Selling your car to an interstate buyer or dealer: what changes
Key takeaways
- Your own state decides how you record the sale, wherever the buyer lives. WA and Tasmania give you 7 days; NSW, Victoria, Queensland, SA and the NT give 14.
- In NSW and SA an interstate buyer usually means the paper notice of disposal, and the ACT's online route needs both of you to hold ACT licences.
- A WA licence can't go to a non-WA resident, and a buyer without a Queensland garaging address can't register the car in Queensland. Sort out the plates and any refund before the sale.
- Never sign the transfer or release the car to a carrier until the full price has cleared in your account.
When you sell your car to a buyer or dealer in another state, your own state’s rules still decide how you record the sale, wherever the buyer lives. A rego refund is possible in some states, usually only if you cancel the rego or hand the plates back before the car goes. In NSW the rego normally stays on the car, and it’s the interstate buyer who can claim back the remaining motor vehicle tax once they register it at home.
What changes is the detail. Some states won’t take your notice online, WA and Queensland usually won’t let the rego pass to an interstate buyer, and distance makes payment and transport the riskiest part of the deal. The rules below come from official state pages, checked on 13 October 2026. For each state’s full private-sale rules, see our guide to selling a car in Australia.
Whose rules apply when the buyer is in another state?
Yours, for your side of the sale. The buyer’s state decides how they register the car once it arrives, but recording the sale is your own transport authority’s job, on its usual deadline:
- WA and Tasmania: 7 days from the sale.
- NSW, Victoria, Queensland, SA and the NT: 14 days.
- ACT: Access Canberra’s selling page doesn’t give sellers a number of days, so notify it as soon as you sell.
Cancelling the rego first changes the steps, and Victoria and Queensland both raise it for interstate sales, as the state sections below explain.
Your own rules apply when the buyer is a dealer, too. We’re a NSW-licensed motor dealer (MD 077404) buying Australia-wide, so for a seller in Perth, Brisbane or Hobart we’re an interstate buyer. We walk you through your state’s paperwork and make sure your notice of disposal is done correctly, but in most states the notice is still yours to lodge.
Check any dealer’s licence on the register of the state that issued it. Our guide on how to check a car buyer is licensed shows where to look.
What changes in each state when the buyer is interstate?
| State | What changes |
|---|---|
| NSW | Paper notice of disposal, at a service centre or by post, unless the buyer holds a NSW motor dealer licence. |
| VIC | VicRoads recommends cancelling the rego and removing the plates. If the rego stays on, the usual 14-day notice applies. |
| QLD | A buyer without a Queensland garaging address can’t register the car in Queensland, and may ask you to cancel the rego. |
| WA | The licence can’t transfer to a non-WA resident. DTMI says to return the plates and sell the car unlicensed. |
| SA | The notice of disposal goes on the paper form, not mySAGOV, within 14 days. |
| TAS | Lodge the disposal within 7 days of the sale, then check with Service Tasmania that it’s recorded. |
| ACT | The same obligations as an ACT sale. Notify through your ACT Digital Account, by post or in person. |
| NT | The same signed notice goes to MVR within 14 days, so you still need the buyer’s signature. |
Can you lodge a NSW notice of disposal online for an interstate buyer?
Usually not. Service NSW’s online form works only when you hold a NSW driver licence or Photo Card and the buyer is a person or a NSW motor dealer. A sale to an interstate buyer, a company or an organisation goes on the paper form instead, lodged at a service centre or by post.
Dealers are the trap. Service NSW lists an interstate motor dealer without a NSW motor dealer licence among the buyers that need the paper form. If a business in Melbourne or Brisbane wants your NSW car, ask early which licence it holds.
Whichever form you use, Service NSW asks for the notice immediately after the sale.
Selling your NSW car to us usually avoids the paper form. Because we hold a NSW motor dealer licence, you can lodge online and list our licence number, MD 077404, and registered business name in place of a buyer’s licence.
Why can’t a WA or Queensland rego go with the car?
Both states tie registration to where the owner lives or keeps the car.
WA. DTMI says a WA vehicle licence can’t be transferred to someone who isn’t a WA resident. For a sale interstate, its advice is to return the plates to a DTMI service centre or regional agent and sell the car unlicensed. DTMI’s selling page sets out the steps, and our guide to selling a car in WA covers the rest.
