Are GVM upgrades legal Australia wide?
I’ve seen this question discussed a number of times recently, and often the information given out is not correct. If you get a GVM upgrade done after registration, is it legal and compliant Australia wide?
The answer is actually really simple; yes, its legal and compliant the entire way around Australia. If you get a post registration GVM upgrade done in Western Australia and the police in Queensland pull you over and weigh your setup, they will honour your GVM upgrade providing you have the correct nameplate or paperwork to back it up.
The same applies in every other state, and it does not matter where you had it done.
However, where the confusion comes in is when you sell the vehicle. If you sell it within the state that it is registered, the GVM upgrade continues, as normal. If you sell it across state borders though, the GVM upgrade becomes null and void, and the new owner has to go and get it done again (or at least signed off again).
It might not make much sense, but that’s the ruling at the moment. I specifically made enquiries about this when we had the Dmax GVM upgrade completed, as we knew we’d be doing a lap of Australia and if its only compliant in the state you have it fitted, its pretty useless.
I know that if we sell our Dmax within WA the new owner will walk away with a GVM upgrade and all the fruit, all legal and ready to go. If I sell it to someone in Victoria or Tasmania though, the GVM upgrade is basically torn up and thrown away (despite it still being bolted to the vehicle!).
It’s pretty silly really, but that’s how it is at the moment!
