Car & transport
Petrol, cars and transport
Perth's weekly fuel price cycle, the government site that shows everything, and how to get around before you own a car.
Updated
Perth is a sprawling city, and that shapes everything: without a car your list of possible jobs shrinks a lot — especially in physical work, which tends to be on sites and in warehouses far from a station.
Before buying a car, two numbers matter more than the car itself: fuel and rego — the annual registration, which is expensive here, mandatory, and bundled with basic injury insurance.
The price cycle, the strangest thing about here
Fuel in Perth follows a weekly cycle: the price jumps sharply on one day of the week and drifts down until the cheapest day, when it jumps again. Filling up on the wrong day costs noticeably more for the same litre at the same station.
And this is where Western Australia differs from the rest of the country: under FuelWatch, every station declares tomorrow’s price in advance and must hold it for 24 hours. So you can know the night before where and when to fill up. Check the site or the app first, always.
What nobody tells you
Rego and insurance are part of the cost. Annual registration hurts, and the compulsory insurance bundled with it covers injury to people — not your car, and not anyone else’s. Third-party property cover is bought separately and is cheap relative to the risk.
A cheap old car can get expensive. Ask for the history, check whether money is owing on the vehicle (PPSR), and get a mechanic to look at it before you commit. Private sales come with no warranty at all.
Your Brazilian licence works for a while. You can drive on your home licence with a translation at first, but there’s a time limit — and job ads often ask for an Australian licence well before that. I found this out the hard way.
Public transport in Perth is good on the trunk, poor on the branches. Trains run well and are clean; suburban buses can be every 30 or 60 minutes and stop early at night. Before signing a lease, check the real trip to where you actually work.
The short list
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FuelWatch
Cheap What I useA Western Australian government service that publishes tomorrow's price for every station in the state — and that price is locked in for 24 hours by law. Checking it before you fill up is a rule, not a tip. Most other states have no equivalent.
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Costco Fuel
CheapUsually the cheapest litre in Perth, but members only and with queues at peak times. If you already pay the membership for groceries, the fuel almost justifies it on its own.
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United and Puma
CheapIndependent brands that tend to sit near the bottom of the FuelWatch list. Less coffee and convenience, more discount per litre.
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BP, Ampol and Shell
PriceyThe majors, with more sites and better locations — and higher prices on average. They accept the cents-per-litre vouchers Coles and Woolworths print on your grocery receipt.
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7-Eleven
PriceyConvenience above all, rarely competitive on price. The $1 coffee is a local institution; the fuel isn't.
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SmartRider
Cheap What I usePerth's public transport card. Buying and registering it gets you a lower fare than paying cash, and registration protects your balance if you lose it. Tag on and tag off — forgetting to tag off charges the full fare.
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CAT buses
CheapFree circulating buses in central Perth, Fremantle and Joondalup. Combined with the CBD Free Transit Zone, you can move around the centre without spending anything.
Prices, plans and rules change fast — and I am one person with one experience. Treat this as a starting point, not as official advice.
