The 25 year rule moves forward every year, and it now reaches 2001. That puts the 80 Series Land Cruiser, the Hilux, the Patrol, the Pajero and most of the utes people actually want on club permits squarely inside the scheme. Two things catch 4WD and ute owners out more than anyone else: modifications, and using the vehicle for work.
- Age requirement
- More than 25 years, measured by compliance plate date
- Modifications
- Allowed within VSI 8 and VSI 33, VASS beyond that
- Work use
- Not permitted for hire or reward for carrying goods
- VicRoads annual fee
- $91.50 for 45 days, $176.40 for 90 days
- VicRoads plate fee
- $44.20 one-off for a set of two, or $215 slimline
- Traf's Club membership
- $5 first year, then $50 a year. Separate from the VicRoads fee
What qualifies now
More than 25 years old, measured from the compliance plate rather than the build date. A vehicle with a compliance plate reading 07/2001 becomes eligible on 01/08/2026, and each year the window moves.
Build date matters for imports. A Japanese-market 4WD can carry a build date years before its Australian compliance date, and VicRoads works from the compliance plate, not the build plate. Check yours under the bonnet before you book a roadworthy, because a roadworthy expires after 30 days and getting one too early is wasted money.
Modifications
This is where most 4WD applications get complicated, because almost nothing is standard. Lifts, bar work, winches, larger tyres, snorkels, dual batteries and long range tanks are all normal on a 25 year old four wheel drive.
The test is whether the modifications sit within the VicRoads Vehicle Standards Information guidelines, specifically VSI 8 and VSI 33. Plenty of common modifications do. Beyond those allowances you will usually need a Vehicle Assessment Signatory Scheme (VASS) approval certificate, and once you have one the application runs as normal.
If the vehicle was modified years ago and you still hold the original VASS certificate or the blue VASS plate, and nothing has changed since, you generally do not need a new one. That certificate does not have to fall inside the usual 30 day window.
There is more detail on where the line sits in our guide to eligibility for modified cars and replicas.
The work use rule
This is the one that stops people, and it is worth being blunt about.
A club permit vehicle cannot be used for hire or reward for the carriage of goods. If you were planning to put an old ute on club plates and use it on jobs, that is outside what the permit allows, regardless of how many days you have left in the logbook.
What you can do is drive it for any leisure purpose at any time. A club run, a weekend away, a trip to the tip with your own rubbish, a drive because the weather is good. You are not restricted to club events, and you do not need permission for an ordinary outing.
If the vehicle needs to earn its keep, a club permit is the wrong registration for it. That is a VicRoads rule and no club can vary it.
Check the history before you buy
More relevant for 4WDs and utes than for most vehicles, because so many have worked hard before you got to them.
A vehicle recorded as a statutory write-off on the Victorian or any interstate written-off vehicles register cannot be issued a club permit. Not at any age, not in any condition, not through any club. Ex-mine and ex-fleet vehicles are worth checking carefully, and a VicRoads Vehicle Report will tell you before you spend money on it rather than after.
What VicRoads charges
Identical to any other car under the scheme. These are VicRoads fees, set by them and paid to them. As of July 2026:
| 45-day | 90-day | |
|---|---|---|
| TAC | $60.50 | $117.70 |
| Permit | $27.60 | $55.30 |
| Logbook | $3.40 | $3.40 |
| Total a year | $91.50 | $176.40 |
Plus a one-off $44.20 to VicRoads for a set of plates when the permit is first issued, or $215 if you want slimline plates. A roadworthy is a separate cost paid to whoever issues it.
What Traf's Club charges
Club membership is entirely separate from the VicRoads fees above. $5 for your first year, then $50 a year, with additional vehicles at $10 each.
Days and the logbook
You choose 45 or 90 days a year at application. An entry goes in the logbook for every calendar day you drive more than 100 metres from the garage address, filled in before the trip, in non-erasable blue or black pen. One entry per day however many times you go out, and the logbook stays in the vehicle whenever it is on a public road.
Once your days are used up you are restricted to within 100 metres of the garage address until the next permit period, whatever the reason for the trip.
Need a club to sign your application?
Traf's Club covers 4WDs and utes the same as anything else. Everything is handled online, meetings are never compulsory, and it is $5 for your first year.