Vehicle's ownership has recently changed

The current registered owner has owned the vehicle for only a short period of time. If they are not a Registered Motor Vehicle Trader then you should question why they are selling the vehicle so soon after purchasing it.

There could be mechanical or legal issues that you need to be aware of and we recommend that you;

• Have an independent mechanical inspection from Vehicle Testing New Zealand (VTNZ) to check for mechanical faults.
• Establish proof of ownership. When there is a change of ownership, the NZTA automatically advise the seller of the change in ownership to ensure it was authorised. However this process can take several weeks and it is possible that the previous owner has not yet been made aware of the change, and therefore has not had a chance to dispute the change of ownership, or worse, report the vehicle stolen. In this case we advise you to contact the previous owner and confirm the change of ownership was legal (e.g. the vehicle has been purchased correctly and not stolen).