Club rego costs a fraction of full registration, and in exchange you can only drive 45 or 90 days a year. That is the entire trade. If you drive the vehicle less often than your chosen allowance, it is cheaper and nothing else about the car changes. If you drive it more, full registration is the right answer and no amount of saving will make up for being stuck at home.
- Club rego, a year
- $91.50 for 45 days, $176.40 for 90 days, plus club membership
- Full registration, a year
- Several hundred dollars, and it varies by where the vehicle is garaged
- Days you can drive
- 45 or 90 on club rego. Unlimited on full registration
- Eligibility
- Club rego needs a vehicle over 25 years old. Full rego takes anything
- Club membership
- Required for club rego. Not required for full rego
- Roadworthy
- Needed for both when first registering
The short answer
For most people with a car they drive less than once a week, yes, comfortably. You save several hundred dollars a year and give up nothing except the days you were never going to use.
The rule of thumb is simple. Count how many days a year you will actually drive it. Under 45, take the 45-day permit. Between 45 and 90, take the 90-day. Over 90, stay on full registration.
Where it stops being worth it is narrower than people expect. It is not worth it if the car is a daily driver, if it earns money, if it is under 25 years old, or if you would rather pay more than keep a logbook. Everything else is a yes.
Club rego, club permit, red plates and club plates all mean the same thing. VicRoads calls it the Club Permit Scheme. Everyone else calls it club rego.
Club rego vs full registration: the cost
VicRoads fees 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 club membership, which varies. With us it is $5 for your first year and $50 a year after that. And a one-off $44.20 to VicRoads for plates when the permit is first issued.
Full registration is a different scale entirely, and the biggest reason is the TAC charge. On club rego it is $60.50 or $117.70. On full registration it is several times that, and it varies depending on whether the vehicle is garaged in metropolitan Melbourne, an outer area or the country. Look up your own figure on the VicRoads website rather than trusting a number from a forum, because zones matter.
The only question that decides it
How many days a year do you actually drive it?
Not how many days you would like to. How many you will. People consistently overestimate this for a car that is not their daily.
Some context for the numbers. There are 104 weekend days in a year. A 90-day permit covers essentially every one of them plus a fortnight. A 45-day permit is close to once a week, every week.
If you are looking at a car you will take out on nice Sundays, drive to a couple of shows and use for the odd weekend away, 45 days is generous. If it is a second car you drive to work when the weather is good, you will burn through 90 faster than you think.
A day is a day, not a trip. Drive it three times on a Saturday and that is one logbook entry. This matters more than people expect, and it makes the allowance stretch further than the raw number suggests.
What you give up on club rego
- The days themselves. Once they are used, you are restricted to within 100 metres of the garage address until the next permit period, whatever the reason for the trip
- Spontaneity, a little. A logbook entry has to be written before you set off, not after, in non-erasable pen. It is thirty seconds, but it is thirty seconds you cannot skip
- Commercial use. The vehicle cannot be used for hire or reward for carrying goods. If it needs to earn money, club rego is the wrong registration
- Club membership as an ongoing obligation. The permit is only valid while your membership is current
What you do not give up
This is where most of the misconceptions live.
- You are not restricted to club events. Any leisure purpose, any time. A Sunday drive, a coffee run, a trip to the shops all count
- You can drive interstate. Victorian club rego is valid anywhere in Australia
- You can still insure it properly. Many insurers offer classic or club permit policies, often cheaper than standard cover
- The vehicle is not restricted in any other way. Same roads, same speed limits, same everything
When full registration is the right answer
Worth saying plainly, because club rego is not always the better deal.
If you will drive it more than 90 days a year, take full registration. If it is a work vehicle or carries goods for payment, you have no choice. If the vehicle is under 25 years old it is not eligible anyway. And if the thought of a logbook irritates you more than the cost saving pleases you, that is a perfectly good reason too.
Can you change your mind?
Yes, in both directions, though it is not instant. Moving from full registration to club rego means cancelling the registration and applying for the permit, with a roadworthy certificate. VicRoads usually offers a pro-rata refund on registration you have already paid, which is worth factoring in.
Going the other way, from club rego back to full registration, is also possible and again needs a roadworthy.
If you are buying a vehicle with the intention of putting it straight onto club rego, talk to someone before you do anything at VicRoads. Going directly from the previous owner's registration onto the scheme, rather than transferring it into your name on full rego first, can avoid stamp duty entirely. That is often hundreds or thousands of dollars, and it is very easy to get wrong by accident.
Worked out that club rego is the better deal?
You need a VicRoads-approved club to sign the paperwork. Ours costs $5 for your first year, meetings are never compulsory, and forms come back within 24 hours.