---
title: Why don't most of Sydney's Chinese used-car yards show their MVDL number? Our answer
canonical: https://blog.maxautosydney.com.au/en/why-don-t-most-of-sydney-s-chinese-used-car-yards-show-their-mvdl-number-our-answer-9deccfe12a
---
In NSW, it's not optional. It isn't decoration — it's a legal requirement. So today isn't about a particular car. It's about one thing worth a glance before you hand over thousands of dollars.
## What an MVDL actually is, and why NSW makes it compulsory
In NSW, anyone whose business is selling cars — a person or a company — has to hold a Motor Dealer Licence (the trade calls it an MVDL; the number starts with "MD"). It sits under NSW Fair Trading and the Motor Dealers and Repairers Act 2013.
This isn't box-ticking. Holding that licence is what drops your purchase into a set of consumer protections — the statutory guarantee on the car, and a real path to Fair Trading and NCAT if something goes wrong. Buy from an unlicensed private seller or backyard "yard" and you have almost none of that: pay your money, and if the car's a lemon, there are far fewer doors to knock on.
*Illustration · What an MVDL actually is, and why NSW makes it compulsory*
There's a clause people skip past, too: a licensed dealer must clearly display that MD number on their advertising and website. So a yard that's all cars and no licence number is worth a second question.
## How to check it yourself (for nothing)
The good news is you don't have to take anyone's word for it. NSW runs a public register anyone can search:
- Open Service NSW **Verify Licence** (verify.licence.nsw.gov.au)
- Choose Motor dealers, type in the yard's name or that MD number
- In seconds you'll see whether the licence is current, expired, suspended or cancelled — who holds it, and the address it's registered to
*Illustration · How to check it yourself (for nothing)*
One minute, no cost. If the name won't come up, the address doesn't match, or the status isn't "current" — however sharp the deal looks, pause. Do this before you leave a deposit, not after.
## Our answer
Back to the question in the title. Our approach is simple: put the number where you can't miss it. Max Auto's licence is **MD 053138**, and it's on the shopfront sign at Concord on Parramatta Rd, as big as the name itself — walk past, come in, or search the register, and you'll match the same number every time.
Displaying it is us putting ourselves inside the accountable system: you can check us any day, and you can complain about us any day.
## The honest bit
But here's the straight version, so you don't treat a licence as a magic charm: a displayed licence is a floor, not a ceiling. It proves the yard is legitimate, accountable, and that your purchase carries the statutory guarantee. It does not vouch for any individual car. A licensed dealer can still sell you one with a repaired chassis rail or a dodgy odometer.
The licence answers "can this yard vanish on me?" The condition of the car is a separate job — PPSR history, up on the hoist, a proper test drive. Don't roll the two into one. Put another way: the licence number is the first gate to clear; clear it, and only then do you start checking the actual car.
Want to check our licence, or have us show you how to look up a yard you've found somewhere else? Come by or drop us a message.