used car - buy and sell

[Alberto]

I decided to sell my old and crappy car

Some questions:

When should I deregister the auto if I sell it privat?
If BEFORE the sale, the buyer cannot do a probefahrt. Well, they could, with a temporary number plate and insurance, but they probably don't like the hassle of arranging those. Of course if I sell to a dealer, this is not an issue.
If I deregister it AFTERthe sale, in the short period between sale and deregistration, say 24hr or whatever, I'm of course still liable for everything, although the car is already gone to the new owner...

autohero.com
I was amazed to learn you can buy a car online, before even seeing it for real.
On what basis does a buyer have confidence this is ok?

Thank you

[Bayrisch_Dude]

If you and the buyer have reached an agreement on the sale of your car, the buyer will obtain temporary license plates from their rathaus. Even if you and the buyer live in the same town or Landeskreis, do not let them drive away with your plates on the car. Too many horror stories I have heard over that. Temporary plates in their name alone will deregister the car under your name. They will need the full identifcation number and they will need to notify their insurance broker. Upon their return home and back to the rathaus to properly register the car, it truly is no longer your headache.

If need be, contact your rathaus or landratsamt for more information. They most like have a website with details on this exact topic.

[Alberto]

Thank you

Can the buyer on their own, with the contract signed and payment made, do both things at once, deregister the auto from me, and register it on their name?

This would be my favourite, it would save me half a day of hassle.

Alternative would be that, after contract signed and payment made, we drive to the Kfz office together. Though I like this less because the time it costs me. Guess it's the reason dealers exist, less hassle...

Can anyone comment on buying a used car online, and get it delivered, before seeing it in real? I'm amazed such format at all exists. Maybe I'm overthinking it....?

[Franklan]

Can the buyer on their own, with the contract signed and payment made, do both things at once, deregister the auto from me, and register it on their name?

You want to deregister on your own. The promise of the buyer that he/she deregisters isn't worth a penny.

If I deregister it AFTERthe sale, in the short period between sale and deregistration, say 24hr or whatever, I'm of course still liable for everything, although the car is already gone to the new owner...

This situation cannot happen the way you describe it: To deregister, you need to bring the license plates to your Kraftfahrzeugbehörde, so that they can scratch the seals of. You cannot let the new buyer drive away with the car and your license plates and then you do the deregistration, because you have lost access to the license plates.


Here is a trick: If you deregister a car in the morning, you are allowed to still drive it till 23:59:59 of that day (as taxes and insurances are always paid for a whole day). If the police stops you for driving with a license plate without seals, show them the paper work that you deregistered that day.


So, ask the buyer to come to your place in the morning: drive to your Kraftfahrzeugbehörde and deregister. Put the license plates (without the seals) back on the car and wish the buyer a nice ride home. If you feel like it, aks him to drop you off at your place. Or walk home.

The *only* potential problem: if the buyer has an accident on his/her way home, it is still on your insurance.

P.S.: Bring a screw driver with ya...

[Fraufruit]

My son recently bought 2 used cars online in the U.S. The cars were delivered and he got a 24 hour test drive to make sure he liked them. Not sure how it works over here. I believe he said he would only have to pay the delivery fees if he decided against buying them so $99 each.

[Alberto]

Thanks everyone

[dstanners]

I accept it is safer to deregister first for a private sale, but you do NOT have to deregister the car yourself prior to selling.
You just need to be sensible about it, and do the sale properly.

You need a written contract, signed, dated (including precise time and KM stand) and with personalausweiss details.

I use the templates which are provided free on mobile.de, here's a link:

https://www.mobile.de/magazin/static/b3 ... Y1VDWUlIl1

Make sure you have seen and entered details of the buyer's personalausweiss.

One of the options in the Mustervertrag is to allow the buyer to have the plates for a period of up to one week.
That allows him to drive home on the existing plates, whilst leaving you with written evidence that as from the minute of the sale, you were not the registered owner.

This is not just theory, this is something I have done a few times, and more importantly, been able to rely on recently.
A guy bought a car off me about two months ago, and got caught speeding the following day. I was able to send a copy of the sales contract and the ID of the driver to the authorities, and it was accepted without any further problems or questions.

[Alberto]

If I stay for a while without a car, perhaps some months or some years, and get one sometime later, what will happen to my years of insurance no-claims? Will they expire and the next insurance become more expensive, or will they still count?
Thanks

Alberto

[Franklan]

If I stay for a while without a car, perhaps some months or some years, and get one sometime later, what will happen to my years of insurance no-claims? Will they expire and the next insurance become more expensive, or will they still count?

https://www.friday.de/magazin/schadenfr ... se-verfall

[Alberto]

If I stay for a while without a car, perhaps some months or some years, and get one sometime later, what will happen to my years of insurance no-claims? Will they expire and the next insurance become more expensive, or will they still count?

https://www.friday.de/magazin/schadenfr ... se-verfall

Thank you!

[bethannbitt]

After 6 years without a car (outside of rentals at times) we bought a 2023 wagon and took possession of it yesterday! We wanted to be able to make spontaneous excursions to far fetched places in the nearby Alps and to do more outings with the grandkids when they visit in the summer. We’ll see how it all works out. It will certainly lead to more flexibility.