New South Wales Consolidated Acts

MOTOR DEALERS ACT 1974 - SECT 4

4 Definitions

(1) In this Act, except in so far as the context or subject-matter otherwise indicates or requires:
"accessories" includes car wirelesses, sound reproducing equipment, air conditioning units and spare wheels and tools usually carried on motor vehicles.
"authorised officer" means:

(a) any member of the police force,

(b) an investigator appointed under section 18 of the Fair Trading Act 1987 ,

(c) the Director-General,

(d) any person authorised in writing by the Director-General, including a person authorised under section 6 (1), or

(e) any person authorised in writing by the Chief Executive Officer of the Roads and Traffic Authority.

"auto-dismantler" means a person who carries on the business of:

(a) demolishing or dismantling motor vehicles or parts or accessories of motor vehicles, or

(b) buying motor vehicles and substantially demolished or substantially dismantled motor vehicles and selling substantially demolished or substantially dismantled motor vehicles (whether or not the person also sells parts or accessories of motor vehicles), or

(c) buying and selling prescribed kinds of parts or accessories of motor vehicles.

"auto-dismantler’s licence" means an auto-dismantler’s licence granted under section 12.
"buy" means buy as principal or agent.
"car market operator" means a person who carries on the business of providing a site for a market for the sale by other persons of second-hand motor vehicles, whether or not that site is used for any other purpose.
"car market operator’s licence" means a car market operator’s licence granted under section 12.
"cash price":

(a) in relation to a motor vehicle offered or displayed for sale, means the price at which the vendor is willing to sell the vehicle for cash complete with all accessories then fitted to or supplied with the vehicle, and

(b) in relation to the sale of a motor vehicle:

(i) means the price at which the vehicle is sold,

(ii) where any part of the consideration that passed, or is to pass, from the purchaser is represented by another vehicle, or other thing, means the price at which the vehicle is sold and the value of the other vehicle or thing as ascribed to it for the purposes of the sale by the parties thereto or, if no agreed value is so ascribed, the market value of the other vehicle or thing at the time of the sale, or

(iii) where all of the consideration that passed, or is to pass, from the purchaser is represented by another vehicle, or other thing, means the value of the other vehicle or thing as ascribed to it for the purposes of the sale by the parties thereto or, if no agreed value is so ascribed, the market value of the other vehicle or thing at the time of the sale, less any amount paid, or to be paid, by the vendor to the purchaser in connection with the sale.

"commercial vehicle" means a motor vehicle constructed or adapted principally for:

(a) the carriage of goods,

(b) the carriage of 10 or more adult persons, or

(c) industrial or agricultural use,

and includes a motor vehicle prescribed to be a commercial vehicle for the purposes of this definition and a motor vehicle of a class or description of motor vehicles prescribed to be commercial vehicles for the purposes of this definition, but does not include:

(d) a motor vehicle of the kind known as a utility, a station waggon or a panel van that is of the same make as a factory-produced motor car and in which such part of the body form as is forward of the windscreen and the greater part of the mechanical equipment are the same, or substantially the same, as in that motor car,

(e) a motor vehicle that is adapted for camping use, or

(f) a motor vehicle prescribed not to be a commercial vehicle for the purposes of this definition or a motor vehicle of a class or description of motor vehicles prescribed not to be commercial vehicles for the purposes of this definition.

"criminal intelligence" means information classified by the Commissioner of Police as criminal intelligence within the meaning of the Crimes (Criminal Organisations Control) Act 2009 .
"dealer" means a person who carries on the business of buying, selling or exchanging motor vehicles, but does not include a financier.
"dealer’s licence" means a dealer’s licence granted under section 12.
"defect notice", in relation to a motor vehicle, means a notice in or to the effect of the prescribed form given, following an inspection of the motor vehicle, by:

(a) except as provided by paragraph (c), in the case of a motor vehicle (other than a motor cycle)-the holder of a licence, or a tradesperson’s certificate, granted under the Motor Vehicle Repairs Act 1980 in respect of a class of repair work that comprises or includes the work of a motor mechanic,

(b) except as provided by paragraph (c), in the case of a motor cycle:

(i) a person referred to in paragraph (a), or

(ii) the holder of a licence, or a tradesperson’s certificate, granted under the Motor Vehicle Repairs Act 1980 in respect of a class of repair work that comprises or includes the work of a motor cycle mechanic, or

(c) in the case of a prescribed defect or a defect of a prescribed class or description-a prescribed person or a person of a prescribed class or description,

which specifies with reasonable particularity:

(d) each defect (if any) actually found to be present in the vehicle at the time of inspection by the person giving the notice, and

(e) in relation to each such defect, the estimate of the person giving the notice of the fair cost of repairing or making good the defect.

