What's up with the new statutory write-off laws?

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by leesa

Yeah it's really bizzare, I'm going around in circles.
Unregistered permits and even trade plates I don't think will help as the car doesn't have a roadworthy. From what I've been told, no vehicle is allowed on the road in any fashion without a safety certificate, but it's unobtainable without first getting the surrogate VIN but getting it is proving complicated.

Apparently it used to be a case of just taking the car to qld police for an inspection and a new VIN, but they don't deal with the public direct anymore, they insist on being referred from QLD Transport.

So it looks like I need to go to QLD Transport and ask to be referred to QLD Police for a surrogate VIN. Noone can say whether I need to take the car to QLD Transport when I ask for the surrogate VIN, so I'm going to hope it's a no. Fingers crossed.

You don't need a rwc to use an unregistered vehicle permit. How do you think people drive cars to get the rwc, and then to vicroads to get them registered?

It's because the vehicle is a write-off. In QLD you can't get a permit for written-off vehicles.

When a permit cannot be issued

You won’t be able to get a permit if your vehicle:

<snip>
is a write-off and needs to be moved—this includes getting a written-off vehicle inspection

However, I've spoken to multiple people at QLD transport now and they're all telling me to get CTP for the day and drive the car straight to qld transport where they'll refer me on-the-spot to a local police station. Then drive the car to the police station for the inspection. All without so much as an unregistered permit.

I've booked CTP for the day and they're telling me the same thing. Meanwhile, police aren't impressed with that idea but are telling me to get it in writing from QLD Transport so that I can show it incase I'm pulled over.

I'm as nervous as sin but I'll give it a go. It'll either all go according to plan... or I'll be arrested as soon as I pull into the police station in an unregistered, unroadworthy car.

[Rallye Sport]

Use a tow truck. Problem fixed.

[Jastel]

Hell, there is not even a Transport Minister in Qld, Bailey just got fired, Trad only wants the trains to protect her union mates, is it any wonder nobody knows what is going on in there.

A tow truck is a costly fix...shouldnt come to that.
No one looks twice at trade plates, but they are hard to "borrow".
Most times I have been pulled over, (about 5 times but none recently) the cop knows less than me about the law, he ruffles through the papers and says "OK then, go straight there" and is happy to be rid of the paperwork.

If you get an unregistered vehicle permit, you used to have to sign the vehicle was safe to be driven...has that gone too?

Originally Posted by Rallye Sport

Use a tow truck. Problem fixed.

Tow truck from vehicle's current location to main roads, then back home, then to police station another day, then back home, then to QIS on another day, then back home several days later?

6 trips all up? As if, who's going to do that?
The people who liked your post must be tow truck drivers. Probably the same ones who are ripping motorists off in Brisbane city??

Originally Posted by Jastel

If you get an unregistered vehicle permit, you used to have to sign the vehicle was safe to be driven...has that gone too?

I think I can almost call myself an expert now. Turns out that an unregistered permit is only required when you're moving a car from point A to point B for reasons other than registration purposes. IE: You bought an unregistered car and want to take it home.

If you have an unregistered car and you want to drive it in order to register it... even a written-off one without a roadworthy.. turns out you can just get in the car and drive it straight to qld transport. Provided the purpose of the trip is for registration purposes, and you have a copy of the application paperwork in the car along with all your car's receipts and a CTP certificate, you're free to just go ahead and don't even need an unregistered vehicle permit.

But you can only drive to the closest centres and can't stop off anywhere else. Oh, and if QLD transport deny your registration application, you have to get the car towed home.

[Rallye Sport]

Originally Posted by leesa

Tow truck from vehicle's current location to main roads, then back home, then to police station another day, then back home, then to QIS on another day, then back home several days later?

6 trips all up? As if, who's going to do that?
The people who liked your post must be tow truck drivers. Probably the same ones who are ripping motorists off in Brisbane city??

Just a suggestion, thats why we're on a forum.
Another option then.
Run the gauntlet, get arrested? Not going to happen. You'll be fined, or fight that and loose a day of work in court, still get fined. The vehicle will be impounded, you pay for that tow, then the impound fee. Then a another tow when it needs to be picked up because its still unreg.

