How to prepare your car, price it, deal with buyers safely, get paid, and complete the paperwork with the DVLA, insurer and finance company.
Selling a car privately usually gets you more money than a trade-in, but you have to do the work yourself. Here's how to do it smoothly and safely.
1. Sort out finance and private plates first
- Settle any finance. If you have a hire purchase or PCP agreement, the lender owns the car until it's paid off. Ask for a settlement figure and pay it off before you sell, or agree with the lender how the sale will clear it. Selling a car with finance outstanding without the lender's agreement can be a criminal offence.
- Keep your private plate. If you want to keep a personalised registration, apply to the DVLA to take it off the car before you sell. Once the car is sold, it's too late.
2. Get the car ready
- Clean it inside and out. A tidy car sells faster and for more.
- Gather the paperwork: the logbook (V5C), service history, receipts for work done, and both keys.
- Fix the small things. Bulbs, wiper blades and a low tyre are cheap to sort and stop buyers knocking money off. Big repairs rarely add as much to the price as they cost.
- Check the MOT. A long MOT is a selling point. If it's due soon, consider getting the test done first.
3. Price it realistically
Look at cars of the same model, age and mileage for sale near you, and remember advertised prices aren't selling prices. Leave a little room to negotiate. Selling privately, part exchanging and selling to an online car buyer each have pros and cons; see which way to sell is best for you.
4. Write a good advert
- Take clear photos in daylight: all four sides, the interior, the dashboard showing the mileage, the boot and the tyres.
- Be honest about faults. Private buyers can claim against you if the car isn't as described.
- Include the mileage, MOT expiry, service history, number of owners and anything recently replaced.
Running a history check on your own car means you can show buyers a clear report and answer their questions with confidence. Check your car.
5. Deal with buyers safely
- Have viewings at your home, in daylight, and ideally with someone else there.
- Check the buyer has insurance that covers them to drive your car before a test drive, and go with them. Keep hold of the keys when you're not in the car.
- Be wary of anyone who wants to buy without seeing the car, offers more than the asking price, or asks you to send money back.
6. Get paid safely
- A bank transfer is the safest way to be paid. Check the money has arrived in your account using your own banking app before you hand over the keys. Screenshots and emails can be faked.
- If you accept cash, count it carefully and consider paying it in at your bank with the buyer present.
- Don't accept cheques or banker's drafts unless they've cleared.
- Give the buyer a written receipt with the date, price, registration and VIN, and both your names and addresses. Keep a copy.
7. Complete the paperwork
- Tell the DVLA. The quickest way is online, using the 11-digit reference on your logbook. You'll get an email confirming you're no longer responsible for the car. Until you tell the DVLA, you can be liable for its fines and tax.
- Give the buyer the new keeper slip (V5C/2), the green section of the logbook. GOV.UK explains what to do with the rest of the logbook.
- Road tax refund. Tax doesn't transfer to the buyer. Once the DVLA knows you've sold the car, you'll get a refund for any full months left automatically, and any Direct Debit is cancelled.
- Tell your insurer, and cancel or move your policy to your next car.
- Cancel anything linked to the car, such as breakdown cover, parking permits and auto-pay for tolls or congestion charges.
Selling to a dealer
If you sell or part exchange with a motor trader, the paperwork is different: you tell the DVLA you've sold to the motor trade, and the dealer handles the rest. You'll still get any tax refund automatically.