Queensland Trailer sales and safety certificate HELP!!!!!

[evolution]

G'day guys,

Long story short, my partner and I bought a boat and trailer from a guy in Brisbane.
I checked over the boat  and did a once over the trailer before handing over the check.
My question is not what I should have done, but what to do now.
(I didn't have the time nor the tools to pull the hubs apart, and was assured that the trailer was serviced and good to go)
I did pull the bearing buddies off and check the grease, it was clean and new.

On the way back I stopped every once in a while and checked the hubs and they were warm but easily touchable. After 500km I hit a pot hole and one of the bearings grenades it's self.
No worries, call RACV, flat tray arranged and on its way home with a bill for the truck.
Too easy.

Get it home, pulled the hubs apart to get a feel for what I needed to do and when I pulled off the outer drum brake THERE WAS NO INTERNAL BRAKE COMPONANTS!!!!
now this boat is over the 1.5 ton mark and requires a braked trailer. As I have found out since, required a safety cert to be sold with rego.
There is no way this could have passed.

I'm now up for a $1500 bill to replace pretty much the entire setup on the trailer, and I'm out of pocket.

I have rung the bloke who sold it to me, he can't come to the party.
I have rung the insurance company, Its not an accident. according to them its from negligence. So not covered.


I was told that Queensland transport has a department that handles this sort of stuff, but I can't find the number. I have rung the police and although they were polite, I was politely told that it wasn't there responsibility.

Now to say I'm PI*#ED off would be an understatement! I had my One and a half year old and my pregnant partner in the car with me towing this DEATH TRAP!!
I honestly believe that if I had of been towing it with a commodore or a falcon I would have been involved in a serious accident coming down the ranges.

Yes I am relieved that no one was hurt and that it could have been a lot worse. It really isn't a HUGE sum of money in the long term, but on principle I can't wear this! I thought I would give this bloke a few days of benefit of the doubt but I'm over that now, I want his tennis balls on a platter!!!!!!!  short of using a solicitor and spending more than the repairs of the trailer, does anyone know how this works in Queensland?
Who are the best people/department to phone?

OK rant over........

Cheers
Evo

[Bird]

I have rung the bloke who sold it to me, he can't come to the party.

Horse Shit he cant... he has the cash for the boat...
I'd be seeking legal advice from the RACQ or NRMA etc.

[D4D]

Most boat trailers use override hitches for brakes which pull on the handbrake cable to stop the trailer. What bits are you missing?

[jetcrew]

Did you fill out registration transfer papers and have them signed by the seller also providing a rego label and certificate and a saftey cert with the registered numbers on it so you could fill out and sign the rego transferr.?

Jet

Edit- I just re-read your post , I'd hate to tell you but I think you bought an unregisterd boat and trailer as rego's are not transferrable between states ..and also you may have been towing an unregistered trailer all the way home ...lucky no accident. So like when I sold my camper to a myswagger on here I had to de-register it in QLD pay for a temp movment label for him so he could drive to VIC with Ins cover and then he had to re-register it in VIC and get a roadworthy/Blueslip done down there.

Difference is I new I had no requirement to provide a saftey cert so I replaced all wheel bearings and did a full check in any case and paid for the temp rego so he could get home as I was pocketting the refund from the QLD rego.

be carefull who you call as you might get fined for towing an unregisterd trailer through QLD/NSW/VIC and you can be fined from all 3 states.

This situation really sucks as the seller would have know he had to cancell the QLD rego ..

Jet

[evolution]

The story from him is that His misses ran off with the cash "cough cough"

the trailer was hydraulic with the override in the drawbar.

The override was seized as it turns out, the hydraulic lines were full of crap, The shoes-cylinders and pretty much everything in the drum was missing.
I honestly didn't know they weren't working as the patrol pulled it up fine.

I have the rego papers and stickers, but as it turns out nothing from the queensland transport.
I have a receipt and the finance forms that he had to fill out, but as it was the first time I had bought a boat in queensland I was honestly more concerned with what I needed from them for Vic roads.
Chalk that one up to a rookie mistake.

And irony of IRONY the boat was located on bribie island.


Cheers
Evo

[Kit_e_kat9]

Did you fill out registration transfer papers and have them signed by the seller also providing a rego label and certificate and a saftey cert with the registered numbers on it so you could fill out and sign the rego transferr.?

Jet

What he said.  But this off the TMR website:  It is the vehicle owner's responsibility to ensure the vehicle is safe.