The order matters for your refund. DTMI considers a refund of the unused licence only if the plates go back before the sale, and it runs from the day they’re returned. An interstate buyer can’t claim what’s left of a WA licence. If the car goes still licensed, the WA licence is cancelled with no refund once it’s licensed in another state, and the number plate receipt issued there has to reach DTMI, which says penalties apply if it doesn’t.
Queensland. TMR says a car must be garaged at a Queensland address to be registered there, so a buyer who lives interstate can’t register your car in their name without one. Instead, they may ask the seller to cancel the rego at a transport and motoring customer service centre, then apply for an unregistered vehicle permit to move the car home.
Cancelling means handing in your plates, unless you keep personalised or customised ones. From then on it’s an unregistered sale. TMR says a simple contract or receipt is usually enough, as long as it has both your signatures, the VIN (or chassis or engine number), the make and model, and the date of sale. One side effect helps you: you can sell an unregistered vehicle in Queensland without a safety certificate. Selling to us from Queensland? We confirm how the rego and safety certificate rules apply on the call.
What changes in Victoria and South Australia?
Mostly the paperwork.
Victoria. For a sale to someone interstate, VicRoads recommends cancelling the rego and removing the plates. If the car is still registered when you sell, you notify VicRoads within 14 days, as for any sale. Cancel any rego direct debit before the sale, and move any custom plates you want to keep before the car goes.
We hold a NSW dealer licence rather than a Victorian one, so we confirm the paperwork for your Victorian car before pickup.
South Australia. You can’t lodge the notice of disposal through mySAGOV when the buyer is from interstate. Use Service SA’s paper notice instead, still within 14 days. Service SA then keeps you recorded as the last SA owner, so keep your copy of the notice. That applies to a sale to us too. Our guide to selling a car in South Australia walks through the form.
Does anything change in the ACT, the NT or Tasmania?
Less than you might expect.
ACT. Access Canberra says selling to an interstate buyer carries the same obligations as selling to someone in the ACT. You and the buyer sign the transfer and disposal sections on the back of the rego certificate, and the plates stay on if the car has current ACT rego. What changes is how you notify. The online route needs both of you to hold ACT licences, so for an interstate buyer you use your ACT Digital Account, the post or a service centre.
NT. Your notice of disposal must be signed by you and the buyer and go to MVR within 14 days, by email, post or in person. There’s no online portal. Get the buyer’s signature at handover, because chasing one interstate takes time. The NT also lets you sell a car unregistered, and NT Government suggests checking whether you can get a rego refund if you do.
Tasmania. Lodge the disposal within 7 days of the sale, through the online portal or on the MR116 form at Service Tasmania, by mail or by email. There’s no automatic confirmation, so check with Service Tasmania after a week, and ask whether any plates need returning.
Do you get a rego refund when the car leaves your state?
Sometimes. It usually depends on what happens to the rego before the sale:
| Your state | Refund position |
|---|---|
| NSW | The rego usually stays on the car. Once it’s registered in their state, the interstate buyer can claim the remaining motor vehicle tax by post. If you cancel before the sale, you may get back unused motor vehicle tax only, less a cancellation fee. |
| VIC | VicRoads recommends cancelling for an interstate buyer. Ask VicRoads what’s refundable before you cancel. |
| QLD | Cancelling a current rego may refund the unused rego and the CTP insurer’s premium, less a cancellation fee. The rego must be current and in your name when you cancel. |
| WA | Only if you return the plates before the sale. The refund runs from the return date, and an interstate buyer can’t claim it. |
| SA | Ask Service SA before you sell. |
| TAS | Ask Service Tasmania before you sell. |
| ACT | Access Canberra refunds unused rego and MAI insurance when you cancel. If the rego stays on, sellers typically build what’s left into the price. |
| NT | You can sell unregistered; check with MVR whether you’re eligible for a refund. |
A hypothetical example. You sell your NSW car, with six months of rego left, to a Victorian dealer that has no NSW dealer licence. Your notice of disposal goes on the paper form. You don’t get those six months back from Transport for NSW: the rego stays on the car, and it’s the dealer who can claim the remaining motor vehicle tax once the car is registered in Victoria. If that rego matters to you, raise it when you agree the price. Or cancel before the sale: the car leaves unregistered, and any refund is unused motor vehicle tax less a cancellation fee.
