Selling your car without paperwork headaches
The sale is not finished when the money arrives. It is finished when the records say someone else owns the car.
Before you advertise
- Collect the registration document, every key, the service book and invoices, and the latest inspection certificate.
- Clear outstanding finance first, or agree with the lender how it will be settled at the sale.
- Remove personal data: paired phones in the infotainment system, saved addresses in the navigation, the garage door remote, toll tags and parking cards.
On the day
- Write a sale contract in two copies: date and time, price, VIN, plate, both parties' names and ID numbers, signatures.
- Hand over the keys only after the payment has really arrived - a bank transfer that is "on its way" is not money yet.
- Never give the buyer blank forms with your signature on them.
Afterwards
Notify the registration authority of the sale if your country expects the seller to do so, and keep the confirmation. Cancel or transfer the insurance and any subscriptions tied to the car. Keep your copy of the contract for at least as long as fines can still be issued for the period before the handover.
Who must report the sale, and how quickly, depends on where the car is registered. Check the rules before you sign.