Kit_e

[Raym]

It may help to talk to a Transport Inspector.

http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/Safety/Road-safety/Transport-Inspectors.aspx

[jetcrew]

see my edit in my first post ..I think your on your own unfortunatley.

Sorry

Jet

[Bird]

if the bloke was that much of a scrote that there wer NO brake internals, and he knew you were driving 3000klms home, I'd be terrified now that theres money owing on it too

[D4D]

I'd be worried about what else is wrong with it..

[Kit_e_kat9]

I'd be worried about what else is wrong with it..

It's a boat trailer ... can there be anything else that could go wrong with it ... apart from the hitch coming loose and the wheels falling off?  I'd be much more worried about the boat itself.   

Kit_e

[evolution]

Hey Jet,

From what I understood, you could still sell it registered, but must provide a safety cert. When transferring ownership details to vicroads, then it needs to be cancelled and re registered.


 attached is the photo of what was left of the hub assembly.

Cheers
Evo

[bushbandit]

Unless their different the papers for a boat when i picked up my CT from Qld it was ok to bring it back to NSW with the current QLD rego on it plus plates we just made sure we got the rego papers of him checked the vins etc from papers to the CT plate did a securites check on the day and got a receipt then drove home ,did a blue slip,handed plates in and received a plate surrender certificate.You dont have to deregister before you bring back ,he wanted to do that but didnt want to pay $29 a day for permit so i could drive back.

[Bird]

Hey Jet,

From what I understood, you could still sell it registered, but must provide a safety cert. When transferring ownership details to vicroads, then it needs to be cancelled and re registered.

thats within Victoria. you bought from Qld.

[bushbandit]

if the bloke was that much of a scrote that there wer NO brake internals, and he knew you were driving 3000klms home, I'd be terrified now that theres money owing on it too

Yes especially if you didnt do a Securites Register Check $3.70,in QLD .And for others reading who may purchase from QLD make sure you do that check on the day of purchase as its a legal document that covers you but only on the day of purchase and they are open on Sat and Sun  so you can check as well.

[kevb]

thats within Victoria. you bought from Qld.

and then from the VICroads website

"If you are moving to Victoria permanently, or have brought a vehicle with interstate registration, you will need to register it in Victoria. If you have an interstate driver licence, you will also need to change it over to a Victorian licence once you have been living here for more than three months.

What you need to do
To register your interstate registered vehicle in Victoria you will need to make an appointment and attend a VicRoads Customer Service Centre. To make an appointment, call 13 11 71 (Mon-Fri 8.30am - 5pm, Sat 8.30am - 2pm) with the following information:


the VIN and engine number of your vehicle
the registration number of the vehicle
your current licence number.
You will also need to pay an appointment fee.

In most situations, as long as the interstate vehicle registration is current and is going into the same name in Victoria, a certificate of roadworthiness (RWC) will not be required to register your vehicle in Victoria. However, you will need to make an appointment at a VicRoads Customer Service Centre to have the vehicle registered.

There will be other situations where a certificate of roadworthiness will be required to have your vehicle registered in Victoria. Call us on 13 11 71 to check when you will require to supply a RWC."

So what I read from that is he was covered with the rego of a vehicle or trailer purchased from interstate he would just need to provide Vicroads with a roadworthy, I dont know if they would accept a Queensland one (cant see why they wouldn't). IMO as long as the rego wasn't cancelled then he was towing a registered trailer that should not have passed a roadworthy. The relevant parts are in bold.

[Bird]

, I dont know if they would accept a Queensland one (cant see why they wouldn't)

they didnt in the past.. same as Engineers Certs from some states are not interchangeable.

[kevb]

they didnt in the past.. same as Engineers Certs from some states are not interchangeable.

I guess my post was more in reply to Jetcrew as he stated the tailer was unregistered and had been towed back to Vic in an unregistered condition, which in my opinion is wrong as evolution makes no reference to the trailer being deregistered. As for the RWC I really dont know the answer to the interchangeability from state to state.

[jetcrew]

I guess my post was more in reply to Jetcrew as he stated the tailer was unregistered and had been towed back to Vic in an unregistered condition, which in my opinion is wrong as evolution makes no reference to the trailer being deregistered. As for the RWC I really dont know the answer to the interchangeability from state to state.

The only legal way to sell a trailer /car /camper in QLD WITHOUT A SAFTEY CERT IS UNREGISTERED.. so as far the insurance underwritter for the public liabilty and the dept of transport qld would be concearned the vehical /trailer was unregistered at the point of sale ..because if it was a registered sale a roadworthy cert and rego tsfr papers would have been compleated.


