How Much Does A Roadworthy Cost?
The time has come, hey? It’s finally here, your roadworthy inspection… We’ve all got that burning desire to know exactly what to expect from a roadworthy.
And of course, how much a roadworthy certificate costs…
Luckily enough, the government makes sure that roadworthys don’t cost a lot. By keeping the prices reasonable they keep us happy and the qualified inspectors happy with work as well. We’ve got the full list of roadworthy prices coming up shortly.
There are some extra things that may get added to the cost of your roadworthy though, so it’s important that you are vigilant in finding those costs on your quote and understand exactly what they are.
Like with many things, factors may cause a change in the cost of your roadworthy, so we’ll help you go through what they could be and how to prepare for them.
DON’T FORGET, choose your roadworthy inspector wisely. We come across customers all the time who have gone for a cheap $60 roadworthy and the mobile mechanic will purposely fail them on something that isn’t an issue (Learn what happens if you fail a roadworthy here).
Then, the mechanic will try to sell them an on the spot fix of these issues charging extremely inflated prices. If it sounds too cheap, then it probably is. They will be cutting costs elsewhere.
If you would like to know the in’s and outs of a roadworthy, then please feel free to read my complete guide of roadworthy certificates here.
And of course, if you are in need of a roadworthy then please give my friend team a call to find out the best price we can do for you. Our friendly team and qualified inspectors have over 500+ five star reviews. It’s easy, you can book a date and time online in under 60 seconds here.
Table of Contents
The government sets the cost of a roadworthy
Yes, that’s right. To ensure that inspectors do not all come together and raise the price of a roadworthy certificate, the government sets the prices every year. Unlike pre-purchase car inspections, we don’t have control over the price.
Of course, it’s in their best interest to keep the cost of a roadworthy low or else everyone would get frustrated and ask why we need to spend so much every time we need to inspect our car.
Each state is different, for Queensland the state government has provided qualified inspectors and registered mechanics an up to date price list for all Qld road users.
Fortunately, (unlike COI & CL inspections) we don’t have to get a road safety inspection every year, only when we meet certain criteria. You can see when you need a roadworthy here.
Any extra roadworthy costs are added by the qualified inspectors
This is something that all car owners should be aware of. There will (most likely) be some added costs to your roadworthy price.
It’s important to highlight, legally all of these added costs will need to be outlined on the invoice or quote. Not showing these added costs is illegal and may suggest your inspector or up to something dodgy.
When using us, we will breakdown the costs for labour which may be a small additional fee so that we don’t run ourselves out of business and can pay our inspectors a good wage.
Many companies may put this down as a call out fee, service charge or just labour costs. It’s good to be able to check for this to ensure that you are not being ripped off. However, like mentioned before it’s best not to go too cheap.
If you do find someone who’s offering a questionably low price, more than likely they will be cutting costs somewhere and it may be an expensive mistake for you.
PS. It’s important to remember how long a roadworthy last’s for. You don’t want to be buying 2 inspections before your first one expired. You can find out how long roadworthys last here.
Factors that might change the cost of your roadworthy
So, there are a few factors that you will need to think about when costing up your road safety inspection. Some things may increase or decrease the cost of your roadworthy certificate.
Here are the main ones:
New cars are quicker to inspect
This means we can get it done faster therefore we will charge less on our labour costs. Older cars that take longer may cost a little bit more.
How quickly you need your road safety inspection done
If you need it done the next day, then we may have to reschedule our bookings to fit you in. This of course is going to cost more than us putting you into our schedule.
Your location
We service all of Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast but if you are an hour or two away then it might mean we will need to charge a little bit more in travel expenses and labour costs.
Type of vehicle
We will go through the list of the different costs for each vehicle type. A large trailer is going to cost more than a small motor vehicle if that makes sense.
List of roadworthy cost for each vehicle
Here it is, the moment we’ve all been waiting for. The costs of each roadworthy by vehicle type.
These are the yearly prices that the Queensland government sets and applies to all road users.
- Cars & motor vehicles under 4 ½ ton – $87.65
- Trailers between 750kg and 3.5T – $43.90
- Motorbike, mopeds and motorcycles – $56.35
- Rideshare COI (Uber, DiDi, Ola) – $89.20
- Heavy vehicle more than 16T GVM – $156.65
- Heavy trailer more than 3.5T ATM – $71.05
You’ll also be able to view these exact prices on the Qld government website.
As I mentioned before, be careful going for the cheapest. It always leads to more costs in the future. Inspectors may try and fail you on purpose to get you to pay a high price for an instant fix.
How much is the average cost of a roadworthy?
The average price of a road safety certificate in Queensland is between $90 to $100. Of course, some may cost more than others due to the factors mentioned above (location, car age and timeframe).
But honestly, most inspectors are all pricing around the same cost for a roadworthy.
The cost of roadworthy certificates change every year...
Yes, something to consider. Every year the government will change the cost of a roadworthy inspection. This means that one year it could be cheap, the next year it could have increased.
Last year, the prices were more affordable and have since gone up this year. Maybe this is align with inflation but it just means that you shouldn’t wait to get your roadworthy. It may become more expensive over time.
However, on the other hand it may come down in price. We haven’t seen it yet but there’s always a first for everything! Either way, that’s everything you’ll need to know about the cost of mobile roadworthy certificates.
Feel free to share your experiences and prices in the comments with everyone below, we’re all eager to hear! 😁
2 Responses
Now I understand that the cost of roadworthy inspections really depends, so, it’s really not encouraged to delay this as each year that passes by, it may become more expensive. I would really expect that these types of check-ups are unavoidable when you sell or trade your vehicle. It would be great if there are auto services that help in conditioning vehicles before these assessments.
I need a road worthy as I am giving this car to s relative as a gift and want to make sure everything is working well