Transferring the registration is one of those jobs that takes a few minutes and causes months of grief if you skip it. Here is what the seller is responsible for in Victoria, and how to get it done.
Who has to do what
A Victorian transfer has two halves:
- The seller lodges the transfer, often called a notice of disposal, with VicRoads. This is expected promptly, generally within 14 days of the sale.
- The buyer completes the transfer into their name, also within 14 days, and pays the transfer fee and motor vehicle duty. For a registered car sold privately, the buyer also needs the roadworthy certificate you supplied.
You do not need to wait for the buyer to do their part before you do yours, and you should not.
How to lodge as the seller
The quickest route is online through a myVicRoads account. You will need:
- The registration number
- The buyer's full name, address and driver licence number
- The date of sale and the sale price
- The odometer reading on the day
Submit it and keep the confirmation. If you prefer paper, the vehicle transfer form is signed by both of you and lodged at a VicRoads customer service centre, and the buyer keeps their part to complete their half.
Forms, fees and time limits are set by VicRoads and do change. If anything here does not match vicroads.vic.gov.au, go with the website.
Why speed matters
Until VicRoads records the disposal, you are the registered operator. Anything attached to that plate comes to you:
- Speed and red light camera fines
- CityLink and EastLink toll notices, and the fees that stack up on unpaid ones
- Parking infringements and towing charges
- Rego renewal notices and anything that follows from ignoring them
Nominating the real driver after the fact is possible but slow, and far easier to avoid than to fix. Lodging on the day of sale closes the door.
What if the buyer never does their part?
It happens. The buyer takes the car and never completes the transfer. If you have lodged your notice of disposal, VicRoads has a record of the date you sold it and who you sold it to. That is your protection. Without it, you have a text message and a memory, and in the system the car is still yours.
This is why experienced sellers sight the buyer's licence and take their details before any money changes hands, and lodge the disposal before the car has left the street.
Tip. With the buyer's permission, photograph their driver licence and the odometer at handover. Write a one-line receipt with the rego, price, date and both names, and both of you sign it. If a dispute ever comes up, that piece of paper settles it in seconds.
Selling to a licensed trader
When you sell to a licensed motor car trader (LMCT) like us, the process is the same but simpler. The business is the buyer, so the details you enter are the trader's name, address and licence number rather than an individual's. A reputable trader hands you those details in writing and completes their half on the spot, and no roadworthy certificate is needed from you.
You still lodge your own disposal. Do not rely on anyone else to do it, however trustworthy they seem. It is your name on the record and your letterbox that fills up if it goes wrong.
If the car is being scrapped rather than resold, the buyer may cancel the registration instead of transferring it. Either way, your notice of disposal is what takes your name off the vehicle. If you are unsure whether yours is a resale car or a scrap car, our page on what we buy explains the difference.
Common mistakes
- Assuming the buyer's transfer covers both of you. It does not.
- Waiting for the buyer to pay or to sort things out first.
- Taking an incomplete buyer address, which can stall the record.
- Forgetting to remove the plate from your toll account and parking apps.
- Letting a car go with plates attached and skipping the disposal because it was “going to be scrapped anyway”.
None of this is hard. It is one form, done once, on the day. The sellers who get burned are the ones who meant to do it later.
Sell to NZ Cars for Cash & Removals and we hand you our trader details in writing at pickup, complete our half of the transfer, and walk you through the two-minute disposal before the truck leaves.
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