How to Check if a Car Dealer is Licensed in Australia (WA and Every State)

Checking whether a car dealer is licensed takes about two minutes and costs nothing. Every Australian state and territory keeps a public register, and in most of them you can search by business name, licence number or suburb.

This guide gives you the direct links for each state, shows you what to look for once you find the listing, and explains why it matters whether you are buying a car from a dealer or selling one to them.

The quick answer

Every licensed dealer in Australia has a licence number issued by their state’s consumer protection or fair trading body. To check it:

1. Ask the dealer for their licence number. In WA it starts with MD, for example MD31434. A licensed dealer will give it to you without hesitation, and in WA they are legally required to print it on every ad and display it at their premises.
2. Search that number, or the business name, on your state’s official register. The links are below.
3. Confirm the listing shows the licence is current, the business name matches the one on your contract, and the address matches where you are dealing with them.

If any of those three things do not line up, stop and ask questions before you hand over a car or money.

The WA Online Licence Search. Enter the dealer’s MD number exactly as printed in their ad, prefix included, and hit Search.

How to check a car dealer’s licence in WA

Western Australia’s register is run by Consumer Protection (part of the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety). The search is free and public.

Search here: WA Online Licence Search

You can search two ways. If you have the licence number, type it into the number field on the first screen. If you only have a name or suburb, select the licence type, start typing “motor vehicle dealer”, then enter the trading name or location.

The result will show you the licence holder’s name, the licence number, the status and the authorised premises. In WA a dealer licence is tied to specific premises, so a listing with a Malaga address that is trading out of a car park in Cannington is a warning sign.

WA law sets a clear line for who needs a licence. Under the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act 1973, anyone who sells or exchanges four or more vehicles in any 12-month period to people who are not dealers is carrying on a business and must be licensed. That also covers brokers, auctioneers, vehicle financiers and car buying services. There is no exception for “just doing it on the side”.

Licensed WA dealers must:

• display their licence prominently at their premises
• include their trading name and licence number in every advertisement, including online listings
• employ only licensed salespersons and yard managers
• meet the statutory warranty and Australian Consumer Law guarantees on vehicles they sell
• sell only vehicles with clear title, meaning no money owing

If you cannot find a dealer on the register and they are clearly selling more than a handful of cars, you can report them to Consumer Protection on 1300 30 40 54 or at consumer@demirs.wa.gov.au.

How to check a car dealer’s licence in every other state

Each state runs its own register. Search by name, licence number or location and look for a current status.

New South Wales: Search the NSW Fair Trading motor dealer register via Service NSW. You can search by licensee name, licence number, ABN, ACN, suburb or postcode.

Victoria: Search the Consumer Affairs Victoria public register of licensed motor car traders. It shows licensee names, licence numbers and business locations. Untick “only show current licensees” if you want to see whether a trader used to be licensed and let it lapse.

Queensland: Use the Office of Fair Trading motor licence check. The register covers motor dealers, salespeople and corporations and shows whether a licence is current, expired, suspended or cancelled.

South Australia: Search the Consumer and Business Services licensing register for second-hand vehicle dealers.

Tasmania: Use the CBOS motor vehicle trader search.

ACT: Search the Access Canberra motor vehicle dealer register.

Northern Territory: The NT does not publish an online register. Ask the dealer for their licence number and confirm it with NT Consumer Affairs or a Territory Business Centre.

One thing to be aware of: a dealer licensed in another state can operate in WA under Automatic Mutual Recognition. They will not appear on the main WA register, but Consumer Protection keeps a separate AMR register. If a dealer tells you they are interstate-licensed, check that register or ask them to show you their home-state licence and search it there.

What to look for once you find the listing

Finding a name on the register is only the first step. Check these four things:

Is the licence current? Registers show expired, suspended and cancelled licences too. One WA dealer was fined $47,600 in 2023 for selling 103 cars in six months after letting his licence lapse. He had once been licensed. He was not licensed when those buyers dealt with him.

Does the name match? The trading name in the ad, the name on the register and the name on your contract or invoice should all point to the same entity. A dealer who advertises under one name and asks you to pay a different individual is a red flag.

Does the address match? WA licences are tied to authorised premises. If the register shows a business address but the dealer only ever meets you at a servo, a shopping centre or your driveway, ask why.

Is the person you are dealing with licensed too? In WA, salespersons and yard managers hold their own licences. You can search those on the same tool.

Not every “dealer” is licensed. Here is how to check before you buy or sell.

Red flags that a “dealer” is not licensed

Unlicensed car dealing is common enough that WA Consumer Protection prosecutes it regularly. In 2025 a Bennett Springs man was fined $87,300 for selling 31 cars in 17 months without a licence. In the same year three men were fined a combined $240,000 in what Consumer Protection called a “car laundering” ring, buying written-off cars at auction, winding back odometers and selling them to buyers who had no idea.