Well, all done. Drove it to QLD transport and noone batted an eyelid. Paperwork submitted to local police for a surrogate VIN, then it gets a safety certificate with that VIN, then it goes to QIS.

Just to confirm for anyone who may stumble on this thread down the track, you can drive the car on the road if it's for registration purposes, provided you have CTP for the day and are carrying a completed registration form in the car.
Even though the car isn't actually ready for registration, you need to apply for registration in order to be referred for a surrogate VIN.

There are some other caveats that can be found on QLD transport's website but that's the general gist of it.

[Blue Shadow]

Good stuff, glad to hear, what a soap opera. Bureaucracy is a brutal thing

[Jastel]

IF they fail it you got to tow it home is always the catcher...
Still that's only one tow, then drive back again after its fixed.

So to clarify, (I have another one coming up soon minus the VIN swapping)

You can drive to DTMR, mechanic and QIS Inspection for purposes of registration so long as you have paid CTP and have the paperwork??

[Beastie]

Originally Posted by leesa

Tow truck from vehicle's current location to main roads, then back home, then to police station another day, then back home, then to QIS on another day, then back home several days later?

6 trips all up? As if, who's going to do that?
The people who liked your post must be tow truck drivers. Probably the same ones who are ripping motorists off in Brisbane city??



I think I can almost call myself an expert now. Turns out that an unregistered permit is only required when you're moving a car from point A to point B for reasons other than registration purposes. IE: You bought an unregistered car and want to take it home.

If you have an unregistered car and you want to drive it in order to register it... even a written-off one without a roadworthy.. turns out you can just get in the car and drive it straight to qld transport. Provided the purpose of the trip is for registration purposes, and you have a copy of the application paperwork in the car along with all your car's receipts and a CTP certificate, you're free to just go ahead and don't even need an unregistered vehicle permit.

But you can only drive to the closest centres and can't stop off anywhere else. Oh, and if QLD transport deny your registration application, you have to get the car towed home.

Hi Leesa...

I'm one of those people who liked 'that' post about the tow truck and no, I'm not a tow truck driver.

Not that you probably care, but I liked it as it made sense to me given that you are saving that much money on doing your changeover, what's a few hundred dollars here and there?

I have also just hired a car trailer to transport 2 donor cars that I have recently bought for my project wagon, and that cost me a total of $130 for two days hire.

Anyway, good luck with your project, I hope it all works out for you in the end.

Hugs Beastie...

[olfella]

Originally Posted by Beastie

Hi Leesa...

I'm one of those people who liked 'that' post about the tow truck and no, I'm not a tow truck driver.

Not that you probably care, but I liked it as it made sense to me given that you are saving that much money on doing your changeover, what's a few hundred dollars here and there?

I have also just hired a car trailer to transport 2 donor cars that I have recently bought for my project wagon, and that cost me a total of $130 for two days hire.

Anyway, good luck with your project, I hope it all works out for you in the end.

Hugs Beastie...

$130 bucks!! Thats a bit much isnt it?

[Tassie f100]

Couple of years ago local servo wanted $80/day

Originally Posted by Beastie

Hi Leesa...

Not that you probably care, but I liked it as it made sense to me given that you are saving that much money on doing your changeover, what's a few hundred dollars here and there?

Yes, that's true, but someone earlier in this thread said I wouldn't get this car for under 10k so I'm trying my best to get it as cheaply as I can so that I can rub their nose in it.
It's also about the time off. No tow truck driver would be accurate enough to fit in 6 different trips on a good enough schedule to still let me go to work on those days.

I tried the trailer angle also but the hire ones around here are rated max to carry only 1.2 tonne and the ranger is quite a bit over that. Seems a bit useless to have such a low rating but them's the brakes I guess.

And it's not that I don't care, I am just finding it difficult sometimes to differentiate between legit comments and (unconstructive) criticism. It's a whole 'nother world trying to talk to people in the automotive industry when you're not male. Between having people shoot me down from word go, or trying to speak with wreckers/dismantlers/parts suppliers/dealerships who won't give me a minute of their time to listen to what I'm asking for but instead tell me to get my husband/brother/father/son call them instead. Or trying to organise an interstate tow truck driver to pick something up on his next run up to Brisbane, but one strung me along for two weeks with "let-me-call-you-back"s and then eventually snarled that he'd let me know if he could pick it up after he's already arrived at Brisbane - that guy was a real peach. All the way down to people who won't help/answer queries or deliberately put hurdles in your way because they just want to see you fail.

