Vehicle examinations

For the first registration of imported vehicles you must make an appointment at a metropolitan vehicle examination centre for a vehicle inspection. Ring 13 11 56 to make an appointment.

Purchasing a vehicle inspection receipt

Before you can get your vehicle examined, you will need to purchase a vehicle inspection receipt. You can buy this from the cashier at the examination centre, although the receipts will not be able to be purchased after 3:45pm.

Alternatively, you can purchase a receipt by ringing 13 11 56 in advance of your inspection.

Booking system trial

Vehicle examinations are conducted at 6 metropolitan vehicle examination centres between the hours of 7:30am and 4:30pm Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays).

To reduce waiting times and improve our service to customers, a trial booking-system for vehicle examinations will now be in operation at a number of DPI Vehicle Examination Centres.

The booking system trial includes the following Vehicle Examination Centres:

• Warwick
• Kelmscott
• Midland

All vehicle examinations can be pre-booked at the above participating Vehicle Examination Centres. To make a booking please call 1300 782 713.

Please see our changes to vehicle examination services page for more information.

Vehicle Examination Centres not included in the trial (Welshpool and O’Connor Vehicle Examination Centres) will still operate on a first-come first-served basis. 

Customers wishing to get their vehicle examined at Welshpool or O’Connor are advised of the following:

• An examination for an everyday passenger vehicle takes on average 30 minutes.
  
  
• The average wait time prior to examination is an additional 30 minutes. Currently, an unprecedented number of vehicles are being presented for examination. This means that our normal wait times are being considerably exceeded. 
  
  
• If you attended before the clerical staff start at 8:15am, you will need to have previously paid your examination fee. This may be done by cash, cheque, EFTPOS, Visa or Mastercard.
  
  Additionally if you arrive after 2pm when the workload is generally at its peak, you may experience longer delays and in some extreme circumstances, this may mean that it will not be possible for your vehicle to be examined that day. If the lines look lengthy when you arrive, it is recommended that you speak to the Senior Examiner to find out how long a wait you are likely to have.

Vehicle examination criteria

The diagram below shows some of the criteria which your car will be examined on.

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