Hey guys, looking for some advice on an unfortunate situation I've landed myself in.
To preface, I'm a naive female p-plater in a new state who made a poor decision out of anxiety that has led to more anxiety.
I recently sold my car to a guy looking for a cheap runaround. I was very upfront about about the fact it had a bunch of autoelectrical issues I couldn't afford to fix & that it wouldn't pass a RWC. Priced at 2k & said as is where is as I wanted to take the plates off and sell without rego or a roadworthy before sale.
He asked if I would keep the rego on it until the end of the week as he "knew a guy" that'd give him a RWC & offered to pay a bit extra for the inconvenience as he needed a car ASAP to commute to work. I know I'm a complete idiot for obliging, but he gave me his details & I took photos of his licence which gave me a false sense of security. I was also asked by my landlord to remove the car ASAP as I was taking up space on the property.
I heard back from him by the end of the week that the car indeed did not pass a RWC, and he asked for more time to fix it up and get it roadworthied.
It's been a month now and the registration on the car is almost expired. The money isn't the issue, he paid me in cash at the time. I'm worried about how I'm going to cancel the registration without the plates, as I doubt he's gotten a RWC yet if I haven't heard from him since. I do have his address from his licence, but I'm far too anxious as a 19yro girl to confront a middle aged man about this, and I don't have any close male relatives or friends I can ask for help.
I'm worried if the registration expires and he continues to drive it it'll rack up fines in my name. Totally my fault for being naive and I should've been more cautious, but I am genuinely unsure of how I should go about this situation now.
Is it possible to go to the Department or Transport and explain this situation to see if I can deregister without plates?