You may not actually believe any of that but you're automatically welcomed into the club if you've got a willy wonka and you're shunned if you don't.
So if I've been short with you, I am sorry. I've sort of learned that abrasiveness is sometimes best responded with abrasiveness as that's the only manner that those people know.

Good luck with your project also.

Originally Posted by Jastel

So to clarify, (I have another one coming up soon minus the VIN swapping)

You can drive to DTMR, mechanic and QIS Inspection for purposes of registration so long as you have paid CTP and have the paperwork??

Yeah, looks like it in QLD at least.
Here's a quote from the unregistered permit page:

When you don’t need an unregistered permit

You can only move an unregistered vehicle without a permit to apply for registration. To do this, you must have a completed vehicle registration application (F3518) (PDF, 421KB) and a valid CTP insurance certificate with you when making the journey.

You must directly drive from the location where the vehicle is located to your nearest transport and motoring customer service centre. You can only stop along the way to get a:

gas certificate
weighbridge certificate
safety certificate/COI certificate (including road testing as part of a safety certificate/COI inspection)
written-off vehicle inspection (allowed for repairable write-offs only)
Queensland Police Service inspection (surrogate)
surrogate identification number/s stamped on the vehicle.

You must not stop anywhere else on your journey.

I see a potential hole in that though. I am only applying for registration so that I can get a surrogate VIN. If you don't need a surrogate VIN, you don't need to apply for registration until AFTER the car goes to QIS. So if you need to go to QIS first... technically you're not driving to QIS for the purposes of registration, and you probably won't have a filled-out registration application on you.
So whether you're allowed to drive the car to QIS to INDIRECTLY get it registered... I don't know.
To me that sounds like a grey area that could probably do with a clearer legal definition.

https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/buy...registered/uvp

[Tassie f100]

So Leesa how did your final costing go? In the other post you were hoping to get out around $12000 or so with a lot of saleable bits left over

Originally Posted by Tassie f100

So Leesa how did your final costing go? In the other post you were hoping to get out around $12000 or so with a lot of saleable bits left over

It's still too early to tell as it hasn't passed QIS inspection yet. Hopefully they pass it but if not, it'll cost more money to change whatever their inspection decides.
There's still a whole second car to sell off so I'll come back at a later date with the final total.

[Iggle Piggle]

Leesa, no doubt you've come across arseholes in your time, and no doubt some of them were arseholes to you because you are a woman...it is not right and you and all other women should not experience that...but sometimes people are just arseholes irrespective of whether you have a willy or not...they are just arseholes.

And sometimes they aren't actually arseholes...but you may think they are an ******** if you have a chip on your shoulder and are looking to play the age card or the race card or gay card or the ginger card or the sex card.

Sometimes people just have an alternative opinion, like Rallye and Bevsta did on the previous page. I thought your responses to both were an over-reaction...you appeared to engage victim mode and implied you were singled out and were receiving different treatment, when in reality they just had an alternate opinion to yours and would have held the same view if you had a willy.

Look around the forum - there are heaps of different opinions - none of which have anything to do with each other's gender.

You shouldn't have to suffer sexism, but you also shouldn't see sexism where it does not exist.

[Jastel]

Originally Posted by leesa

Yes, that's true, but someone earlier in this thread said I wouldn't get this car for under 10k so I'm trying my best to get it as cheaply as I can so that I can rub their nose in it.
It's also about the time off. No tow truck driver would be accurate enough to fit in 6 different trips on a good enough schedule to still let me go to work on those days.

I tried the trailer angle also but the hire ones around here are rated max to carry only 1.2 tonne and the ranger is quite a bit over that. Seems a bit useless to have such a low rating but them's the brakes I guess.

