Hey guys, I wanted to share my dramas attempting to get my new baby registered in the ACT. So I had to take it to the Dickson Government Motor Inspection place as other mechanics weren't so sure of it since it did not have a compliance plate. I took it to Dickson and it came back with a bunch of relatively minor/borderline problems such as one tyre worn, right on the ride height limit, just over the noise limit, diff oil leak and they noted that it will need an ID check. I took it back for it's ID check and retest and the road worthy tests all passed except for the diff oil leak not being fixed properly (The shop will be repairing this under warranty, just waiting on parts). However the ID check has come back with some problems concerning the history of the car. This is the story as far as I understand it: It was imported in 2002 into QLD. It then had minor front end repairs carried out in VIC and it was given a "repaired" VIN and registered in VIC. In 2005 an internal audit within VIC roads realised that it had an Australian VIN number and should not have been given the repaired VIN in the first place. (I do not know the technical details regarding issuing of VIN numbers/repair numbers etc...). A recall of the vehicle to VIC roads was issued to the owner to present the car. The owner did not present the car. In 2006 the VIC registration was cancelled. At some time it was registered by the NSW RTA (It could have been in 2005/6). The NSW registration expired three weeks ago when I bought the car. The Dickson ID check guy has told me that I do not need a compliance plate as it is older than 15 years. However it needs a Mod plate and the VIN number changed to the correct one. I called up an engineer and they want $1000+ to give it a modification plate which involves ensuring that the car meets all the ADRs. *Sigh* This kinda sucks... I don't properly understand this as yet because to me it sounds like I need a modification plate saying I haven't modified it.. ;-) I would like to hear any similar stories that you all might have gone through getting your cars registered. If they are bad enough maybe it will make me feel better Cheers, Scott
forget ACT, find anyone you know that lives in NSW and use there house as the garage address. any vehicle previously registered in NSW, with or without a compliance plate can be automatically re-registered after a complete blue slip identity check. changing states is the big problem. Just take the old papers into a NSW inspector and get the safety issues fixed and it will pass no problem. they will however have to contact the RTA inspector help line to confirm that the vehicle was previously registered without incident, and has no outstanding notices. i bought a recovered stolen vehicle from an action that had the firewall chopped, re-stamped and compliance plate removed. very bad attempt at a rebirth by the crim's, the car was impounded when they tried to register it, then sold at auction by insurance company. i bought it cheap, i rocked up for the inspection with the old NSW rego papers that i found in the boot, a letter from the cops and letter of sale from the auction company and good to go, passed first crack sold it 2 weeks later, buyer fully aware of its history. just gotta get smart and know the rules bud, ACT is ****ed up, every one of my cars is NSW
Member "Anti" went through similar problems, I'm sure he'll have plenty of input here. As far as I'm aware, they're correct with the engineers...
Getting it registered in NSW is appealing - although I do like that ACT registration does not require yearly inspections. Compared to $1000 engineer though... :S
Dickson pits are the PITS should be renamed to PITA (pain in the arse). Those guys will never let anything come through there pass straight up. They always find 'something' to get you back there so you have to pay up again. What really gave me the shits, they give you a list of things you need to correct. Okay, go and correct them/ have them put on an engineering certificate, then rather than tick the boxes, they reinspect the whole car again and find a few other things to ping you on to get you back there. Constant nightmare. After spending a ton of money fixing things up and engineering certificate, got an appointment on the last day my temp rego was due and from memory if it failed they would tick a box that said my car was 'dangerous and not to be driven' (like a 'red sticker' or something) so how the hell would I be able to get things fixed!?!?!?? So on this inspection. Everything was cool, but then some guy with a scottish accent (I think he was the boss) said something like 'hang on, the low beams point too high, it's failed'. I was like 'what!?!?!? here is a ring spanner lets fix it now!!!!' Reluctantly, he let me 'fix' it and it passed. He was the worst of the people there. I bet that b@stard gets off on failing people. Half the guys who go through there probably have better condition cars than whatever POS he gets around in. This is going back a few years now. But they still hassled me when I got a near new smart car from SA to change rego to ACT not that long ago. I mean FFS it's a stock Smart car. Trust me, you can do everything they ask you and you'll come back and they'll find something else to piss you off with. If you have a mate in NSW, use that address and get NSW registration Good luck!
Good luck! Sounds like a hell frustrating process... I know I was really frustrated trying to import my Z. Shifter one of the things I got knocked back on was that my headlights weren't aligned (apparently one was pointing up a bit and one was pointing down a bit) but when I took it to a workshop after they told me that they had no idea what the guy was talking about because it seemed aligned to them =.=;
Move to Queanbeyan I always loved how the closest Red Rooster for me when I lived in ACT was in Queanbeyan, NSW!
Thats the annoying thing I had mine aligned but according to the people at the pits, it wasn't good enough. Few mm turn of the ring spanner at the pits was enough to make my car safe to be driven as opposed to 'dangerous'.
It is pity that the rego ran out as would have been easy to register, as long as the car is road worthy. I have had the rego transfered to the ACT on six cars in the last three years and never had an issue. BUT I have never used Dickson. As the others have said if you can get it re-registered in NSW then leave it six months or so and then send me a PM. The ACT system is wonderful once you get your registered, just getting it there is the hard part. Just get your rego papers in the mail, pay by BPAY, and your registered. Plus you can register for 3, 6 or 12 months at a time.
