Settlers_Unlimited

Hi! After checking the BE Wiki and running several searches, I could not find any information on how does the process of buying a car (from owners not dealers) work. I am going to ask people I know but perhaps it would be great if someone can describe it, very briefly, so that it can potentially serve as a base for Wiki article?

What I'm interested in is not what models are available here. A lot of information can be found here:

http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dan...cle/used.shtml

and may be we could discuss/clarify things like:

- do private sellers welcome test drives, longer than just starting and going around the corner?

- the mandatory government requirements (I believe it's emission and safety test and Used Vehicle Information Package), can they be taken from the old owner if they are not new (I noticed many cars are offered with new checks). Are those checks expensive? I'm in Ontario.

- that e-Certify - is it a good idea?

- what form of payment is expected normally and when and what do I get in exchange for it (especially if I pay cash - is it common?)

- can I use the license plates from the old owner? Are they tied geographically or valid for the whole province.

anything else to look for?

SambaDeAmigo

Test driving is welcome with all the sellers/dealers I've been to.

The emissions test certificate is valid for a year (I think) and you can take the one from the seller if it's still valid - kinda how an MOT certificate works in the UK.

You can pay by a bank draft with the name of the seller on it, if cash is not an option.

You have to get your own plates. Plates here follow the driver, not the car.

Once you find the car you want, you and the seller have to go to the nearest MTO office for the transfer. You can buy a plate there too. You need to make sure that you have insurance as well, valid from the day you make the transfer/purchase. The insurance company will send you a piece of document that you will have to present at the MTO office AFAIR.

Hope it helps.

iaink

Depends entirely on the seller of course, I was happy to let people drive off, as long as they left the vehicle they came in , or there drivers license etc. If you dont get to do what you want with a car first, then dont buy it, its not complicated. The seller pays for them typically, if its being sold as safetied and certified. (ie ready to register)

An etest pass is valid for a year, it has to be a full pass, not a conditional pass (ie a fail and some money spent to diagnose and try and fix it, inevitably followed a year later by another fail and money spent doing exactly the same stuff mandated the previous year cos thats what they have to do...dont ask, its pointless!)

Safety cert is valid 36 days

The Info package is typically pretty recent anyway,and doesnt tell you much. Info package is about $30 from memory, Etest and Certification about $50 each, but its the diagnosis and fixing if it fails that really cost you as a seller.

Sellers get them done as without them a vehicle is not going to fetch much. Basically scrap metal or good only for someone who knows what they are doing to buy fix and flip for a profit. Typically as a seller you would get a pre safety sheck done to see what needed doing, get any problems fixed up, and then wait till you have a buyer before actually doing the safety, because if you safety first, you dont have any guarantee that a buyer will be found before that certificate expires in 36 days and you have to pay for it again Dunno, what is it? Cash, Bankers Draft, depends how much money you are talking. I sold the old car for cash, they drove it away No, plates belong to the owner not the vehicle..thats the hardest part of buying your first car used, the chicken and egg of driving to the license office illegally without plates. Cant drive without plates, but cant get plates without the ownership documents, which you wont have till you take possession. The seller would return the plates for a refund of the outstanding years balance if tey were not transfering them to another vehicle. All sorts of things, buying here is as much a minefield as elsewhere. Carfax reports are worth having to get insurance crash / write off history and to establish who actually owns it although the sellers package has some of that, CAA or similar will do a mechanical check

Settlers_Unlimited

So, as I see, the best option is for both parties to go to the registration office.

When I sold my car in Europe I got the cash and gave the title, emission and safety test (ok, their equivalents) to the new owner, sitting in the car just by the registration office. Is the title the factual ownership document here?

Do insurance companies have something like letter promising that they insure the car from the moment you buy it? I mean, if the deal doesn't go through, you have no obligations.

iaink

That would work if it was mutually convenient...ie you could arrange a lift home.

Im not sure about insurance to be honest...it seems a good idea but knowing Canada they probably insist on cash in hand and firm coverage regardless. Ask a broker I guess.

Piff Poff

This is my understanding(in Alberta):

You go and see car, like car enough to test it - usually the owner just hands over keys and away you go (same for motorbike too!). Come back maybe haggle a little bit, hand over cash, get the title and bill of sale can be a handwritten thing or you can get a form to fill out. Go to insurance, go to registries, register and insure car, put number plate on car and drive away.

You can also get a in transit document not very expensive but allows you to drive a vehicle for a limited time - not sure how long but long enough to get to the insurance and registry.

If the person has lost the title a bill of sale is usually sufficient. If you haven't got a bill of sale a signed title is sufficient.

It's all very easy and straight forward and if on a day where everything is open all paperwork can be completed within a matter of moments - hubby usually pops to the insurance and then the registry on the way home from work and he's still home by 5:30 (usually 5:10).

Sometimes the Insurance will ask for the car to be safetied out of all the cars we have bought and put on the road since we have been here, I think we have had to get 3 or 4 safety checks and they were on the older (10 years or more) cars. The safety test is much less involved than a MOT.

iaink

Alberta is clearly more laid back than Ontario. In ontario, basically a car must have a current safety and etest certificate in order to be registered to a new owner.

The safety cert test is broadly similar to the MOT requirements, although there are a few slight differences.

R I C H

The further west, the more laid back. No safety checks in BC unless it's a used vehicle being registered in BC for the first time. The condition of some vehicles on the road is pretty shocking.

Piff Poff

The Ford dealership my hubby works for doesn't even have emissions testing equipment and from what we understand that is the norm.

Auld Yin

You've got to be very careful when buying privately. Watch for what's known as the Curbside Mafia. These people will sell cars that have been insurance writeoffs and restored to look good but are full of problems to come. Very often they'll want to meet with the buyer in a mall parking lot and have even been known to meet outside at a private residence they know to be empty but to add the appearance of legitimacy to the deal.

SambaDeAmigo

Always get as much info as possible on the car and reasons why they are selling. Also ask to use their toilet if you are not that convinced about the address. Or drive back there some other time to see if the car's there.

JonboyE

We do have AirCare in the Metro Vancouver area . Cars and trucks over 7 years old have to pass an emissions test every two years before they can be insured. But yes, that is about it.

If you already have a plate, e.g. you have just sold your old car, you can stick that plate on the back of your new car and have a few days (10?) to register the new details with ICBC.

If you are a first time owner you have to take the registration transfer slip, signed by the seller, to an Autoplan agency and register the vehicle in you name, buy insurance, and a number plate, before you use the vehicle on a public road. They (and the Police) are quite strict about this.

Steve_P

No tests of any kind required on any vehicles in Alberta no matter how old.

You can sell anything as far as vehicles go as long as someone is willing to pay for it.

Piff Poff

Steve you are right - I was just stating for IainK's benefit at how little testing goes on around here - it's damn shocking really. But the insurance can ask you for a safety test before they insure the car. I would suggest if you are buying an older car you ask the seller for a saftey on it before you complete the deal. Some of the older cars we have sold we sell with a current safety so the seller is more reassured.

Brianscottie - that sort of thing happens the world over, you just have to be buyer aware and use your common sense, if a deal seems too good to be true then it probably is and those are the ones where you get the shady characters trying to scam you.

Steve_P

You're absolutely right PP about the insurance companies wanting a vehicle inspection done. I had forgotten that little piece of info.

If I remember correctly it is on any vehicle over ten years old but I'm not absolutely sure of it..