And it's not that I don't care, I am just finding it difficult sometimes to differentiate between legit comments and (unconstructive) criticism. It's a whole 'nother world trying to talk to people in the automotive industry when you're not male. Between having people shoot me down from word go, or trying to speak with wreckers/dismantlers/parts suppliers/dealerships who won't give me a minute of their time to listen to what I'm asking for but instead tell me to get my husband/brother/father/son call them instead. Or trying to organise an interstate tow truck driver to pick something up on his next run up to Brisbane, but one strung me along for two weeks with "let-me-call-you-back"s and then eventually snarled that he'd let me know if he could pick it up after he's already arrived at Brisbane - that guy was a real peach. All the way down to people who won't help/answer queries or deliberately put hurdles in your way because they just want to see you fail.

You may not actually believe any of that but you're automatically welcomed into the club if you've got a willy wonka and you're shunned if you don't.
So if I've been short with you, I am sorry. I've sort of learned that abrasiveness is sometimes best responded with abrasiveness as that's the only manner that those people know.

Good luck with your project also.



Yeah, looks like it in QLD at least.
Here's a quote from the unregistered permit page:



I see a potential hole in that though. I am only applying for registration so that I can get a surrogate VIN. If you don't need a surrogate VIN, you don't need to apply for registration until AFTER the car goes to QIS. So if you need to go to QIS first... technically you're not driving to QIS for the purposes of registration, and you probably won't have a filled-out registration application on you.
So whether you're allowed to drive the car to QIS to INDIRECTLY get it registered... I don't know.
To me that sounds like a grey area that could probably do with a clearer legal definition.

https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/buy...registered/uvp

Sounds like the argument I had last time...my response was, "So you will give me rego without a WOVI clearance??"
"No""
"Well then I need to drive to QIS to get registration then!"

I always have the forms and insurance but...I also have someone follow me really closely as a) I need a lift back anyway and b) hopefully no one notices the lack of numberplates.

My biggest concern is there is no way to test a vehicle.
One I did passed everything, as they are not driven, but had terrible tailshaft vibration at speed that had to be fixed.

And forget the trailer angle in Qld anyway...
Anything over 1200kgs needs electric brakes on the trailer, never found a company hiring them.
So that rules out anything bigger than a Datsun on a trailer...and also a good percentage of tow vehicles as well.

[deesun]

Originally Posted by Jastel

And forget the trailer angle in Qld anyway...
Anything over 1200kgs needs electric brakes on the trailer, never found a company hiring them.
So that rules out anything bigger than a Datsun on a trailer...and also a good percentage of tow vehicles as well.

Guess they want it safe and sound on a flatbed, you already have an unregistered car, then u have an overweight unregistered car, then you have a car that cant tow said overweight car on trailer and then and then and then all even before it falls off the trailer. All for the fact you don't want to spend some $ on a flatbed. I know this may not be in your case but we all now watch dash cams and see pics of people who would.

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by leesa

Yes, that's true, but someone earlier in this thread said I wouldn't get this car for under 10k so I'm trying my best to get it as cheaply as I can so that I can rub their nose in it.

An awful load of effort to go through for someone you'll never meet, nor will they care.
For the record, Just trying to give helpful advice, and you need to put a price on your time.

What car make model car did you eventuate on anyway? I don't see it mentioned

Originally Posted by Jastel

And forget the trailer angle in Qld anyway...
Anything over 1200kgs needs electric brakes on the trailer, never found a company hiring them.
So that rules out anything bigger than a Datsun on a trailer...and also a good percentage of tow vehicles as well.

Yeah, I think it rules out almost everything. Perhaps the rules vary state to state but in QLD most cars can only tow 750KG unbraked. I've yet to see a (hired) car carrier with electric or even hydraulic brakes, and the weight of just the trailer wouldn't be far off that limit. Putting a car on it and driving it unbraked is just asking for trouble.

Originally Posted by deesun

Guess they want it safe and sound on a flatbed, you already have an unregistered car, then u have an overweight unregistered car, then you have a car that cant tow said overweight car on trailer and then and then and then all even before it falls off the trailer. All for the fact you don't want to spend some $ on a flatbed. I know this may not be in your case but we all now watch dash cams and see pics of people who would.

I agree, towing a car on a car trailer is not straight forward. Well, I guess it is if you don't consider the weight limits and brakes, and just do it blindly. Seems much safer to just drive it on the road like the law says that you can.

