Something to remember if you buy a car in NZ

VulcanSpirit
Richard & Alison Brunstrom
Sun 10 Feb 2013 11:25
Here is a useful tip. See the picture below? It's of our car's windscreen. The paper in the window is a government licence, very similar to the UK Vehicle Excise Licence disc. 
 
 
Turns out that the date is the expiry date. We thought it was the commencement of our new MOT equivalent. We found our error the hard way, getting a $200 ticket on a back street in Auckland at half past eleven at night. Ouch!  We appealed, ignorance of the law, citing the fact that it was an offence to sell us a car without a valid licence, we're just visitors, we've paid the back tax etc, using their very efficient online system. No dice. But at $200 a time we won't be reoffending, that's for sure.