Southland weather and the WoF list
Grey days
Invercargill narrowly beats Dunedin as the cloudiest city in New Zealand, with only about 1,764 hours of sun a year. On dull days you lean on the headlights and tail lights, so walk round them before the inspection.
The second-windiest city
Only Wellington is windier. Rain driven sideways needs wipers that clear in one sweep and a washer bottle that's full.
Cold winters
The mean daily temperature in July is 5.2 °C, and snow falls now and then between June and September. Cold mornings find out a weak battery, so if the car's slow to start, mention it when the mechanic rings.
Wet most of the year
Rainfall averages about 1,112 mm a year, spread over a lot of wet days. A car that's damp for months rusts sooner, so on an older one ask for a look at the sills and floor pan before the WoF.
Invercargill, Bluff or Gore
Invercargill sits on the Southland Plains, 18 km north of Bluff, and had about 58,000 people in June 2025. Pick a garage near where the car spends the week.
Gore is a farm service town of about 8,310 people, 64 km north-east on State Highway 1. If the car lives there, use the Gore postcode, and say in the note whether you'd drive to Invercargill for the WoF.
What to look at the night before
- Headlights, tail lights, brake lights and indicators, with someone standing behind the car.
- Wiper blades that don't skip or smear.
- Washer fluid topped up.
- Tyres with tread right across and no damage to the sidewalls.
- Seat belts that latch and retract smoothly.
- Any light on the dash that stays on.
If the car comes back with a fail
Read the sheet before you leave, and ask the inspector about anything on it you don't follow. Then add its items to the note on the card, so the mechanic knows what's needed.
Rust repairs and suspension parts are the bigger items. Ask for the quote in writing, and find out how the recheck works where you went.
Our advice
We'd start with lights and wipers, because in a grey, wet city they're the easiest fails to avoid. Then a battery test before winter, and the WoF at a garage close to the car. If it fails, the sheet goes straight into the note.