheers & safe travels


Site Link

Hi sandk33,
I live in Qld and bought a new caravan from Vic.
I got a permit issued in Vic which allowed me to tow the van directly back to Qld. I wanted to go via SA but this was not allowed according to the permit. That is probably not the answer you want, sorry.

Sandk, why not just register it in Victoria?

I did that from here in WA and all I needed was a friend in Victoria who was prepared to nominate his address and provide his Driver's Licence.

Not having any friends, I eventually had to use a kind relative of an acquaintance over here.

It all worked OK. Didn't re-register it in WA for almost 10 months.

Victoria has dropped its Stamp Duty on vans way before NSW followed suit.

Friends of ours purchased a new van from a Melbourne Dealer, and had it delivered to Brisbane, delivery was part of the negotiations, the carrier had other vans on board as well as theirs, maybe thats an option.

sandk33, talk to the RTA, if it is a new van you may not have to have it taken for inspection but only need the paperwork regarding VIN & weight. The new car dealers don't need to have the cars inspected.
Call the RTA, it's only a phone call & may save a lot of worry.
Vince

Here's an idea that should work, it has been used before.
As part of your purchase deal, insist that the van be licenced before pick-up.
This is how it works.
The Dealer/manufacturer licences the van/trailer/car/or whatever in your name using his business address. (you may have to pay the licence fees)
You buy the unit already licensed in your name , do your trip and when you get back to base, transfer it to your home state plates at your home address.

As far as I know there is no requirement for the tug and the caravan to be licensed in the same state, just licensed.

Disco.

Hello. Can I ask what brand of caravan you have ordered. We are waiting on our new one to be built as well. It is a long wait....................
Karen

My comments may be of little or no use but here goes. I live in Brisbane,a couple of years ago a good mate came up from NSW to purchase a Qld built van. He asked could he temporarily use my Qld address to register his van. I agreed. The dealer registered the van at my address. A year later my mate rang me asking had I received his rego papers. I had not received them. A week later the rego papers turned up at his address,addressed to him at his NSW address and sent by Qld transport.
Apparently the dealer had registered the van at my address in Qld but notified Qld transport that the owner actually lived in NSW.

The end of the story is thus...the van is still registered at my address in Qld with my consent and permission. All correspondence is sent to my mate in NSW. Qld Transport is happy to get the money for rego.
The van insurance company is aware that the van is registered in Qld,the owner lives in NSW and the van is housed seperately at a storage yard in NSW.
I dont know what the moral or use of this story is but all involved seem to be happy.
Jim

I have not long gone through the same exercise and made the decision to tow my van back to Albury to obtain NSW Registration then holiday in western Victoria.

The game plan was as follows:

Dealer supplied van with Victorian Unregistered Vehicle Permit.

This permit allows an unregistered vehicle to be driven/towed from nominated Point A to nominated Point B. by the shortest practical route and time span. The permit itself clearly states that it is for a single trip journey. To be on the safe side my dealer nominated my Sydney home address as the destination. This presented no problem due to Albury being on the direct Melbourne/Sydney route.

I tow the vehicle to Northern Truck Repairs Wodonga for the Blue Slip Inspection after which I was to trundle down to Albury RTA to lodge paperwork and obtain the plates.

You need to be aware of the following:

1) You will need a Registered Weighbridge Certificate for the Blue Slip Examiner AND the RTA. I would suggest you insist you van builder provide the certificate. The weighbridge certificate needs to quote your caravan VIN Number. Chassis number is insufficient.

2) If the GVM of your caravan is more than 2000kg then you will need to have it examined by a heavy vehicle (truck) examiner, not your usual blue slip station.

3) When you get to the RTA you WILL need to produce your purchase receipt clearly showing the VIN Number. My receipt only showed chassis number and was rejected by the RTA, luckily they agreed that my van builder good amend, initial their own copy of the receipt and then fax it directly to the RTA.

You can go the the crap of paying for a Victorian Registration, however you then still go through the whole rigmarole of NSW Rego, why bother?


Ian