Originally Posted by Bevsta007

An awful load of effort to go through for someone you'll never meet, nor will they care.
For the record, Just trying to give helpful advice, and you need to put a price on your time.

What car make model car did you eventuate on anyway? I don't see it mentioned

The whole project is actually more to do with spending time with friends and family while working on a shared interest. I don't need or necessarily even want a new tow car but the whole thing hasn't really been about that and it's a memory that I will have forever.
The car is a PX Ford Ranger dual-cab utility made up from parts of a 2012 and a 2015.

RE: the effort for someone I'll never meet who won't care - don't flatter yourself too much, it's moreso that you made it a personal goal to make sure it's done under 10. ;)
Have you ever lived in QLD?

[Rallye Sport]

RE: Tow trucks

If your stuck on the side of the road or want something done asap, yeah, you're gonna get charged.
Look around locally for an owner operator, introduce yourself, tell them what your about and get a card.
Give them a bit of notice if you want a job done, if they're local and leaving home with any empty truck they'll normally cut you a break, same as pick up at the end of the day, no point going home with an empty truck.
My guys an Elvis impersonator by night, the mrs quite often deals with him when I'm at work, he always gives her a 'Hello there little lady' on pick up and a 'Thankyou, thankyou very much' on payment, she loves it, they're not all bad...

[Jastel]

Got my latest wreck back on the road at last.

The WOVI was easy, booked 3 days out, got a 4pm appointment.
At 8am he rings me up and says he had a no show and could I come in.
SURE!
I know these guys come to my town from the big smoke and as I was the last appointment of the day he started with me so he could finish early I guess.

I hadnt even had breakfast so I went to McDonalds for 30 mins while he did the inspection, came back and passed, drove to Transport and regoed car by 10:30am.
Then a 200km test drive...well it was nice day for a drive.

All Good

He was impressed that I had all the paperwork in order, and pictures printed for him to see and keep, to see the repairs step by step. Especially of structural things that get covered up later.

Originally Posted by Jastel

Got my latest wreck back on the road at last.

The WOVI was easy,

I hadnt even had breakfast so I went to McDonalds for 30 mins while he did the inspection, came back and passed, drove to Transport and regoed car by 10:30am.
Then a 200km test drive...well it was nice day for a drive.

All Good

Congratulations! You must be stoked. What car is it and how much work did it need, if you don't mind me asking?

Sorry for the slow reply, I actually just came back in here to ask another question and just saw your post now.
I'll set up a notification to email me when someone posts!

Did your repair need a surrogate vin by chance? That's what I'm doing at the moment and it's not easy. It took QLD Transport 4 weeks to issue the VIN and I finally have it, but still can't get someone to do a roadworthy for me until the new VIN is put on the car somewhere.

The problem that I am facing is that I can't find the full specifications for where the VIN goes. The paperwork says that it should be stamped beside the compliance plate, but the compliance plate on a ranger is inside the door and stamping there would seriously distort the cab. I'm trying to find out if I can stamp on the chassis instead, or should I get it engraved on a plate so it's beside the compliance plate in the door, but noone can tell me. Not even the Vehicle Identification Unit (of the Mains Roads department) who issued the surrogate VIN!

If anyone knows what the official line is, I'd be very grateful.

According to the WOVI guys, apparently people normally bring their cars for inspection with the roadworthy already and get the surrogate vin later, but I've no idea how they're doing that. I can't find anyone who's willing to do the safety certificate inspection without already having the VIN and it being stamped on the car.

[Jastel]

I'm stoked its out of my yard...

2010 FG XR6

Had 2 wrecks, same model/colour everything, one repairable with 3 wheels, one stat which had wet carpet only...it was in waaay better condition than the other one but.
I made one out of 2 so used the "repairable" VIN.

Needed whole LHS front end, I drilled out the damaged panels and radiator support bits, and the replacement ones from the good car. The panel beater did some minor pulling and rewelded the panels to keep costs to a minimum.

I repaired everything else using mostly bits from the other car.

