Victoria is the one state where the seller has to hand the buyer a roadworthy certificate — and it has to be less than 30 days old at the time of sale.
That single requirement makes Victoria different from most of the country, and it's the thing to organise first, because a roadworthy inspection can turn up work you weren't expecting. Consumer Affairs Victoria puts it plainly: you must provide a Certificate of Roadworthiness that is less than 30 days old if you are selling a registered vehicle.
Get the inspection before you advertise, not after you've agreed a price.
The 30-day clock is the trap. Book the roadworthy when you're ready to sell, not months ahead — a certificate that expires mid-negotiation means paying for a second inspection.
The roadworthy certificate
A licensed vehicle tester does the inspection. If the car fails, you either do the repairs or you sell it unregistered — you can't simply skip the certificate for a registered vehicle.
Some situations are exempt, so it's worth checking VicRoads' roadworthy pages before you book. And a note on timing: electronic roadworthy certificates have been announced but, at the time of writing, VicRoads still describes them as pending — so treat this as a paper process until its own pages say otherwise.
Because the certificate is your obligation, its cost is genuinely part of the cost of selling in Victoria. Budget for it.
Before you advertise
- Book the roadworthy and get the certificate in hand.
- Gather the registration papers and service history. A folder of receipts is the cheapest trust you can buy.
- Note the odometer reading — you'll need it for the notice of disposal and the receipt.
- Deal with any finance owing before you list, not during a negotiation.
Selling the car
No written contract is required, but write a receipt: both parties' names, the date, the sale price, the VIN, the odometer reading, both signatures. Keep a copy. Hand over the roadworthy certificate with the keys.
Take the buyer's details from their driver licence rather than from what they tell you — you need their name and address for the notice of disposal, and a mismatch between the licence and the name they've given you is a reason to stop the sale.
Lodging the notice of disposal — 14 days
You have 14 days to tell VicRoads you've disposed of the vehicle. Transfers in Victoria are now seller-initiated through myVicRoads, so this is the step that starts the whole process — see VicRoads on selling a vehicle.
Do it the day you sell. Until it's lodged, VicRoads still has the car registered to you, which means fines and tolls the new owner collects come to your address in your name.
What the buyer does and pays
The buyer completes the transfer and pays the transfer fee, currently $47.50, plus motor vehicle duty. Victoria calculates duty per unit of value, with different rates by vehicle class and a threshold above which the rate rises — so the amount turns on both what the car is and what it sold for. Read the current rates on VicRoads' duty page rather than relying on a figure quoted anywhere else, including here.
The buyer pays the duty, but expect it in the negotiation. It's real money to them.
Selling interstate
If your buyer is in another state, VicRoads publishes specific guidance on selling interstate — worth reading before you agree to the sale, because the process differs from a Victoria-to-Victoria transfer.
Insurance
Cancel or transfer your comprehensive insurance once the sale is complete and the notice is lodged — not before the buyer drives off, because until then it's still your car. Check with your insurer about what happens on a test drive, which is the gap most people don't think about until it matters.
What this means if you're selling on MotorLoop
The roadworthy and the notice of disposal are between you and Victoria — no marketplace changes that. What we can do is make the listing side easier: listing a car on MotorLoop is free, and buyers message you in the app so your phone number stays private until you choose to share it.