Correct execution of a car purchase and sale agreement

How to purchase a used car: general transaction procedure

Purchasing a car is certainly a pleasant event, but quite troublesome, especially if we are talking about a used vehicle. In this case, you need not only to approach the choice of car with special attention, but also to formalize the transaction correctly. Let's look at all the features of the procedure.

Content

Buying and registering a used car: preparing for the deal

Buying and selling used cars is a very common transaction today. However, many people have questions about how to properly fill out the necessary papers. If this is your first time deciding to buy a car second-hand, you need to approach the issue with all seriousness. Once you have found the right vehicle, you need to clearly agree on the main points of the transaction. This will save you from surprises and conflicts at the next stages of registration. Discuss:

• price;
• form, procedure and terms of payment;
• replacing or maintaining license plates and insurance;
• deadlines for handing over keys.

The seller may raise the question of making an advance payment, but only you can decide whether you agree to this or not. This situation is regulated by Article 487 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Additionally, before you move on to signing the papers, it is important to check the vehicle's history. Almost all the necessary information is contained in the vehicle passport (PTS). It records:

• information about former owners;
• year of manufacture, license plate number, VIN code, body number;
• technical characteristics of the vehicle.

Please pay special attention to the fact that the seller is required to provide you with the original PTS upon registration. If he only has a copy in his hands, this is a reason to think about it. Of course, you shouldn’t immediately panic and refuse to purchase, but in this case you need to approach checking the car with special care. It's very easy to do this today. For example, you can use the Autocode service. Based on the license plate number or VIN code, the system will provide a detailed history of the car and will allow you to verify the “cleanliness” of the vehicle purchased second-hand without wasting extra time.

Don’t forget to check the license plate data from the PTS with the real data of the car before completing the paperwork, and also look at the service and warranty books.

By the way, you can now buy a car second-hand both with license plates (you can change them later if you wish) and without. There is no longer any need to deregister it (with the exception of sales abroad). And transit numbers are no longer required either, which simplifies the procedure.

How to register a used car when purchasing: drawing up an agreement

After all the checks are completed, the time comes for the most important stage of the transaction - preparing the papers. Let's figure out what documents to fill out when buying a used car. First of all, this is a purchase and sale agreement. As with any paper business, there are some subtleties here. First, let's look at what data must be included in the document:

• date and place of signing;
• passport details of the seller and buyer;
• full car and title data;
• absence of encumbrances;
• method and terms of payment, as well as transfer of the vehicle.

All lines in the contract must be completed. If any of them are left blank, add dashes. This will protect you from entering data into it without your knowledge.

Additionally, you can draw up an act of acceptance and transfer of the car, which records the fact of transfer of the vehicle and its condition at that moment, and also confirms that the parties have no claims against each other. Here you need to specify the date and time of transmission. This will insure you, for example, against paying fines for the previous owner.

You need to fill out the papers in three copies: one remains with you, the second with the seller, and the third will be necessary to register the car with the traffic police. It is not necessary to have them certified by a notary. However, you can still turn to him to certify the legality, including the right of both parties to commit it (clause 1 of Article 163 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). This is true, for example, in the case when the car is pledged to the bank. If you have any doubts about this, please refer to Part 2, Section 4, Chapter 30, Paragraph 1 of Article 454 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Another common option is to issue a general power of attorney with the right to sell. This method is usually chosen to reduce costs (both time and money). The principal (owner) transfers the rights to the car to the buyer, while the vehicle remains his property (see Article 185 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). It is important to remember that by agreeing to this type of transaction, you are taking a certain risk. The owner can revoke the power of attorney at any time or demand money for the car in case of sale. Problems also often arise in the event of the death of the seller or his recognition as incompetent (ownership in this case passes to the heirs). We advise you to study the situation very carefully.

Procedure for registration of PTS

When the procedure for registering a contract for the purchase of a car in person is completed, it is necessary to make a new entry in the vehicle passport. Be careful when filling it out and write legibly! You need to enter:

• date of purchase;
• number of the document confirming ownership and date of registration;
• signatures of the seller and buyer.

Please note that if one of the parties to the transaction has the status of a legal entity, the signature must be certified by a seal.