Nationally, the ACCC and state regulators received more than 14,000 complaints about second-hand cars in 2024-25, and unlicensed dealing featured in several of the case studies in the ACCC’s December 2025 report.

The pattern is usually the same. Watch for:

• A private seller on Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree with several different cars listed at once, or the same phone number appearing across many listings
• No licence number in the ad. In WA that is illegal for a real dealer, so its absence tells you something
• The name on the registration papers is not the name of the person selling the car, and they say they are “selling it for a mate”
• A car that has only been registered in the seller’s name for a few weeks
• Meeting at a car park, servo or roadside instead of a business premises
• Cash only, or pressure to pay a deposit before you have seen the car
• A price that is well under market for the year and kilometres
• Reluctance to let you do a PPSR check or an independent inspection

None of these alone proves anything. Two or three together usually do.

Why it matters if you are buying

When you buy from a licensed dealer, you get protections that simply do not exist in a private sale.

In WA, a licensed dealer must guarantee clear title, so the car cannot have finance owing on it when you buy. The dealer is bound by the consumer guarantees in the Australian Consumer Law, which means the car has to be of acceptable quality and fit for purpose, and you have a legal path if it is not. Depending on the car’s age and kilometres, a statutory warranty may also apply. You get a written contract, and Consumer Protection can step in if the dealer does not meet their obligations.

Buy from a private seller and you are, in Consumer Protection’s own words, “purchasing at your own risk”. Buy from an unlicensed dealer posing as a private seller and you get the worst of both: a business that has already decided the law does not apply to them, and no regulator willing to help you afterwards.

Why it matters if you are selling

This is the part most guides miss. If you are selling your car to a dealer or a car buying service, their licence matters just as much.

An unlicensed buyer cannot legally transfer the vehicle into a dealer’s name, which is the mechanism that takes the car off your hands cleanly. If they leave it in your name while they on-sell it, you are still the registered owner for every speeding fine, toll and parking infringement in the meantime, and you may be chasing them for the transfer months later.

You are also trusting them to pay you. A licensed dealer has premises, a licence to lose and a regulator watching. A bloke with a bank app in a car park has none of those things.

Before you sell to any dealer or car buyer in WA:

1. Search their licence on the WA Online Licence Search and check it is current
2. Make sure the name on the licence matches the name that will appear on the buyer section of your MR9 transfer form
3. Get the offer and the payment terms in writing before the car leaves your possession
4. Do not hand over the keys until the money has cleared. Same-day bank transfer is normal for a legitimate dealer

If a car buyer will not give you a licence number, that is your answer.

Frequently asked questions

How do I find a dealer’s licence number in WA? It must be printed on every ad and displayed at their premises. It starts with MD followed by numbers. If you cannot find it, ask. If they will not tell you, do not deal with them.

Is it free to check a car dealer’s licence? Yes. Every state’s online register is free. Some states charge a fee for an official written extract, but you only need that for legal proceedings.

How many cars can you sell before you need a dealer licence in WA? Four or more vehicles in any 12-month period to people who are not dealers means you are running a business and need a licence.

What is the penalty for unlicensed car dealing in WA? Recent WA prosecutions have resulted in fines of $25,000, $47,600, $87,300 and, for a group involved in odometer tampering, $240,000. Odometer fraud alone carries a maximum penalty of $50,000 per offence.

Can a dealer from another state legally sell cars in WA? Yes, under Automatic Mutual Recognition. They will be listed on Consumer Protection’s separate AMR register rather than the main WA register.

Does a licence guarantee the dealer is honest? No. It means they are accountable. If something goes wrong, you have a regulator to complain to, a business address to serve documents on, and a licence the dealer stands to lose. That accountability is what changes behaviour.

Do I need to check the licence if I am only selling my car, not buying? Yes. The licence is what lets the dealer transfer the car out of your name properly and it is your only real assurance that you are dealing with a business that can be held to account for paying you.

What should I do if I think a dealer is unlicensed? In WA, report it to Consumer Protection on 1300 30 40 54 or consumer@demirs.wa.gov.au. Other states have equivalent reporting through the same bodies that run their registers.

Check ours!

Sell My Car Pro is a licensed Western Australian motor vehicle dealer, licence number MD31434, trading as All Aspects Motors Pty Ltd t/a Sell My Car Pro from our workshop at 3 Montgomery Way, Malaga. We also hold motor vehicle repairer’s licence MRB8151 and are members of the Motor Trade Association of WA.

You can search MD31434 on the WA Online Licence Search right now. We would rather you did.

If you are thinking about selling, get a free valuation or call us on 1300 313 777. We inspect the car, make a firm offer, handle the transfer paperwork and pay by bank transfer the same day.