There have been cases in qld just like this and accidents have happened and it's not pretty ..forgett tickets etc it's injury insurance that can ruin you personally.

If you are from any other state and wish to buy from Qld don't drive it home with QLD plates you will have no public liabilty ins if the sale has occoured. Pay the $28 per day and then you are covered by a seperate underwritting for liabilty untill you get it home. you nominate the exact address on the form and must travel the most direct route. The only time the public liabilty is continued is with signed tsfr forms and a roadworthy.

He has committed an offence by not removing the plates , but by reporting him you kind of put yourself in it to. Him not supplying a roadworthy and giving the trailer to you in that cond is not an offence in QLd unfortunatley ,because of the type of sale you transacted.

It is buyer beware in QLD

jet
   

[evolution]

if the bloke was that much of a scrote that there wer NO brake internals, and he knew you were driving 3000klms home, I'd be terrified now that theres money owing on it too

That much is covered, the finance company checked all that no encombance.
I have had the boat checked, all is good with the boat side of things.

Cheers though
Evo

[evolution]

The only legal way to sell a trailer /car /camper in QLD WITHOUT A SAFTEY CERT IS UNREGISTERED.. so as far the insurance underwritter for the public liabilty and the dept of transport qld would be concearned the vehical /trailer was unregistered at the point of sale ..because if it was a registered sale a roadworthy cert and rego tsfr papers would have been compleated.


There have been cases in qld just like this and accidents have happened and it's not pretty ..forgett tickets etc it's injury insurance that can ruin you personally.

If you are from any other state and wish to buy from Qld don't drive it home with QLD plates you will have no public liabilty ins if the sale has occoured. Pay the $28 per day and then you are covered by a seperate underwritting for liabilty untill you get it home. you nominate the exact address on the form and must travel the most direct route. The only time the public liabilty is continued is with signed tsfr forms and a roadworthy.

He has committed an offence by not removing the plates , but by reporting him you kind of put yourself in it to. Him not supplying a roadworthy and giving the trailer to you in that cond is not an offence in QLd unfortunatley ,because of the type of sale you transacted.

It is buyer beware in QLD

jet
 

I Understand what your saying mate, I was only going off what the local plod said to me. Apparently He is liable as its the sellers responsibility to ensure that the terms of sale are met.
I Will ring the Queensland inspectors and hopefully they can shed some light onto it for me.
The whole thing that gets to me is with all the kerfuffle with the finance company I missed something. Normally Im on top of these things. Ill put that down to new-boatitis I think.

I understand he committed an offence by either
A)not removing the plates and selling unregistered
B)not supplying the safety certificate with sale.

I only just found out then that you can't even advertise a vehicle/heavy trailer for sale with out a valid safety cert if you are selling it with rego.

Man hind-site is a pain in the proverbial and I really hate to be that person having a whine!

I dunno I really feel screwed on this and although consequentially its not huge in the long term the whole underlying safety factor is what got me.

I will update you all tomorrow when I phone around in Queensland.

Cheers
Evo

[bushbandit]

Someone should Phone the QLD Motor Transport or whatever they call themselves and tell them they are full of sh...t as i made numerous phone calls to them and specifically asked them can i drive a registered CT back to NSW with the plates etc on it and they all said yes no worries people do it all the time just when you get back hand the plates in and get a certificate of surrender and our RTA will send the plates back or destroy.Dont have to get a permit to drive transfer from one adress to another.Thats the trouble these days you do all the checks and phone calls and there is a thousand different stories the sooner they bring a national system into place the better

[nbd73]

How is it any different to a Qld resident towing their CT in other states whilst on holidays?

[britts]

Correct me if I'm wrong but you don't need roadworthy's every 12 months in QLD so you must supply one if you sell your item, it can still carry QLD rego but must have a roadworthy, and you have 3 months in which to reregister in your home state.

[Kit_e_kat9]

Correct me if I'm wrong but you don't need roadworthy's every 12 months in QLD so you must supply one if you sell your item, it can still carry QLD rego but must have a roadworthy, and you have 3 months in which to reregister in your home state.

Nope!  Just one for sale if still registered.  If unregistered, well that's AS IS / WHERE IS and you'd have to trailer it home unless you got a day pass (tech term?) to move it from A --> B which is usually from home to where ever you are getting the roadworthy.

Kit_e