If there is no free space left in your passport (this happens infrequently, but it happens), you will have to go with the seller to the traffic police to get a new one. The inspection staff will replace the document (all data will be checked against the electronic database) and re-register the car.

This concludes the process of purchasing a used car. After making an entry in the PTS, the money is transferred. It is better to transfer funds by bank transfer (unless another method was initially agreed upon). In this case, the fact of the transfer will be additionally recorded, which will protect the buyer.

Handing over the keys and passing the technical inspection

Once the financial and paper issues are settled, the seller hands over the keys to the vehicle. Along with them, you should have the following documents in your hands:

• purchase and sale agreement (in two copies);
• acceptance certificate (if you still decide to sign it);
• PTS registration certificate.

If your used car does not have a valid diagnostic card, your next step will be to undergo a technical inspection. This can be done with any operator of your choice, the main thing is that it is accredited by the Russian Union of Insurers. You can find and check it in the GTO Register. Only after this can you issue an MTPL policy.

Preparation of documents for used car insurance

Buying a used car secondhand does not necessarily require maintaining a compulsory motor liability insurance policy. According to the established procedure, if you buy a car without insurance, you must obtain it within 10 days after the purchase and sale transaction is concluded. At this time, you cannot be fined for its absence, but if you get into an accident and are found to be at fault for the accident, you will have to pay compensation out of your own pocket. Therefore, do not delay in applying for a policy!

You can also negotiate with the seller to keep your current insurance. In this case, you will need to visit the insurance company together to re-issue the papers. For the unused insurance period, compensation is provided to the ex-owner.

Registration with the traffic police

It is also required to register the purchased car within 10 days after the purchase of a used car is completed. This can be done at any traffic police department at your location. In this case, you will have to pay state fees for:

• issuance of registration plates;
• making changes to the vehicle registration certificate;
• registration in PTS.

Remember that in this case, delay threatens with fines: from one and a half to two thousand rubles for violating the deadlines, 500 rubles for driving an unregistered car, and for a repeated violation they may even be deprived of their rights. This completes the purchase of a second hand car. All that remains is to receive the documents. You should have in your hands:

• registration certificate;
• PTS with appropriate notes;
• registration plates (if you are registering new license plates).

Now you know how to purchase a used car . As you can see, it's not that difficult. Good luck!

How to draw up a car purchase and sale agreement

If a car changes ownership, this must be registered by law. The only way to do this is to enter into a purchase and sale agreement, in which the seller receives the money and the buyer receives the car. After this, the buyer independently goes to the traffic police to register the car. This is impossible without a purchase and sale agreement.

The purchase and sale agreement protects the interests of the seller and buyer of the car. If it is drafted correctly, in many cases you can avoid loss of money and litigation.

What will you learn

And here is the contract form itself

It can be filled out on a computer and printed in triplicate, or you can simply print out a blank template and fill it out by hand.

What the law says

The law does not have clear requirements for a car purchase and sale agreement; it must simply comply with the requirements of the civil code. The contract must contain information about the obligation to transfer the car from one owner to another, and the transaction amount must be indicated.

It is not necessary to have the contract certified by a notary, but if the seller or buyer wants to have it certified, this is not prohibited. You can also ask a lawyer to draw up an agreement, but you will have to pay for all these services.

General rules for drawing up a contract

The agreement must be drawn up in three copies. One remains with the seller, the other two will be taken by the buyer. The buyer will give one of them to the traffic police officers when registering the car.

The agreement can be written by hand or printed. It is better to fill out the agreement with one hand: if one of the parties has claims in the future, such an agreement will be more difficult to challenge.

What documents will be needed for registration?

You will need the buyer's and seller's passports, registration certificate and vehicle registration certificate. It is necessary.

An MTPL policy and a valid diagnostic card are not required when concluding a purchase and sale agreement, but the buyer will have to arrange them independently. The MTPL policy issued to the new owner will be needed by the traffic police to register the car. It is not necessary to provide a paper version of the policy: the traffic police officer will independently check its availability.

The seller can contact his insurance company and cancel the insurance contract in connection with the sale of the car. In this case, he will be refunded the money for the period when he was not the owner of the vehicle.

