When your rego is due, it can hit your finances hard. Paying for 12 months of registration upfront costs hundreds of dollars, if not more. If you don’t have savings to fall back on, this can be a lot for a single payslip to have to cover.
A car registration loan offers a way to spread the cost across several months, up to as much as a year or two. Breaking down the cost into manageable instalments can help you register your car with less strain on your monthly budget.
What is a car registration loan and how does it work?
A car registration loan is a small cash loan taken out to pay for your car rego, as the name suggests. These loans are designed to be quick and easy to apply and get approved for, allowing you to access the funds you need to cover expenses like your car registration and other costs you might need to pay for.
These loans are available for up to $5,000, meaning they can typically cover the cost of your car rego comfortably, as it might only need a loan of $1,000 or so to cover it. In terms of the cost, that depends on how much you borrow. Here’s the fee breakdown for each type of car registration loan:
| Loan amount | Establishment fee | Monthly fee/interest |
|---|---|---|
| Up to $2,000 | Up to 20% of loan amount | Up to 4% of loan amount |
| $2,001 to $5,000 | Up to $400 | Up to 48.00% p.a. interest |
For loans up to $2,000, you can pay them off over a period of between 16 days and one year. For loans between $2,001 and $5,000, the maximum loan amount increases to two years. However, not all lenders will offer the full range of loan terms.
How much does car registration cost?
The cost of car registration varies significantly depending on where you live and the type of car you have. This means you might be spending as little as $58 to re-register your car in the Australian Capital Territory but almost $1,500 to do so in New South Wales (for vehicles with a tare weight between 4,325kg and 4,500kg), as of the 2025-26 financial year.
Neither of these figures is inclusive of other registration costs like compulsory third party (CTP) insurance or car insurance, which could mean you're facing another few hundred or thousand dollars. Here are some of the factors that can determine how much you pay for car registration:
- Type of vehicle: whether you’re driving a sedan, hatchback, SUV or ute impacts the cost of your rego in Victoria.
- Vehicle power: whether you’re registering a three, four or five-cylinder vehicle can make a difference. The lower the power of your car, the less you’ll pay in Tasmania, Queensland and South Australia, while the Northern Territory looks at the size of your car’s engine (cc).
- Vehicle weight: in Western Australia and New South Wales, what you’ll pay largely comes down to the weight of your vehicle. In New South Wales, all cars are charged the same $82 registration fee, with vehicle tax based on your car’s weight being added.
- CTP insurance: some state and territory governments will bundle the cost of CTP cover into your registration fee, while others, such as New South Wales (where it’s known as a Green Slip) and Queensland, require you to buy it separately before registering your car.
- Exemptions and concessions: you might be eligible for a partial reduction or full waiver of your registration fees, such as if you’re a pensioner or an incapacitated person in South Australia.
How can I use my car registration loan?
As mentioned, you can obviously use your car registration loan to cover the cost of your vehicle rego. However, you can also use it for a range of other vehicle-related and non-vehicle-related expenses, including:
- Car repairs and maintenance: perhaps your car needs minor repairs, or a service is due to keep your car in good working order. These can be bundled into the same loan if need be.
- Roadworthy inspection: if you live in NSW and your car is more than five years old, a pink slip inspection is required every 12 months before registration. While this isn’t required elsewhere in Australia, you may still need an inspection if, for example, your rego has expired or you’ve moved from another state.
- Household essentials: if you need to replace important items in your home, you can take out a loan that covers the cost of furniture or other appliances.
- Rent and rental bonds: you might be about to move into a new place and need to pay a lump sum as a bond, or are simply struggling to keep up with your rent payments. Both can be included in your loan.
- Other emergency costs: financial disasters can strike at the worst time, especially if you need to renew your car’s rego as well. Your loan can cover emergency costs, too.
Bundling vehicle costs into your car registration loan
Jason’s car registration is due in the next few days, but he also has other costs he has to juggle at the same time. That includes his annual insurance premium, a regular service and some new tyres. The total cost works out to be $3,000, so he decides to take out a small cash loan to help him pay for it.
Before he applies for his loan, he considers how long he should take to repay the debt. He crunches the numbers and works out how much he’ll pay over different term lengths:
| Loan term | Fortnightly repayment | Establishment fee | Total interest paid | Overall cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 months | $296 | $400 | $450 | $3,850 |
| 9 months | $209 | $400 | $672 | $4,072 |
| 12 months | $165 | $400 | $901 | $4,301 |
| 15 months | $140 | $400 | $1,139 | $4,539 |
| 18 months | $123 | $400 | $1,383 | $4,783 |
| Calculations are based on a loan with a 48.00% p.a. interest rate. | ||||
Looking at the calculations, Jason decides to go with the nine-month loan, as it’s the best fit for his budget and is still among the cheaper options available.
How quickly can my car registration loan be approved and funded?
A car registration loan can often be approved and funded as soon as the same day you apply, with some lenders able to process applications and offer formal approval within just one hour. While it usually isn’t possible to have your small cash loan paid in minutes, the process is still a rapid one.
However, some factors can impact the speed of your application and approval, such as:
- The time of day and week you apply: lenders can only formally assess your application within business hours. That means that if you apply late at night or just before a weekend when they close, it might delay the process. We work with lenders who can approve loans on the weekend.
- Your bank’s processing speed: it might not be an issue with your lender, but some banks may take longer to process transfers, particularly outside of their business hours.
- Your responsiveness: if you can’t provide the information your lender needs quickly, the process will obviously drag out. The same applies if the information you supply is incorrect or incomplete.
- The complexity of your profile: while lenders are flexible when it comes to bad credit and other financial issues, it may take longer to assess if your employment or financial situation isn’t straightforward.
How to apply for a car registration loan with Savvy
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Tell us about yourself
Fill out our simple online form with details about your profile and how much you need.
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Get an instant outcome
We’ll run your info by our panel of lenders. If there’s a match, you can get instant conditional approval.
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Have your application assessed
From there, your lender will formally assess your profile to see if the loan is right for you.
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Approval and funding
Once you’re approved, you can sign off and have the funds sent to your account.