1

if you buy a car in victoria it will need an inspection when you purchase it. You will need a victorian address to register it at but you can have a postal address in nsw and the registration renewal will be posted to you in sydney and you can pay it online without an inspection. When you want to sell it you will have to sell it in victoria.

If you buy a car registered in nsw you do not have to have and inspection when you buy it but you do need to have one when the registration renewal comes around so, yes, you will need to be in the state of nsw to register it. You could, however, sell it anywhere in australia but it would be harder to sell outside nsw as someone who buys it will either have to take it to nsw when the registration needs renewing or change it to another state.

If you buy a car in nsw with about 8+ months registration on it you won't have to worry about it so much as you will sell it before rego is due.

Many backpackers prefer cars from western australia but i don't know the current correct info about that option.

2

someone gave you completely wrong advice, unless the situation in Victoria has changed totally; contact VicRoads who will know for sure.

However when I did it, Victoria was a really bad place to buy a backpacker car. They don't need any mechanical inspection while they are with one owner, they do when they change. This can cost a fortune and makes buying and selling old cars in Victoria very difficult. I ended up buying a Queensland car and reregistering it as South Australian! The states are not linked when it comes to this so it is like dealing with separate countries.

buy a NSW registered car in NSW, and get enough rego to last your trip. Then bring it back to NSW to sell if possible.

backpackers like WA cars because they never get any mechanical inspection and rego can be done over the internet. Caveat emptor...

3

If you sell a car in Victoria you sell it with a roadworthy certificate or take the plates off and cancell suspend the rego.

WA has always been the preferred back packer option for cars

4

Yep, either get a NSW one with a long rego, a WA one or if you go into Vic. you should be able to use a hostel as an address and also see if you can get one with longer rego so you do not have the hastle of arranging for a new rego sticker to find you somewhere.
You'll find all state links @ http://www.immi.gov.au/living-in-australia/settle-in-australia/to-do-first/apply-drivers.htm

5

get what you want BUT onsider you sate all over then that means YOU MUST ge ta 4wd and better yet a diesel engine since once away fom ciities road are horrendouse and just sand and what they term corrogated not sealed so you could end up in a heap of trouble . still your choice but in my exp. no way would i choose reg 2 wd if i plan to go where i want to with minimun of trepidation still your call.

6

you drunk poppageorge? Ignore that. A normal 2 wheel drive is fine in most places. Even on may dirt roads.

7

Steer clear of 4 X 4 vehicles unless you have the skills and experience.

8

well bro and i drove all over and that incl around alice . kings can an d hermondsberg in a 2wwd mits van and boy it was a challenge in many spots. but witha 4wd would have been less stressful since roads were just sand since he did say all ove and not just city and burbs, one must allow for the bad roads we also had floods to contend with.

9

Thanks for all the advice. From what I hear it's probably easiest to buy the car in Sydney and also sell it in Sydney afterwards, as there is where I'm currently located and will end my trip. I didn't fully understand what you said poppageorge, but from what I heard, a 4wd is only required if you go completely off the road in the outback or WA. I think I'll just stay with the Ford Falcon as a 4wd will probably be overkill for 99% of the time.

10

victoria street in sydney ( hostels ) has mobs of cars etc for sale. also a mechanic who does inspection for $100 if planning to buy one.

11

most roads are not paved at all. especialy if you want to go away from the tourists traps and do your own thing whicjh is what we did. driving in kings canyon go us to know johny jumpup closely. also how to get out of sand trap.