Selling a vehicle privately can be a frustrating experience but it doesn’t have to be. If you live in Nova Scotia, it is actually one of the simplest experiences for privately selling a vehicle. Just remember, a private sale of a vehicle can easily net you 15-30% more money for your car than simply trading it in. At those rates, it is definitely worth a bit more leg work to sell it yourself. Let’s get started!
1) Detail the car, take pictures
Pretty self explanatory, also optional, but a clean car is much easier to sell. It is also estimated that simply detailing a vehicle nets 5-10% more for the vehicle. Of course, if you are selling as-is then maybe a detail is not something you will end up doing. Take good pictures of the vehicle after the detail that show the vehicle condition.
2) Do the maintenance
Also optional, but any good buyer will at the very least check the oil dip stick to see what condition the oil is in. Doing an oil change and toping up fluids will give buyers the piece of mind that the vehicle has been well cared for.
3) List the car
The nice things these days is that as a private seller you have many different channels to list your vehicle through. You can easily list your car for sale on Kijiji, Autotrader, Carpages.ca and Used.ca. Most of these are free to list but might have additional features you can pay for such as a “featured” listing option.
4) Setup a meeting with a buyer
Ideally use a public place but can also be your house. Your local police service parking lot might not be a bad idea as most will have a spot setup for “online sales”. If someone wants to test drive the vehicle, you can ask for a copy of their driver’s license (use your phone to take a picture) and even have them sign a waiver. Make sure to show them the UVIP. If the buyer wants the vehicle taken for an inspection, go with them to the mechanic. They should pay for any inspection fees.
5) Complete a Bill of Sale, get paid
If you don’t have your own Bill of Sale, you can get one from the Saskatchewan government located here. Once you have a buyer, fill out the bill of sale with them and make sure that each party gets a copy. At this time, collect the money too!
6) Complete the Transfer of Ownership form
This form will essentially complete the transfer of the ownership of the vehicle to the buyer. The form is located on the Saskatchewan Certificate of Registration for the vehicle.
7) Cancel or Transfer the plate
When you go to hand over the keys to the car, you have two options. You can either cancel the plates on the vehicle or you can transfer them to another vehicle.
8) Let insurance know
Report to your insurance company that you sold the vehicle so they remove it from your insurance policy.
Happy selling!
