22 September 2013

Is there a refund for Car plates?

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Hi,

I was wondering if anyone out there would know if I were to return my car rego plates to ACT Registration Shopfront would I receive any kind of refund?

If there is a refund, is it a flat fee or does it depend on other criteria?

Thanks for your assistance.

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Felix the Cat10:47 am 23 Sep 13

goggles13 said :

thanks for the suggestions. I know that tamper proof screws are designed to not be easily removed, but surely there is an easier way of removing them for the right reasons. plate swaps or plate removals wouldn’t be that unusual.

I wonder if ACT Rego at Dickson, where I will be going in a few weeks with the new car to register it in the ACT, can help?

The screws are probably just torx (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torx) and the tool to remove them is available at most auto parts shops and hardware stores (and even eBay). If you don’t want to buy them for a one-off job then most mechanical workshops should be able to do it for you (probably will charge you though).

Several years ago my car was stolen and written off. It had a months rego still on it so I took the plates into the shopfront to return them and get a “refund”. Instead they wanted me to pay them. WTF. I just said “oh on second thoughts I won’t cancel the rego”. I walked out with my plates which are now hanging in my garage.

It might just be possible that we have some halfwits making up the rules here in the ACT.

Sandman said :

There’s a flat cancellation fee also so if its only a months worth its almost not worth the effort.

^^ yep…i recently moved from canberra to sydney and cancelled my ACT rego to get NSW plates/rego. had abour 3 months left on my ACT rego and was pretty shocked when i got it back and there was just under $50 removed in “administration fee”…bit of a rort really given they didn’t do anything except send a cheque (and NSW did the rest of the processing)

but the plates aren’t what is refunded but they do check off to make sure you return them

Spherical said :

goggles13 said :

last time I cancelled an ACT rego, I got a pro-rata refund of the rego fee (which I think included the CTP).

now if I can find an easy way to remove my tamper proof screws from my current car when I trade it in a few weeks…………

An extractor can be twisted into a hole drilled into the screw. Drilling is tricky, start with a delicate touch with an angle grinder … Caution with the grinder.
Pop rivets can be drilled out, a bit easier than screws, but offer less robust tamer resistance.

thanks for the suggestions. I know that tamper proof screws are designed to not be easily removed, but surely there is an easier way of removing them for the right reasons. plate swaps or plate removals wouldn’t be that unusual.

I wonder if ACT Rego at Dickson, where I will be going in a few weeks with the new car to register it in the ACT, can help?

Sandman said :

There’s a flat cancellation fee also so if its only a months worth its almost not worth the effort.

We were told this a few years ago when we bought a second-hand car from an ACT dealer with a month or so rego left and were registering it in NSW. We decided that was believable and didn’t even bother making the effort to check, let alone get a refund!

goggles13 said :

last time I cancelled an ACT rego, I got a pro-rata refund of the rego fee (which I think included the CTP).

now if I can find an easy way to remove my tamper proof screws from my current car when I trade it in a few weeks…………

An extractor can be twisted into a hole drilled into the screw. Drilling is tricky, start with a delicate touch with an angle grinder … Caution with the grinder.
Pop rivets can be drilled out, a bit easier than screws, but offer less robust tamer resistance.

p1 said :

goggles13 said :

now if I can find an easy way to remove my tamper proof screws from my current car when I trade it in a few weeks…………

Hacksaw, grind or file a grove across the face of the screw then use a flat head screw driver. Unless you are just going to return the plates, then just bend then until the light alloy snaps…

have polycarbonate plates and plan to keep them for my new car

There’s a flat cancellation fee also so if its only a months worth its almost not worth the effort.

goggles13 said :

now if I can find an easy way to remove my tamper proof screws from my current car when I trade it in a few weeks…………

Hacksaw, grind or file a grove across the face of the screw then use a flat head screw driver. Unless you are just going to return the plates, then just bend then until the light alloy snaps…

Thanks.

I thought as much. Good luck with the tamper proof screws.

You don’t really get a refund for the plates, but rather the remainder of unused registration. If you are returning plates for a car that’s outside rego as someone already mentioned, you don’t get anything.

goggles13: When you trade in your car you are also trading in the remainder of the registration. This means the dealership will take ownership of your car’s rego. You’re not supposed to cancel it.

last time I cancelled an ACT rego, I got a pro-rata refund of the rego fee (which I think included the CTP).

now if I can find an easy way to remove my tamper proof screws from my current car when I trade it in a few weeks…………

If the car was still registered, yes. As per http://www.rego.act.gov.au/registrations/regocancel.htm

A pro-rata refund may be provided on any unused portion of registration or compulsory third party insurance (minus an administration fee).

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