I would do what the WOVI guy says...after all he signs the form, QT just check the boxes and copy it and process the rego, barely a second glance.
Probably a lot of the "people" with roadworthies are mechanics/car dealers and just write their own certificates out....

Queensland Transport is a mess...there is NO leadership...3 ministers in 6 months...the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing...they have fouled up the running of buses, taxis and trains. Nobody is happy. Brisbane says one thing...local office says another.

Dont take no for an answer...they work for us.
If person 1 wont decide or help, ask for his boss, if he wont decide, his boss.
It is like bashing your head against a wall but you got to keep going.
Finally I suggest you annoy your local state politician, keep notes of who tells you what, dates, times etc... it is the only way I can run my taxis.

I finally got to the local top banana (in Taxi section) the other day and his first words were not "How can I help?" but "How did you get this number?"

Great Service.

Originally Posted by Jastel

I would do what the WOVI guy says...after all he signs the form, QT just check the boxes and copy it and process the rego, barely a second glance.
Probably a lot of the "people" with roadworthies are mechanics/car dealers and just write their own certificates out....

I suspect you might be right about the majority of 'the people' doing their own certificates. I've tried to do it the way the WOVI guy says (getting the safety cert before the surrogate vin) but the safety cert guys are all telling me that they can't get involved until i get a new vin and it's been stamped on the chassis. The first guy came out and then backed out when he saw two different VINs on the car. From there I called others and told them over the phone about the VINs (in advance, so as not to waste their time) and they all backed out too, wouldn't even come look at the car.

So I've no idea how people are doing it the way that WOVI wants, it certainly hasn't worked out for me. Must be that they are getting their mates to do it, I'd say.

I finally got to the local top banana (in Taxi section) the other day and his first words were not "How can I help?" but "How did you get this number?"

Great Service.

Lovely! Makes perfect sense though. Apparently the turnaround for a surrogate VIN is usually 48 hours. Mine took 4 weeks because the lady who does them went on holidays. Turns out there is ONE PERSON in QLD who does the surrogate VINs and noone else knows how to do them.

What process did you follow? surrogate vin, safety cert, WOVR inspection, registration? Or safety cert, surrogate vin, WOVR inspection, registration? Or other??

[Jastel]

Didnt need surrogate VIN...I had a repairable write off.

I guess there wouldnt be that many people doing VIN swaps, if that is her only job she should be able to cope...especially after a month off.

Originally Posted by Jastel

Didnt need surrogate VIN...I had a repairable write off.

I guess there wouldnt be that many people doing VIN swaps, if that is her only job she should be able to cope...especially after a month off.

Oh yeah, I keep forgetting that sedans don't have a chassis that separates from the cab. I'm getting a bit forgetful in my old age...

Well, congrats on getting it back on the road, I'm glad it went smoothly.

Well, it's finished and all registered.

I thought I'd outline the process here for others to follow as I had different sets of instructions from everyone that I spoke to and got rebutted at every step of way while following that advice.

If you've used parts from another car and those parts have a VIN on them, you'll need to be issued a surrogate VIN that encompasses the original VIN and the VIN from the other car/s.

So, this is the process to follow if you need a surrogate VIN.

1: If you're repairing your car yourself, you won't have a receipt for labour that you can present at your inspection. Instead just keep proper documentation while you're repairing your car and that includes taking lots of photos of every significant thing that you do along the way as well as a list of parts and labour that you've done. Keep receipts of things that you did actually need to buy. Those parts can't come from ebay or other privately-bought sources either; the receipt needs to show an actual business name with ABN and all that jazz.

2: Download and print a vehicle registration application from the QLD transport website. (Yes I know, sounds backwards because it's awfully premature to try and register your car).

Fill out the form up to the point where it asks if you need a surrogate VIN. Tick it and leave most of the rest of the form blank. LEAVE THE FORM IN THE CAR, very important else you'll end up fined by the police if you're pulled over and can't prove you're driving an unregistered car for registration purposes.

It used to be that you'd go straight to your local police station and request a surrogate VIN but that process has changed. Now you need to be referred to police by QLD transport. Not everyone has heard of these changes yet so if you get advice that differs my recommendation would be to just ignore them and try find someone else who does.


