Car selling question - vehicle going abroad

[the_engineer]

Evening all,

Hopefully something you can all help me with, I have my car up for sale and have someone intersted in buying it - however he lives on mainland europe.

His plan is to drive over with his mate, inspect my car, pay me (CASH!!) and drive it back over. I just have a few questions as I personally haven't ever done this before in terms of paperwork and liabilities etc:

1) What do I need to do in terms of paperwork? As he will be the new foreign owner exporting the car, there is no section on the V5 for this circumstance.
2) Is there anything I should be wary of? Pitfalls? I will only be accepting cash which I will deposit in the bank with him next to me. The main thing I'm worried about is him having an accident on the way home or the car potentially not being exported.
3)He has asked me for the VIN number so he can apply for a registration certificate in his country. Does this sound plausible?
4) No doubt he will want a test drive. I will ask him to bring some sort of insurance document but what should I be looking for this to say when I examine it?

He sounds very genuine/enthusiastic but I would need to be sure before I agree for him to come over.

Thanks in advance!

[the_engineer]

Anyone? So far, 3 calls to the DVLA have resulted in 3 different instructions as to what I need to do o_0 ??
One guy even told me I'm liable until the new buyer is nice enough to send the v5 back to them at export...

[V8mate]

Couldn't you tell DVLA that you've exported the car? As long as the buyer doesn't commit a crime between your house and Dover, you should be fine.

[Muzzer]

What car are you selling?

Is it LHD?

If it's a mainstream, RHD, car you have to question why someone from Europe would want to buy it and therefore be suspicious.

[the_engineer]

V8 mate - that's what dvla are saying. But he could do 100 leptons all the way from London to Dover and I'd technically be liable?

Muzzer - that is my thinking as its only an MX5? Don't know whether they were ever sold on the mainland but it does seem an awful lot of effort for ~£1600 worth of car??

[declasm]

I sold a car to a girl who flew over from Barcelona, paid me over £5K in cash and drove it all the way back (1500 miles!) after we'd done the deal.

I just filled in the export section of the V5 and had no problems.

[Gruber]

the_engineer said:

Muzzer - that is my thinking as its only an MX5? Don't know whether they were ever sold on the mainland but it does seem an awful lot of effort for ~£1600 worth of car??

European used car prices are astounding - we tend to forget just how cheap old second hand cars are over here compared to (say) France. So it stands to reason that someone gets a cheap flight to London, picks up a cool little sports car and drives it home all for a lot less than the 4k euros (or whatever) the equivalent car might cost over there.

Edited by Gruber on Thursday 18th November 10:02

[the_engineer]

Thanks for the replies.

What worries me most is how the dvla have been acting in terms of shifting all the liability on me until they receive the relevant part of the v5 from the buyer - and we all know how they lose stuff! The guy I spoke with said there is no procedure in place for this situation which seems slightly odd in this day and age.

I can see what you mean about mainland prices..

Will have to have a think...or perhaps accept a bit less and sell it in the UK.

Thanks for all the opinions so far.

[Gruber]

Apologies if this is a dumb question, but...

Does the address on the V5 have to be a UK address? If not, can the new owner not simply fill in his details as the new owner, in the usual way, which you then send off to DVLA and they send a new V5 to him in France? And then he can do the export thing from over there?

Or (if the address on the V5 does have to be a UK address) has the new owner got a friend resident in the UK? He could register the car in his own name at his friend's address and then fill in the export bits when the new V5 comes through to his friend.

Or maybe I'm over-complicating...

[Hugo a Gogo]

phone up the dvla, tell them you are exporting the car, ask them which form you need to download (I can't remember what it is)

print it off and fill it in, give it to him, along with a signed and dated car sales contract (you keep a copy, and a copy of his ID)

give him a copy of v5, send yours off saying it's been exported

he sends off the form to DVLA and gets what he needs to import it

contract should (maybe) cover you for speeding etc

job's a good'un

[Zeemax_Mini]

I sold my TVR to a guy who came over from Belgium recently, and everything I read was conflicting - some said to just fill in the new keeper supplement as usual, some said to fill the export bit in - but as I wasn't exporting it (the new owner/keeper was) I wasn't sure. In the end I gave the new keeper the New Keeper slip as usual, and sent both the V5 with new details (as usual) plus the export slip both filled out with a cover note to the DVLA just explaining the situation. Got the confirmation letter back the following week saying thanks for letting them know I'm no longer the owner, so assume it all went OK! Covering all bases by doing that - just fill in both the usual bits of the V5 to register a new keeper, plus the export bit and send them back with a cover letter to the DVLA. Then just give the buyer the new keeper supplement, plus the buyer of mine needed a copy of my ID (drivers license) for them to register it back in their country!

Dom

[entwisi]

I rang DVLa on a similar issue when I was selling my last car. they told me to get a letter signed by the buyer dated and timed and witnessed by a neighbour and then send it to them. I was told to give the V5 as they would need it in their home country.