Most often, the car is sold with state license plates, but you can do without them. This is possible if you purchase a new car at a car dealership or a car that the seller has already deregistered. In this case, data on state license plates is not included in the purchase and sale agreement.

Where and how can you draw up a car purchase and sale agreement?

The presence of third parties when drawing up an agreement is not necessary. The personal participation of the seller and buyer is sufficient.

Notarization of such agreements is not required. But if one of the parties decides to have the car purchase and sale agreement certified by a notary, the other party to the transaction has no right to refuse. True, certification of the contract by a notary will not be an absolute guarantee for the parties to the transaction.

There are also situations when the vehicle is joint property purchased after marriage, or has several owners. In this case, the participation of the second spouse or all owners is necessary. Otherwise, the purchase and sale agreement can be challenged.

In the case of spouses, the family code assumes that the sale of property by one of the spouses occurs with the consent of the second, but at the same time reserves the right for the second spouse to challenge the transaction. So it's better to be safe. The notarized consent of the second spouse is not required: a receipt on the back of the sales contract stating that the second spouse is not against selling the car will be sufficient.

You can write the receipt in your own words, there is no special form

Design features and special cases

If you buy a new car at a car dealership. Typically, the contract on behalf of the car dealership is signed not by the owner of the car, but by an employee of the car dealership. The buyer needs to clarify in advance whether the seller has a power of attorney to sign contracts, and require a copy of it to be attached to the purchase and sale agreement.

It is also worth paying attention to the validity period of such a power of attorney. If the period has expired, the contract can be challenged.

The signature of the company representative must be certified by a seal.

In this case, in the “seller” column, indicate the details of the legal entity that sold the car and the representative authorized to enter into a purchase and sale agreement.

If the car is sold in installments. Installment payments when purchasing a car are acceptable. In this case, the purchase and sale agreement indicates that the cost of the vehicle has not been paid in full, and specifies the payment procedure, repayment terms and the amount of the monthly payment.

Also, the contract should include a provision that the seller can withdraw from the contract and demand the return of the vehicle if the buyer does not pay within the period specified in the contract. But if the amount of payments received from the buyer exceeds half the price of the goods, it is no longer possible to demand the return of the car - you will have to seek completion of payments through the court.

If you sell a car that was inherited. If the heir does not want to register the car in his name with the traffic police, but wants to sell it immediately, he can do so. But for this you will need to obtain a certificate of inheritance from a notary.

Is it possible to sell a car by proxy?

Several years ago, when the purchase and sale procedure was more complicated, selling a car under a general power of attorney was popular - when, instead of a purchase and sale agreement, the seller simply issued a general power of attorney to the buyer.

Today there are no visible advantages to such a sales scheme. For both the seller and the buyer, selling by proxy carries more risks. The seller remains the actual owner of the car and bears all responsibilities for paying fines and taxes, and the buyer does not acquire ownership rights.

Powers of attorney are often used in dubious transactions with vehicles - for example, if the license plate on the body shows signs of changes and it is difficult to register the car with the traffic police.

Errors when filling out a purchase and sale agreement

In a contract, every word and every line matters. Therefore, filling it out must be taken very seriously. Any inaccuracy can lead to loss of money or car.

If traffic police officers notice inaccuracies, discrepancies between the data in the contract and the documents, discrepancies in signatures, amendments and blots, then they have the right to refuse registration. To find the previous owner and rewrite the contract, you will have to spend time, nerves, and sometimes money.

Read first, then sign

To avoid this, you need to follow the following rules:

1. The seller and buyer must check each other's passports. If the seller arrives with a contract in which passport data has already been entered, ask him for a passport and make sure that he is the owner of the car. If the seller says that he is selling the car of a friend, wife, brother, but the owner himself cannot come, ask for a power of attorney for the right to sell.
2. Check the data in the car documents with the actual data. Check the body numbers and VIN numbers in the documents with those printed on the body. If the numbers do not match, it is better to refuse the deal.
3. All fields on the contract form must be filled in. Even if the car does not have license plates or a VIN number, you must write “absent” in the appropriate field.
4. The contract must indicate the date on which the contract was concluded. It is from this date that the former owner is no longer required to pay fines and taxes. An agreement without a date is invalid.
5. The cost of a car is always written in numbers and words. If you write the cost only in numbers or not write it at all, in case of a dispute, discrepancies may arise.
6. All numbers and letters must be legible.

