To register a car

[noice]

Hi everybody,
Been watching auctions on trademe the past days and pretty much settled for the type of car im going to be looking to buy when i arrive in new zealand in june this year. Im curious though, how does the car registration process work and can anyone (even though they are not nz residents) buy and register a car?

Any links or info on this would be appreciated

have a wonderful day
Erik

[Cardy]

Dont know if you can do it if your not a resident but its pretty much like uk
You have to have a current warrant of fitness to register it (MOT) and you get the owners papers when you buy it then you can register it at the local aa office and i think the post office. You can get a new reg plate at the aa shop if you want one for whatever reason.

Cardy

[SteveR]

becarefull if buying a vehicle that has been deregistered off trademe, as it will have to go thru vehicle compliance similar to if it was an imported car. if you do not pay your "rego" road fund licence for over 12 months ie: vehicle off the road the vehicle will become dergisterd automatically and you will need to go thru compliance again!! if you are not going to use the vehicle for a while then you can put it on "exemption" same as SORN in the UK

[Dave in NZ]

We bought a car in NZ while still in the UK.
We bought it from a Toyota Dealers and they claim they quite often sell cars to people before they come to NZ.
We had to send a copy of Caroline's driving licence to them.(You can either scan it or fax it)
As long as you have some address in NZ you can register the vehicle in your name. We used our resettlement agents address but you can use a friend,relative etc.As soon as we get a more permanent address we have to let them know.One interesting thing we found with car insurance is that we have to pay $1000 dollar excess on any claim because we have international licences. As soon as we get NZ licences then the excess is removed. Seems a bit daft when you look at some of the driving skills over here.

Hope this helps

Dave and Caroline

[jaycee]

All you need is an address. The seller will give you the change of ownership tear-off slip from the registration document, which you take to a Land Transport office (most Post Shops do it) along with some ID (passport is fine) and pay a fee of $9.20. They will give you a receipt label and the actual registration document comes by post afterwards.

Sellers are advised to get the buyer to show them the receipt label before taking the car, to prove that ownership has been transferred.

I bought my car off Trade Me - I arranged to collect it on a Sunday, and neither me nor the seller thought of all the Post Shops being closed, but luckily he trusted me to fax the receipt

[Klipa]

just a quick question....

how do you get your NZ license? are you able to just transfer your international license or do you have to do another test, etc.

There is probably an answer to this somewhere else on the forum...I was just reading through this one so thought I would post.

Thanks!

[jen]

To get your NZ license, you have to take the theory (written) test before the end of your 1st year in NZ. You won't have to take the driving test if you're from most countries if you have a valid overseas license and you've held it for more than 2 years -details below:

http://www.landtransport.govt.nz/factsheets/56.html

[kanatakiwi]

Backpackers from all over the world come here and buy cars for their travelling and then resell when they leave the county. so no you dont need to have PR or work visa .