Transfer of ownership during private sale help!

Dr.Dre

Hi guys I would like to pick your brains once more. I am planning on buying a used car during the week so I said I'd make sure I knew exactly how the transfer of ownership works before I do so.

To my knowledge the transfer of ownership of any car registered after 1993 would involve the seller completing part B of the Vehicle Licensing Certificate and sending it to the Driver and Vehicle Computer Services Division in Shannon where they would amend the details and issue me out the certificate of ownership in the post.

Now from what I've heard the onus is on the seller to send this off to Shannon right? But in a private sale where I am planning on paying the seller by bank draft by walking into the bank with him and directly lodging it to his account, would it be best to watch him post the document first before giving him any of the money?

Or would this be something most sellers would not go ahead with as they would want to be paid first ?

It just seems a bit iffy to pay him in the bank and then assume he will send off the document no? Let's say the sale was in the region of about 10k it seems like a lot of trust to have in the seller to post something and furthermore for it to actually be received in Shannon.

I know it would be in the best interests of the seller to post is as I could pay him, take the car and and ramp up a load of speeding tickets which would come back to him but on the other hand couldn't the seller get paid and not post the document and then report the car as stolen and get the vehicle returned to him and keep the money?

Maybe I am being a small bit paranoid here so any insight into experiences had in this kind of situation would be great. Thanks in advance

Means Of Escape

Dr.Dre wrote: »

Hi guys I would like to pick your brains once more. I am planning on buying a used car during the week so I said I'd make sure I knew exactly how the transfer of ownership works before I do so.

To my knowledge the transfer of ownership of any car registered after 1993 would involve the seller completing part B of the Vehicle Licensing Certificate and sending it to the Driver and Vehicle Computer Services Division in Shannon where they would amend the details and issue me out the certificate of ownership in the post.

Now from what I've heard the onus is on the seller to send this off to Shannon right? But in a private sale where I am planning on paying the seller by bank draft by walking into the bank with him and directly lodging it to his account, would it be best to watch him post the document first before giving him any of the money?

Or would this be something most sellers would not go ahead with as they would want to be paid first ?

It just seems a bit iffy to pay him in the bank and then assume he will send off the document no? Let's say the sale was in the region of about 10k it seems like a lot of trust to have in the seller to post something and furthermore for it to actually be received in Shannon.

I know it would be in the best interests of the seller to post is as I could pay him, take the car and and ramp up a load of speeding tickets which would come back to him but on the other hand couldn't the seller get paid and not post the document and then report the car as stolen and get the vehicle returned to him and keep the money?

Maybe I am being a small bit paranoid here so any insight into experiences had in this kind of situation would be great. Thanks in advance

Type out a sales invoice and get him to sign it
Have the reg ,model and vin etc on the document

_Brian

it's strange, your willing to hand over €10k to this person and trust they're not screwing you with the car, but you won't trust them to post a letter.

Many, many more people get stuck with a lemon car WITH registration documents, rather than those who end up with a great car and have other with the registration.

K.Flyer

Firstly get him to complete all the paperwork in front of you including a receipt.
Use your phone to take photographs of the all the paperwork, including the bank draft, and if possible email them to yourself straight away.

Dr.Dre

_Brian wrote: »

it's strange, your willing to hand over €10k to this person and trust they're not screwing you with the car, but you won't trust them to post a letter.

Many, many more people get stuck with a lemon car WITH registration documents, rather than those who end up with a great car and have other with the registration.

I trust they're not screwing me with the car because I've ran nearly every possible check on the car. Got a full report from motorcheck.ie before I even viewed the car. When I was viewing it I examined it thoroughly and quizzed the seller on everything I already knew from the motor check and asked him questions I had already asked him previously to see if his answers were the same as before.

The car checks out. It just seems like a lot is resting on the posting of the document. Nothing wrong with being safe IMO .

Big Bag of Chips

You can post it yourself. Get him to fill in his bit, you yours and then tell him you'll post it.

It doesn't actually matter who sticks it in an envelope and drops it in a letterbox!

CiniO

OP I wouldn't be worried really in your place.
If you pay by bank draft, this will be documented so you have a proof you actually paid the guy for the car.
Writing a "contract of sale" on top of signing in logbook is not bad idea either.
In many countries it's obligatory when selling/buying vehicles secondhand.
IMO contract should contain details of car (reg, make, model, vin), seller (name, address, ID number), and buyer (name, address, ID number) and just state that seller is selling the car to the buyer for x amount. Dated and signed by both in 2 copies.

But in reality, you can just post logbook together - f.e. sign it, pack into envelope and go to post office together to post it.


Indeed system is not good, where buyer is not getting any proof of purchase, which teoretically could allow seller to declare the car stolen and keep the money. But that would rather apply to cash payment. There should be some small slip to tear off from logbook which would be handed to the seller (like there is in UK on V5C).

Atlantic Dawn

Also check the seller is the actual person named on the VLC and check how long they have owned the car. It will be in the sellers interest to post the document asap as if they don't any fines or toll bills will be going to them.

Means Of Escape

Big Bag of Chips wrote: »

You can post it yourself. Get him to fill in his bit, you yours and then tell him you'll post it.

It doesn't actually matter who sticks it in an envelope and drops it in a letterbox!

It's in his interest to post it as you can clock up tickets w him the registered owner Til they receive the documents in Shannon
To totally put your mind at rest.
Ask the bank to photo copy the completed logbook for ownership change and keep it , he can take the original and post it at his leisure .
With the sales. Invoice and his signature he can't back pull a fast one .

Lex Luthor

Big Bag of Chips wrote: »

You can post it yourself. Get him to fill in his bit, you yours and then tell him you'll post it.

It doesn't actually matter who sticks it in an envelope and drops it in a letterbox!

this is what I would do