Registration of purchase and sale of a used car in 2019

Registration of a car purchase by hand is one of the most popular transactions registered in the Russian Federation. Almost every second citizen of our country has his own car, and most of the vehicles are used. We will discuss further how they are registered with the traffic police and what you should pay attention to when purchasing.

Checking the title before purchasing

When buying a used car, the buyer should pay special attention to the vehicle passport (hereinafter referred to as PTS). If there are problems with the registration certificate, then there is little point in inspecting the car. If the owner provides a copy of the title, the buyer should ask why the duplicate was made. It is possible that the original documents were lost or stolen, this will cause problems during the re-registration process. The owner must take care of the restoration of documents in advance, before re-registration of the car.

Next, you should pay attention to the number of former owners of the vehicle. If there were a lot of them, and the sale took place after a few months, you should refuse to buy on the spot without hesitation. Perhaps the car has faults or was used for commercial purposes.

If the car is registered not to the seller, but to another person, you need to find out on what basis the sale is being carried out and whether he has a notarized power of attorney.

It is worth paying attention to the section “Customs restrictions”. When a car is purchased abroad, its owner is required to pay customs duties. If he ignores this action, some restrictions are imposed on the vehicle.

The most important point in checking a car is comparing the VIN number indicated on the title with the numbers under the hood. Using the VIN number, you can also check whether the vehicle is under bail or under arrest. Write down or photograph the number and contact the traffic police with it, or use one of the Internet services.

It is necessary to check the documents on the car to completely exclude fraudulent actions on the part of the seller. If the vehicle is “clean” from a legal point of view, it is possible to further conclude a purchase and sale transaction.

Drawing up a purchase and sale agreement when buying a car second-hand

The first thing you need to do when buying a used car is to draw up a sales contract. It does not require notarization and can be completed by filling out a standard form manually or in printed form. The main thing is the presence of signatures of both parties to the transaction. The agreement is drawn up in three copies, one each remains in the hands of the buyer and seller, the third is transferred to the registration authority.

The following information is included in the car purchase and sale agreement:

• Full name of the locality in which the transaction is concluded.
• Date of the agreement.
• Full name of the seller and buyer.
• Address details of the parties.
• Information about the car.
• Vehicle price.
• Terms and procedure for paying for a car.

If there are blank columns in the contract, dashes should be placed in them . This will avoid data falsification. The parties should fill out the document in mutual presence. If the agreement is filled out by one party, while the other is absent for some reason, before signing the document, she should carefully read its clauses.

When drawing up a contract, the buyer should pay special attention to:

• The price of the car. It is necessary to reflect a reliable value, this will provide a guarantee of money back in case of cancellation of the transaction. Specifying a smaller amount may lead to negative consequences.
• Vehicle data. Must fully comply with the information specified in the vehicle documents.

In addition to the purchase and sale agreement, it is also recommended to draw up a transfer and acceptance certificate . It reflects the actual condition of the vehicle.

After drawing up the contract, the buyer is given exactly 10 days to register the purchased car with the traffic police. Otherwise, the agreement loses its legal force. If an expired contract is submitted to the State Traffic Inspectorate, the buyer will have to pay 5 thousand rubles in the form of a fine .

When the transaction is concluded, the seller is obliged to transfer to the buyer a complete package of documents for the purchased car; without them, further re-registration of the vehicle is impossible.

Payment between the parties can be carried out after re-registration of the vehicle or conclusion of an agreement. Here everything depends only on the decision of the parties and their trust in each other.

Who can help draw up a car purchase and sale agreement?

Buyers and sellers of vehicles are not always confident in the correctness of filling out the purchase and sale agreement on their own. In this case, they should resort to paid services. They are provided by:

• Law firms.
• Specialized companies.

The cost of services for filling out a contract is small, on average it is 1.5-2 thousand rubles. Payment for the document falls on the shoulders of the buyer, or is divided equally between the parties to the transaction.

