South Australia's second-hand vehicle crackdown, carrying strong new penalties for odometer tampering and unlicensed dealing since 1 July 2025 have been bolstered by further reforms increasing buyer protections and streamlining the sales process from 1 September 2025.
The penalties in force from 1 July 2025 include:
- maximum penalties for unlicensed dealing increase from $100,000 to $250,000 and/or two years imprisonment for individuals, and from $250,000 to $500,000 for body corporates (companies)
- a 15-fold increase of the maximum penalty for odometer tampering to $150,000, or for three or more offences, and/or two years imprisonment
- a new offence for providing false and misleading statements in relation to odometers plus powers to require that altered odometers be rectified
- allowing courts to order compensation for a consumer impacted by a private seller convicted of odometer tampering.
Note: A person who buys, sells or offers for sale 4 or more vehicles within 12 months in South Australia must be licensed. Where a family or household member is also dealing in vehicles, 6 or more between them in 12 months also require a licence. A person carrying on a business as a dealer also requires a licence, even if they only buy or sell less than 4 vehicles. (See s50 of the Second-hand Vehicle Dealers Act 1995).
Changes from 1 September 2025
Additional reforms effective 1 September 2025 include new obligations around a dealer's duty to repair vehicles, increased consumer protections, administrative changes to streamline the sales process and recognition of electric and hybrid vehicles. Regulated forms have also been updated.
Updates to the Second-hand Vehicle Dealers Act 1995 include:
- supporting cost effective pricing by enabling dealers to disclose defects that won’t be subject to the duty to repair, provided that the vehicle is roadworthy
- expanding the dealer’s duty to repair to include the main propulsion batteries in hybrid and electric vehicles within the statutory warranty period
- new practicalities:
- removing the administrative burden of displaying the previous owner’s name and address and potentially alleviating privacy and safety concerns (still available from the dealer/auctioneer on request)
- removing the need to display the name and details of the last person the vehicle was leased to, if it was used as a taxi or hire car (still available from the dealer/auctioneer on request)
- allowing dealers to include additional information in a contract of sale without taking away important information for buyers
- resulting streamlining of the prescribed form for sale of a vehicle or motorcycle.
Further changes coming into effect via supporting regulations:
- no longer allow a purchaser to waive the dealer’s duty to repair a vehicle
- better clarify purchaser's rights, including information on sales documents
- define electric and hybrid vehicles as well as their non-propulsion batteries
- enable exemption of non-propulsion batteries from the dealer’s duty to repair in recognition these are consumable items that individuals can purchase and instal
- clearly align laws with the Australian Consumer Law’s consumer guarantees that can’t be waived
- create new, and update existing, prescribed notices (forms (external site)) to cater for amendments to the Act. This includes renewed forms for which a 6-month transition period is allowed to 1 March 2026.
Information is being shared with second-hand vehicle traders to support these changes.
The government is retaining the statutory warranty period under the Act for cars aged less than 15 years or that have travelled less than 200,000km.
You can report suspicious car sales practices in SA and odometer tampering to Consumer and Business Services on 131 882.
