The roadworthy and the day the licence changes hands

A roadworthy test looks at brakes, steering, suspension play, tyres, lights, wipers, the windscreen, the exhaust and emissions, the handbrake, mirrors, the seatbelts and whether the identification numbers match the papers. It is a safety floor. A car can pass with a tired gearbox, a leaking water pump, a collapsed driver's seat and an aircon that blows warm, because none of those are on the list.

Expect to pay somewhere around R600 to R1 100 indicative at a testing station, and expect to be told about items you can fix cheaply before the retest. Where a car fails on something structural, such as a chassis member that has been straightened, that is not a repair conversation. That is a reason to walk away.

In most cases a roadworthy certificate is needed when a car changes ownership, and in Gauteng it is normally the seller's job to produce one. Plenty of private sellers try to push the cost across to the buyer, which is negotiable, but do not accept a promise to send it later. No certificate means the registering authority will not complete the change of ownership, and you will be driving a car that is still legally in somebody else's name.

Get the test done at a station you choose, not the one across the road from the seller. We are not accusing anyone of anything; we have simply seen too many certificates issued on cars that could not have passed, and a station with its own reputation to protect is worth the extra drive to Silverton or Rosslyn.

Three pieces of paper matter. The seller completes a notification of change of ownership, which tells the national system that they have disposed of the car. You complete an application for registration and licensing in your own name. The roadworthy certificate goes with it. Add your identity document, proof of residence that is recent enough to be accepted, and the original registration certificate once the bank has released it.

Take the whole bundle to the registering authority for your area, pay the registration and licence fees, and leave with a new registration certificate and a licence disc. Fees vary by province and by the mass of the car; for an ordinary family car in Tshwane, budget in the region of R350 to R700 indicative for the transfer and the disc together, more for a heavy double-cab bakkie.

The registering authority is a municipal office with municipal hours, and the difference between a twenty-minute visit and a half-day one is entirely about timing. Early on a midweek morning is best. Month end, the day after a public holiday and the first working day of the month are the ones to avoid. Some offices in Tshwane take bookings, which is worth the phone call before you drive out.

Load-shedding is the other variable. When the power goes the system goes with it, and a generator does not always bring the network back. Check the schedule for the suburb the office sits in before you leave home, and carry the papers in a file rather than loose in the car, because you will be asked for the one page you left on the kitchen table.

Before keys change hands, confirm the licence disc is current, the spare key exists and works, the owner's manual and service book are in the car, and the tracking unit situation is clear. On a financed car the previous owner's tracking subscription ends with their account, and your insurer will often require a new approved unit within a set number of days. Fitting one runs about R1 400 to R3 500 indicative depending on the type of unit.

Then do one dull but important thing: walk around the car with the seller and photograph every panel, the odometer and the engine bay, in daylight, with the date visible on your phone. If a dispute follows, the photographs settle it. Drive the car straight to a workshop you trust for an oil and filter change, whatever the book says, and start your own record from the first day of your ownership.