Glossary

Renewal of a vehicle licence.

The registered owner of a motor vehicle is the natural person or legal entity (such as a limited liability company) lawfully entitled to possession of the motor vehicle. The registered owner of a motor vehicle is not necessarily the legal owner of that vehicle, as in the case of a lease vehicle or a vehicle on hire-purchase.

The process of adding a vehicle to the Motor Vehicle Register, the list of all vehicles currently used on the road in New Zealand. Vehicles, whether new or used, are registered when first brought into New Zealand, and have registration plates (number plates) attached at this time. Until a vehicle is registered, it cannot be driven on the road and must be towed or carried for transport. Read more »

The registration status will show as:

• Active — if the registration is current (but not necessarily licensed);
• Cancelled – if the registration has been cancelled due to the vehicle having been destroyed, written off, or permanently exported out of New Zealand;
• Lapsed – if the registration has been cancelled due to the vehicle having remained unlicensed beyond the period allowed by legislation.

This indicator will show “Yes” if the odometer is reliable, or “No” for no if the odometer is unreliable. The information is entered at the time the vehicle is last inspected. The reliable odometer flag is also set to “No” if customs or courts request it. It was developed as a means to show on ownership papers that the true mileage may not be reflected.

The new registration plate issued to a vehicle to replace a previous plate which has been damaged, lost, or stolen, or to change to or from transferable plates such as personalised plates, diplomatic plates, etc.

This will indicate if the vehicle has been reported stolen to the police. This information is obtained from the “Enforcement Computer System”, not from the Motor Vehicle Register.

• Passed — vehicle has passed examination.
• Failed — vehicle has failed examination.
• Temporary Permit — vehicle has been issued with a temporary permit.

• Passed  — vehicle has passed examination.
• Failed — vehicle has failed examination.

End eistance reading of the latest distance licence. If time licence, this field will show the end date of the latest licence.

Start distance reading of the latest distance licence. If time licence, this field will show the start date of the latest licence.

All diesel powered vehicles and other vehicles powered by a fuel not taxed at source, regardless of weight, must pay Road User Charges (RUC). Vehicles with a manufacturer’s gross laden weight of more than 3.5 tonnes (3,500kg) must also pay RUC. Read more »

The nominated gross laden weight in tonnes for which the latest RUC licence was purchased.

RUC fees are determined by the design of a vehicle. Specific attributes such as gross laden weight, number of axles, axle type, etc., are combined to provide set criteria known as RUC Vehicle Type descriptions. RUC Vehicle Type information consists of a numeric code for each type.