Trailers count too
NSW's yearly check isn't only for cars. Trailers and caravans with an ATM (aggregate trailer mass, the most they can weigh loaded) of 4.5 tonnes or less are light vehicles under the rules, so an older boat trailer or van can need its own pink slip, separate from the car that tows it.
Each one has its own renewal notice, and that's what tells you whether a check is due this year. The 5 years are counted from the month and year on the compliance plate.
What Ballina owners run into
Salt water at the ramp
Ballina sits on the Richmond River, with Shelly, Lighthouse, Angels, Flat Rock and Sharpes beaches close by. A trailer that's backed into salt water, or a car parked by the surf, rusts underneath. Rinse the trailer with fresh water after each launch and have the frame and springs looked at well before the slip is due.
Moving down from Queensland
If you've crossed the border and want the car or the van on NSW rego, it needs a blue slip first. Have the rest of the paperwork ready, because the slip only lasts 42 days.
A van that's sat out a season
A caravan or boat trailer parked up for months can drift past its rego without anyone noticing. Once it's more than 3 months expired, it's a blue slip, not a pink one.
Before the car or trailer goes in
- Plug the trailer into the car and have someone check every light.
- Look over all the tyres, the spare included, for tread, cuts and cracked sidewalls.
- Check the coupling and safety chains for wear and rust.
- Wash the salt off the frame, springs and any brakes.
- Find each vehicle's renewal notice: the car and the trailer are registered separately.
Where we'd start
We'd work out which of your vehicles actually need a slip this year, since the car and the trailer each get their own notice. Then we'd take them in on the same day if the station does both, after a fresh-water wash so the inspector can see the frame.