RV FEATURE
Registration . It ’ s an unavoidable cost to factor in when considering buying a vehicle for use on public roads . Caravans are no different . The frustrating – and , some would say – unfair thing is that the cost to register your caravan varies wildly depending where you live .
For example , Victoria has long remained the cheapest state in which to register a caravan or trailer , while the Australian Capital Territory commits highway robbery with each caravan rego payment it accepts .
New South Wales is marginally better than the ACT but , along with the Northern Territory , it should hang its head in shame .
A few years ago , we looked at the price of van rego around the country and were shocked by the disparities . Have things improved at all ? Before we get into it , I ’ ll note that the following figures only apply to renewing a van ’ s rego , not registering it for the first time . When registering any vehicle for the first time , a raft of other fees and conditions would apply . Some fees include compulsory third party insurance while others do not .
NEW SOUTH WALES
New South Wales is perhaps the most frustrating state in which to own and register a caravan . The state will sting you with a socalled ‘ motor vehicle tax ’ and what you pay to the government will depend on the Tare weight of your van .
It used to be that New South Wales advertised all weight brackets on its Service NSW website . However , trying to glean information for any caravan weighing more than 2504kg is like pulling teeth . And yes , we phoned . And phoned . And phoned . Penetrating the bureaucracy to bring you the information we wanted to proved too difficult .
We have , however , discerned that New South Wales charges the following fees for basic 12-month caravan rego renewal :
255kg - 764kg $ 74 765kg - 975kg $ 134 976kg - 1154kg $ 153 1155kg - 1504kg $ 176 1505kg - 2504kg $ 269
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