Buying a Car in Perth and Western Australia

New Vehicles

New cars can be bought from Car Dealers located throughout Perth and the suburbs, all these can be found in

the Yellow Pages. 

You need to ensure that all on-road costs are included (dealer delivery, stamp duty, registration and

compulsory insurance charges) before agreeing your purchase price.

Dealer Delivery Charges

This fee includes the ancillary costs that the dealer allows for when preparing a new vehicle. It covers some administration with preparing the registration, detailing of the new vehicle following freight to the car yard, fitment of certain compliance components, removal of protective tapes and plastics, fitment of number plates etc.

CTP or compulsory third party insurance

Required by law in Australia this is insurance cover against claims made by a third party in respect to personal injury during an accident involving the vehicle. Several of the major insurance companies offer this type of insurance and the premium can very from company to company and from area to area.

Registration Charges

All vehicles must be registered in the name of an individual or in a company name. They are registered with the appropriate motor registry in each state and territory. Charges vary according to vehicle, type of registration (ie business, private) and status of end user (ie pension car holder).

Stamp Duty

This is payable to the relevant state or territory body and is a function of the priuce of the vehicle.

WA probaby has the most complicated stamp duty structure in Australia!

• 2.75% of the vehicle price up to $15,000
• A sliding scale is used between $15,000 and $40,000 from 2.75% to 6.5%
• 6.5% for every dollar over $40,000

Remember that for new vehicles, stamp duty must be included in any on-road cost.

Luxury Car Tax (LCT)

This is payable for vehicles whose price exceeds the current LCT threshold and is a function of the amount exceeding this threshold. Please refer to the ATO website for further details on www.ato.gov.au

Second Hand Vehicles

Second hand vehicles can be bought from registered used car dealers or privately through advertisments in the West Australian or Sunday Times newspapers.

When purchasing a car privately it is worthwhile ringing the Ministry of Consumer Affairs REVS line on 1300 304024. This is the Registry of Encumbered Vehicles and contains details of vehicles that have money owing on them or are stolen.

Make sure the Police Department is informed on a change of ownership. When the car registration is due you will be informed by the Police Department.

The Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia (RAC WA) offers a vehicle fitness certificate when wishing to purchase a second hand vehicle. There will be a charge for this service. RAC WA can be contacted on 9421 4444.

Comments

[Lauren Spencer]

You have a typing error in this page:

Under header Stamp Duty, 1st sentence "priuce" should read "price" and 2nd sentence, 2nd word "probaby" should read "probably".