🏷️ Selling a car checklist

A private sale that goes wrong usually goes wrong on the paperwork, not the car — get the sale properly recorded, and it stops being your problem the moment the buyer drives off.

18 items

1. Realistic price set from comparable listingsNot from what you paid for it — from what similar cars, same mileage and condition, are actually selling for now.
2. Photos taken in daylight, from every angleIncluding any faults. A buyer who feels misled by the photos on arrival is a sale that falls through at the door.
3. Listing written honestly, faults includedA fault you knew about and didn't mention can come back on you legally, not just as an awkward conversation.
4. Paperwork gathered
5. Service history and MOT certificates
6. V5C registration document checked and readyThe buyer needs the new keeper slip, and you keep the rest of it as proof of the sale.
7. Outstanding finance settled or disclosedA car still owed on can't legally be sold as if it's fully yours — settle it first or be upfront about it.
8. Spare keys and locking wheel nut key gatheredHanded over at the same time as the car, not posted on separately once you remember where they are.
9. Car cleaned before viewingsA clean car reads as a cared-for one, which affects the price a buyer's willing to offer as much as the mechanics do.
10. Test drives arranged safelyInsurance checked to cover the buyer to drive it, and a copy of their licence seen before they take the wheel.
11. Meeting arranged somewhere sensibleYour home or a public place in daylight, not somewhere neither of you knows, for a cash-heavy transaction.
12. Payment confirmed as cleared before handing over the keysA bank transfer shown on a screen isn't the same as cleared — wait for it to actually land.
13. Written receipt for both partiesDate, price, mileage and both signatures — the paperwork that ends the argument if the car develops a fault the next week.
14. Registration authority told of the sale the same dayUntil this is done, any fine or ongoing charge the buyer picks up is still addressed to you.
15. Insurance cancelled or transferredDon't leave it running on a car that's no longer yours — call the insurer the same day as the sale.
16. Personal belongings removedCheck under seats and in the boot — a satnav address book or a parking permit left behind is a small privacy problem.
17. Dashcam footage or any linked apps disconnectedA phone still paired to the car's system, or an account still logged into an infotainment screen, is left with the new owner otherwise.
18. Any direct debits for tax or breakdown cover cancelledEasy to forget once the car's gone, and they keep charging until somebody stops them.