"demonstrator motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle:

(a) that has not been sold to a person other than a dealer or wholesaler,

(b) that has been registered only in the name of any one or more of the following persons:

(i) any dealer or wholesaler or any person on behalf of any dealer or wholesaler,

(ii) any person in anticipation of the sale of the vehicle to that person, and

(c) that has not been used for any purpose, other than:

(i) a purpose in connection with its manufacture or sale, or

(ii) the purpose of demonstrating the motor vehicle to a potential buyer of that motor vehicle or a motor vehicle of the class to which that motor vehicle belongs.

"Director-General" means the Director-General of the Department of Fair Trading.
"District Court" means the District Court of New South Wales.
"exempted motor vehicle", when used in relation to any provision of this Act, means a motor vehicle or a motor vehicle belonging to a class of motor vehicles exempted or excluded from the operation of that provision by an order in force under section 8, including an order that is varied under that section.
"exempted person", when used in relation to any provision of this Act, means a person or a person belonging to a class of persons exempted or excluded from the operation of that provision by an order in force under section 8, including an order that is varied under that section.
"financier" means a person whose ordinary business is not that of buying, selling or exchanging motor vehicles but who carries on that business only for one or more of the following purposes, that is to say:

(a) for the purpose of letting or hiring motor vehicles under hire-purchase agreements,

(b) for the purpose of selling motor vehicles on instalment terms,

(c) for the purpose of taking or enforcing securities over motor vehicles,

(d) for any purpose that may be prescribed, or

(e) for the purpose of disposing of motor vehicles acquired by the person in connection with any of the purposes referred to in, or prescribed in relation to, this definition,

but does not include such person or class of person as may be prescribed for the purposes of this definition.
"hire-purchase agreement" means, in relation to a motor vehicle, an agreement for the letting of the motor vehicle with an option to purchase and includes a contract or an agreement prescribed to be a hire-purchase agreement for the purposes of this definition or a contract or an agreement of a class or description of contracts or agreements prescribed to be hire-purchase agreements for the purposes of this definition.
"holder", in relation to a licence, means the person to whom the licence is granted.
"identification number", when used in relation to the engine or engine block of a motor vehicle or to any part or accessory of a motor vehicle, means the number and any accompanying letters or symbols stamped on or otherwise affixed to that engine, engine block, part or accessory as a means of identifying that engine, engine block, part or accessory, but does not include any casting number or any number used as a means of identifying a class of engine, engine block, part or accessory.
"inspection report" means:

(a) where no report is prescribed for the purposes of paragraph (b), an inspection report issued in accordance with the regulations made under the Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Act 1997 , or

(b) a report prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph.

