DISCLAIMER: I am not a legal or vehicular professional. The purpose of this article is to learn and understand the process involved in buying and selling a vehicle privately. Please refer to your specific state laws before attempting the process on your own!
Selling:
1) Get the title. Find the title. YOU NEED THE TITLE. You cannot sell a car with a title that is not in your name. Make sure that is all squared away and that your current address is on it.
2) Create a bill of sale. Include the VIN number (Vehicle Identification Number which has NOTHING to do with your License Plate number) See above picture for what our bill of sale looked like.
3) TAKE OFF THE LICENSE PLATES. The License Plate is registered to YOU and in most states is NON TRANSFERRABLE. It’s totally okay to have the buyer drive home (or to the currency exchange) without plates. The bill of sale and signed title will be enough information for a police officer in the case that the buyer gets pulled over.
4) Find a buyer! This should be obvious…
5) Have the buyer sign the bill of sale and the title (there should be a spot for this on the back.)
Basically, once someone commits to buying your vehicle, you each sign the bill of sale and make copies. In our case, we had the bill of sale notarized but that is not necessary (just a precaution we took.) Once the money is exchanged, the buyer needs to go to their DMV or a Currency Exchange (we used the Currency Exchange) and apply for plates and a title transfer. The cost of this varies, but it cost us around $200 dollars total to do all of this paperwork and buy new plates. To transfer the title, you need the old title, the seller’s address, your own address, the odometer reading from the point of sale, and the buyer’s driver’s license.
Buying:
1) Money (duh.) We paid cash for the truck he bought, however the person buying his car paid via a check. I’d personally recommend making sure the check cashes before you let someone drive away with your car.
2) Insurance. In our state, you’re technically supposed to show proof of insurance before you buy a vehicle. Not always true however (read my rantings of being rear ended by an uninsured driver), but a smart step to take. Make sure that immediately after buying your new vehicle you CALL YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY and provide them with the VIN number of your new vehicle! They won’t be able to insure a vehicle they know nothing about!
3) Driver’s License. You’ll need this to transfer the title.
4) DMV/Currency Exchange. Signing the title does not magically make it yours for forever! It is a temporary measure until the information clears and you are able to get the title transferred to your name in your state! Yes, this costs money, but it makes certain that the vehicle is in fact yours (not stolen or anything weird) and gets you license plates.
Buying was a little less stressful than selling to be honest. Less prep work (the seller prepared the vehicle and the bill of sale) and we were able to transfer the title and apply for new plates easily.
And that was it! The boyfriend got more for the vehicle than most dealerships would have offered him on a trade in, and he in return got a great deal on a new truck. Everyone was happy! (At least, as far as I’m concerned!)
Has anyone sold/bought a car privately that can add to our experiences? Let us know in the comments what you did or any tips you have!