Finding an organization that will help you draw up an agreement for a fee is not difficult. As a rule, they are located close to the traffic police. Such services are often provided by employees of insurance companies.

Should the contract be certified by a notary?

Most citizens of our country, based on the old laws of re-registration of cars, go to a notary to draw up a purchase and sale agreement, considering this a necessity. In 2019, there is no need to draw up and have a purchase and sale agreement certified by a notary. Such actions are not provided for by the current Civil Code. However, there is no ban on them either; notaries provide such services for a fee. They help draw up a document and certify it. At the same time, the agreement will have legal force even without notarization, so there is no point in spending money on it.

The buyer and seller can fill out the contract form themselves; they just need to download the standard form above in the article. There is also a sample agreement that you can print out and use as a hint when concluding a deal.

Registration of a used car in 2019

Only one state organization is involved in registering vehicles in the Russian Federation - the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate. It is to the branch of this service that the buyer must contact within 10 days from the date of conclusion of the contract.

In accordance with the recently adopted law, to register a car, a citizen can contact any department, regardless of his actual place of residence and registration . Employees will not be able to refuse him on legal grounds. You can register a car without deregistration on behalf of the previous owner. Provided that the buyer manages to re-register the vehicle within the allotted ten days.

Before submitting documents to register a car, the buyer must take care of obtaining an insurance policy. Without its presentation, re-registration will be legally denied.

The new owner of the car is required to provide a full package of documents for the purchased vehicle, including:

• An application drawn up in full accordance with standard rules.
• Contract of sale.
• OSAGO insurance policy.
• PTS (vehicle passport).

If the registration is not carried out by the buyer himself, but by his authorized representative, the additional provision of his passport and a notarized power of attorney will be required.

After receiving the documents, traffic police officers check their authenticity, then the car is inspected and documents are issued in the name of the new owner.

During the process of registering a vehicle, the buyer will have to pay a state fee associated with changing the owner's name and issuing new documentation. On average, re-registration will cost 1.5 thousand rubles. There will be no need to replace old car license plates, so the owner will be able to save about 2 thousand rubles on them. There will only be a change in the actual property records.

Registration of new documents will take 1.5-2 hours. Traffic police officers are given a certain period of time to carry out each procedure. For example, the time required to receive an application should not exceed 5 minutes, waiting in line – 15 minutes, and inspecting the car – 20 minutes.

Registering a car through the Unified Portal of State Services

When buying a car from a private person, the new owner should know that registration is possible not only at the MREO during a personal visit, but also through State Services online. The whole procedure will take 10-15 minutes, and will greatly facilitate the submission of an application to change the owner of the car.

The procedure for completing an application on the website is preceded by the creation of a verified account. Without it, performing actions will be impossible.

Stages of document submission:

• We go to the official website of State Services and go to your personal account.
• From the list of services, select “Vehicle registration”.
• Next, select “Change registration data” and “Change vehicle owner”.
• Fill out the form that opens. You will need to enter personal data and information about the vehicle.
• We select the traffic police department to which the application is submitted, as well as the desired date and time of the visit.
• We confirm the entered data and submit the application for processing.

The status of the application can be viewed in your personal account. On the selected date and time, the car owner must come to the State Traffic Inspectorate, provide a standard package of documents, undergo a car inspection and receive new documentation in hand.

By filling out an application through State Services, the new owner of the car will be able to simultaneously pay the state fee. Until 2019, there is a 30% discount on this service if you pay by credit card.

Receiving a refusal to register a car

By submitting documents to the traffic police, the buyer of a vehicle may be denied registration. The reasons may be:

• Presentation of an incomplete package of documents.
• Providing incorrect information about the previous owner.
• The car is under arrest or pledged.
• Unauthorized changes to the design of the vehicle.
• Lack of insurance.
• Refusal to pay state duty.

If the buyer has provided a complete list of documents, their data is reliable and does not have errors, the car is not stolen, pledged or under arrest, the state duty has been paid in full, receiving a registration refusal is excluded.

PS For information on how to choose the right used car from a technical point of view, read our step-by-step instructions.