"licence" means a dealer’s licence, an auto-dismantler’s licence, a wholesaler’s licence, a motor vehicle parts reconstructor’s licence, a car market operator’s licence, a motor vehicle consultant’s licence or a prescribed licence.
"model designation" means, in relation to a motor vehicle of a particular model, any words, figures, letters or symbols applied by the manufacturer of that motor vehicle for the purpose, or apparent purpose, of identifying a motor vehicle of that model.
"motor vehicle" means any motor car, motor carriage, motor cycle, tractor, or other vehicle propelled wholly or partly by any volatile spirit, steam, gas, oil or electricity, or by any means other than human or animal power, and includes a trailer (other than a trailer for the carriage of goods or animals which has, in the case of an unregistered trailer, a tare weight of 250 kilograms or less or, in the case of a registered trailer, a tare weight as stated in the certificate of registration of 250 kilograms or less), but does not include any vehicle used on a railway or tramway or any vessel or aircraft.
"motor vehicle consultant" means a person who carries on the business of advising any person (not being the holder of a licence) who wishes to buy a motor vehicle of any description where or from whom the person who wishes to buy a motor vehicle can buy a motor vehicle of that description, whether or not that person also carries on the business of advising such a buyer of the suitability of a motor vehicle for any particular purpose.
"motor vehicle consultant’s licence" means a motor vehicle consultant’s licence granted under section 12.
"motor vehicle parts reconstructor" means a person who carries on the business of purchasing or otherwise acquiring for the purpose of selling or exchanging, or for the purpose of reconstructing and selling, or for the purpose of reconstructing and exchanging, such parts or accessories of motor vehicles as may be prescribed for the purposes of this definition.
"motor vehicle parts reconstructor’s licence" means a motor vehicle parts reconstructor’s licence granted under section 12.
"motor vehicle sales person" means a person who is engaged by the holder of a licence and who, for fee or reward, sells or exchanges motor vehicles.
"number-plate" means a number-plate or registration plate issued under any law in force in New South Wales or any State, or a Territory, of the Commonwealth.
"owner", in relation to a motor vehicle, includes any person who is a joint owner, or part owner thereof and any person who has the possession and use thereof under or subject to a hire-purchase agreement, bill of sale or similar contract, but does not include any person in whom the property in the vehicle or any absolute or conditional right or licence to take possession of the motor vehicle is vested under or subject to a hire-purchase agreement, bill of sale or similar contract and who has not for the time being the possession and use thereof.
"prescribed business" means a business belonging to a class of business prescribed under section 7 (a).
"prescribed licence" means a licence prescribed under section 7 (b) and granted under section 12.
"record" includes any book, account, document, paper and other source of information compiled, recorded or stored in written form, or on microfilm, or by electronic process, or in any manner or by any other means.
"registered" means registered under the provisions of any Act or law, whether of the State or elsewhere, relating to the registration of motor vehicles.
"regulations" means regulations made under this Act.
"second-hand motor cycle" means a motor cycle that is a second-hand motor vehicle.
"second-hand motor vehicle" includes a motor vehicle that has, at any time before being offered or displayed for sale, or sold, been registered, and includes a demonstrator motor vehicle.
"sell" means to sell as principal or agent.
"Supreme Court" means the Supreme Court of New South Wales.
"the Fund" means the Motor Dealers Compensation Fund established under section 39 (1).
"trade owner" means a dealer, a wholesaler or a financier.
"trading day", in relation to the holder of a licence, means a day on which the holder trades.
"trailer" includes a caravan.
"Tribunal" means the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal established by the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal Act 2001 .
"wholesaler" means a person who carries on the business of buying motor vehicles from any person and selling those vehicles to, or exchanging those vehicles with, persons who are financiers or holders of licences (other than car market operators’ licences or motor vehicle consultants’ licences) and only those persons.
"wholesaler’s licence" means a wholesaler’s licence granted under section 12.
"year of manufacture" means, in relation to a motor vehicle, the year in which the vehicle was manufactured.

(3) For the purposes of this Act:

(a) where a dealer sells a motor vehicle to a financier in the expectation that the financier will sell that motor vehicle to a particular third person and the financier does so, the dealer shall be treated as having sold the motor vehicle to that third person, and

(b) where a motor vehicle is made the subject of a hire-purchase agreement, it shall be treated as being sold to the hirer, and the sale shall be treated as made when the hire-purchase agreement is entered into.

(4) A person who carries on the business of manufacturing or assembling motor vehicles is not a dealer or a wholesaler and does not carry on the business of a dealer or a wholesaler, by reason only of selling any such vehicle to a trade owner.

(5) For the purposes of this Act a motor vehicle shall be treated as having been sold notwithstanding that all or part of the consideration that passed from the purchaser in respect of the sale is represented by another vehicle or other thing.

(6) In this Act, a reference to a motor vehicle is a reference to the vehicle complete with all accessories fitted to the vehicle.

(7) For the purposes of this Act a motor vehicle is not a second-hand motor vehicle at the time it is sold by a dealer by reason only that it is registered for the first time in the name of the purchaser prior to the completion of the sale.

(8) In this Act, a reference to a register, in relation to the holder of a licence, is a reference to a register required by this Act to be kept by the holder at a place of business in respect of which the licence is granted.