3: Contact a car insurance mob who offer compulsory third party certificates on unregistered vehicles as you're going to have to drive the car all over the place for lots of people to look at it. You'll have to go to one of their outlets in-person to get the certificate but once you've got it, leave it in the car with the registration paperwork - equally important.

This certificate will cover you for 21 days from the day it was signed. Initially I was told that you have to actually come back in to the shop to get the date re-adjusted every single day you plan on driving the car but after the 5th time of getting the cert re-signed... on my very last expected trip... someone else actually told me that isn't necessary as you're covered for 21 days without having to come back in. That's how much(little?) people know about this process that it took the 6th person to know the right process. It was a massive waste of time to have to go to a store in-person repeatedly to get a form re-signed but anyway, I digress...

4: Drive the car to your closest transport department (has to be the closest rather than deciding you'll drive to one hours away) and submit the registration application. Don't go at the end of the day or when you're in a rush 'cause you'll be there for a while.

Hopefully you get someone who knows what to do when they see the 'surrogate vin' tick on the form. If they're away that day then you're SOL and they'll send you away to return on X day. If they're there then lucky you and they'll go and get some paperwork to organise a referral for you. They'll ask you to pull the car into one of the inspection bays so they can come and see all the identifiers of all the parts that you've used on the car. They'll probably be grateful if you can point out where they're located. Try and stifle your smile at the sight of businesswear-clad ladies in high heels getting on their hands and knees to shimmy themselves under your car to read numbers from the chassis.

They'll send the referral to your local police department so go home and wait a day or two for police to get/read the form.

5: Contact that local police department and arrange a time to bring the car out to their station for them to inspect it. Not everyone is authorised to do a surrogate vin inspection apparently, so don't just turn up.

On that time and date, drive the car to the police station. Still got the CTP cert and registration application in the car? Good, else you're not gonna get your car back out of their parking lot if you forgot.

They'll look over your car and submit an application for a surrogate VIN to the Vehicle Identification Unit of QLD Transport. There is currently one person in QLD who knows how to issue the surrogate VIN so sit tight and wait. The police told me that this process usually takes 48 hours but bad luck follows me everywhere so of course my application took three and a half weeks because that one person went on annual leave days after the application was submitted but didn't bother to do it beforehand.

The surrogate VIN will be assigned and given back to the police station, who will contact you to come and pick up some documents. You don't need to bring the car with you to pick up the documents.

6: Now you need to get the new VIN stamped on the chassis 'cause no (legit) mechanic will be willing to issue you a safety certificate for a car that is showing multiple VINs and no surrogate. Official procedure is to stamp it beside your compliance plate but if yours is just inside your door (like most new cars) and you don't feel like punching holes through the body of your car, you can stamp it on to the chassis beside the old one.

You can do this yourself if you have a steel stamp set and a bigass hammer. The font needs to be at least 7mm tall and no more than one character's width between characters, so try and keep them tight. Practice on some other steel so you get a feel for how much of a slog is required to make a good imprint 'cause you're SOL if you make a mess of it. If the new VIN is a bit difficult to see, rub some white paint across the chassis after you've stamped it and then wipe it off straight away - it should fill the punch with the paint.

You have something like 28 days to get that VIN stamped on your chassis, and sighted, else it becomes null and void and you have to do it again.

7: Go get a safety certificate. The surrogate VIN is now your only relevant VIN so use it from this point forward. You're permitted to drive the car to the shop or get a mobile mechanic to come to you.

8: Book your WOVI inspection. Drive the car there and give them all your paperwork, your photos, documentation, work log, safety certificate, surrogate vin, everything. They'll inspect your car and hopefully pass it. If they do, yay, go you, good job.

9: Go back to QLD transport to register the car. Fill out the remainder of your registration application and put the newly-issued VIN on the paperwork. Take the car with you as they need to sight the car again to see the new VIN on the chassis. Again, don't go late in the day or when you're in a rush 'cause it's not quick. This part took an hour and a half for them to do their thing and that was after waiting for my ticket to be called.

10: That's pretty much it! Car registered and good to go.

So after all that, here are some before and afters:

Before:


After:

[Tassie f100]

So you would be a VERY happy little vegemite now after those weeks of beaurocratic crap.