Two cautions before you cancel anything. An unregistered car can’t simply be driven to its new home, so cancelling usually means a carrier or a permit. And ask the buyer first: they may be counting on the rego.
Selling to us? Raise the rego on the call. We’ll explain the steps for your state, including any rego refund, before pickup.
How does the car get there, and when do you get paid?
A private interstate buyer either travels to collect the car or books a carrier. Either way, the gap between payment and pickup is where interstate sales go wrong.
Scamwatch’s warning signs fit interstate deals. They include a buyer willing to buy without seeing the car in person, and an overpayment followed by a request to refund the difference. Payments split across several PayIDs, or an account name that doesn’t match the buyer, are on the list too.
Checklist: before the car leaves your state
- Check who’s buying. For a dealer, look up the licence on the issuing state’s register.
- Find out whether your notice goes online or on paper.
- Agree with the buyer whether the rego and plates stay on or come off first.
- Sort out any personalised plates before the sale.
- Wait until the full price has cleared in your account. An email saying it’s on the way isn’t the money.
- Only then sign the transfer and release the car to a carrier.
- Lodge your notice within your state’s deadline and keep a copy.
- Take out your e-tag, remove the plate from your toll account, and keep your insurance until the car is collected.
Selling to us puts the money first by design. You get a genuine offer by phone from a licensed dealer, then a deposit, often the same day. The inspection happens after you accept, at a time and place that suits you, and the balance goes into your bank account. We arrange collection only after you confirm the funds have cleared. Corey K, from Melbourne, described the last step.
“Holly also advised that once the money was in my account to contact her and she would arrange the freight company to collect the car.” Corey K.
Our guide to car collection and key drop-off explains collection day.
Private buyer interstate, or a licensed dealer?
A private buyer in another state can work, but you carry the distance: the signature, the payment checks and a carrier for a car you’ve already sold. A licensed dealer takes most of that off your plate, provided you’ve checked the licence and you’re paid before the car moves.
You can sell to us. Sell Your Car Australia is run by Autohaus Australia Pty Ltd, NSW licensed motor dealer MD 077404, and our valuer has priced cars since 1992. We buy cars, utes, SUVs and 4WDs 2021 or newer with 100,000 km or less. Older or more kilometres? Send it through anyway and we’ll tell you straight away if we can help. We prepare the sale paperwork and help with the transfer of ownership.
Start with a free valuation, with no obligation and no fees taken out of the offer, or call 1800 73 55 73.
Questions sellers ask
Do I get a rego refund if my car goes interstate?
Sometimes. In WA you only qualify if you hand the plates back before the sale, and in Queensland the refund comes from cancelling the rego while it's current and in your name. In NSW the rego usually stays on the car, and the remaining motor vehicle tax goes to the interstate buyer once they've registered it in their own state. Ask your transport authority before you cancel anything.
Who arranges transport for an interstate sale?
In a private sale it's whatever you and the buyer agree: usually they collect in person or book a car carrier. Whoever books it, the carrier shouldn't take the car until the full price has cleared in your account. When you sell to us, we arrange collection anywhere in Australia, and the car is collected only after you confirm the funds have cleared.
Is it safe to sell to an interstate buyer I haven't met?
It can be, but go slowly. Scamwatch lists a buyer willing to buy without seeing the car in person as a warning sign, along with overpayments and payments split across several PayIDs. Check that the name on the payment matches the buyer, and wait for cleared funds rather than an email saying the money is on its way.
Do I need a roadworthy if the buyer is in another state?
It depends on your state and on whether the rego stays on. NSW doesn't need a pink slip to transfer a current NSW registration, and Queensland's safety certificate rule doesn't apply to unregistered vehicles. The buyer may face an inspection at home: WA, for example, inspects interstate vehicles before licensing them. When you sell to us, usually no roadworthy or safety certificate is needed; rules differ by state and we confirm what applies on the call.
