Car collection and key drop-off when you can't be there

When you sell your car to us, it’s collected only after the balance is in your bank account and you’ve confirmed the funds have cleared. Our transport partner then picks it up from your home or workplace at a time that suits you, and if you’re at work or away, a key drop-off can be arranged so you don’t have to be there.

This guide covers the handover: who turns up, how to leave the keys safely, and what to take out.

Who actually turns up to collect the car?

When you sell to us, we arrange the transport and our transport partner collects the car, anywhere in Australia.

Corey K, who sold his LandCruiser in Melbourne, describes how it was set up: “Holly also advised that once the money was in my account to contact her and she would arrange the freight company to collect the car.” Spiros had a similar experience: “A truck was sent two days later (at a time suited to me) to pick up the car.”

Compare that with a private sale. The NRMA lists a buyer who says the car will be “picked up by a courier or someone else” among the warning signs of a scam on social media. The difference isn’t the truck. It’s the order. A scammer wants the car before the money is real, while we pay first. You can check who you’re dealing with, too: our NSW motor dealer licence number is MD 077404.

If someone calls about collecting your car and you weren’t expecting it, check with us on 1800 73 55 73 before you hand anything over.

Why is the car collected only after the money clears?

Because a car on a truck is hard to get back, and a payment that hasn’t arrived isn’t a payment. Our order never changes. You get a genuine offer by phone, then a deposit (often paid the same day) and an inspection at a time and place that suits you. The balance goes into your bank account, and the car is collected only after you confirm the funds have cleared. Each step is laid out in how it works.

Government advice agrees. Western Australia’s Consumer Protection tells private sellers to make sure the money has transferred before handing over the keys. It also warns about scammers who fake a payment, or promise to pay once the car is in their possession.

“Cleared” means you can see the money in your own banking app or statement, not in an email, a screenshot or a text saying the transfer is processing. Our guide to being paid before pickup or after handover compares how other buyers handle this.

Spiros noticed the difference: “I was paid before Autohaus took possession of my car, which from my experience normally doesn’t happen.”

If there’s finance owing, we deal with your lender directly to pay out the loan, then pay you any equity. That usually takes 2 to 3 business days to settle, so allow for it when you think about a pickup date. If you owe more than the car is worth, the difference has to be covered before settlement.

Where can the car be collected from, and when?

From your home or your workplace, at a time that suits you. The inspection is also at a place that suits you, so you don’t have to bring the car to us. Tell us these things early, ideally on the call:

• The exact address, and where the car is parked: driveway, garage, street or basement
• Access details: gates and codes, boom gates, height bars, a steep or narrow driveway, a tight cul-de-sac
• Who will hand over the keys, or where they’ll be left
• The best phone number for you, or your stand-in, on the day
• Anything that affects moving the car, such as a flat battery, a soft tyre or a warning light

A car carrier may not fit under a height bar or turn in a narrow street, so if the car is in a basement or down a lane, agree where the truck can stop.

For a pickup at work, check with building management whether a truck can stop out the front and whether the driver will need a visitor pass.

Can it be collected if I’m at work or away?

Yes. Key drop-off can be arranged if you can’t be there. Corey didn’t end up needing it, but he noted the freight company “even were happy to arrange a key drop off so I didn’t have to be home, though I didn’t need that service as I was home.”

There are four common ways to handle the keys:

If you’re away for work, on a mine roster or on holiday, the money side doesn’t need you on the driveway either: you confirm the balance from your phone. Robert, who was heading to New Zealand on holiday, said: “I put my faith in the transaction going through while away on holidays and to his word Dean was honest, transparent and came through without any issues.”

If you’ll already be out of the country when the sale goes through, signing and recording the sale take a little more planning. Our guide to selling your car while you’re overseas covers those steps.

How do I leave the keys safely?

A key drop-off is only as safe as the place the key is left. Follow these steps in order:

1. Wait for cleared funds. Don’t leave a key anywhere until you’ve seen the balance in your account and told us it has cleared.
2. Confirm the booking with us. Note the date, the time window and who is coming. If a change arrives by text from a number you don’t know, check it with us first.
3. Use a person or a lock, not a hiding spot. A key on top of a tyre, under a mat or in an unlocked letterbox is easy for anyone to find. A trusted person or a locked key safe is better.
4. Share a key safe code for this booking only, and change it once the car has gone.
5. Leave every key together, including the spare and any locking wheel-nut key.
6. Take photos before you go. Shoot each side, the interior, and the dashboard with the ignition on, so the odometer and any warning lights show. It’s a dated record of the car as you left it.
7. Lock the car, and leave a gate or garage open only if agreed.
8. Ask to be told once it’s been picked up, then check the key has gone.

What should I take out of the car, and what should stay?

Go through the car the day before, not as the truck pulls up.

The e-tag matters most. The NSW Government’s advice to sellers is to “remove the e-tag from the vehicle and delete the registration number from your account”. Queensland’s selling advice says the same thing in its own words: remove any toll tags and update your details with Linkt. Do the same with whichever toll account you use. Queensland also says to take the registration off any direct debit when you sell, so a payment isn’t deducted after the sale, and VicRoads gives the same advice.

On a key drop-off, the garage remote matters almost as much. A remote left in the car, plus your home saved in the navigation, tells a stranger where you live and how to get in. Our guide to wiping personal data from your car covers paired phones, saved addresses and connected-car apps.

If the car has personalised plates you want to keep, sort them out with your state’s transport authority before the sale, not on collection day. South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania all spell this out.

Don’t cancel the rego or take the plates off without talking to us first, either. We’re a NSW business, and selling to a buyer in another state can change the steps. VicRoads, for example, recommends cancelling the rego and removing the plates when you sell to someone interstate. In WA, the vehicle licence usually can’t move with the car to an interstate buyer. We’ll explain the steps for your state before pickup.

Do I keep insuring the car until it’s collected?

Yes. Keep your insurance active until the car has been collected. You’ve been paid, but until the truck leaves, the car is still parked at your place. A hailstorm, a break-in or a bump in a car park can still happen while it waits.

Keep it off the street if you can, lock it, and don’t lend it out or take it on a long drive. Hand it over in the condition it was inspected in.

Once it’s gone, contact your insurer to cancel the policy or move it to your next car, and ask whether any unused premium is refunded, because that varies between insurers. Cancel or move any roadside assistance too.

What about regional and remote collections?

We collect anywhere in Australia, and the order is the same on a farm as in a city street: you’re paid, the funds clear, then the car goes. For a rural property, tell us:

• The property name and directions, if the street address doesn’t lead to the house
• Unsealed roads, gates, stock grids or creek crossings on the way in
• Whether a large truck can turn around at the house
• A landline, or the times you’ll have mobile coverage

If a truck can’t get to the house, say so on the call so the pickup can be planned around it. Our locations page lists the areas with their own pages, but we collect beyond them too.

Collection day checklist

In most states it’s the seller who has to lodge the notice of disposal, and in Western Australia and Tasmania it’s due within 7 days of the sale. We’ll make sure your notice of disposal is done correctly. In most states it’s a quick online form. Our checklist for what to do after selling your car covers the rest of the admin.

Is a sale with collection right for you?

If you work long hours, travel or live far from a city, the hardest part of a private sale is being there. You need to be around for calls, viewings, test drives and the handover, sometimes with a buyer who wants the keys before the money is real. Selling to us cuts that down to a phone call, an inspection at a time and place that suits you, and a pickup you don’t have to attend.

Sell Your Car Australia is run by Autohaus Australia Pty Ltd, a NSW licensed motor dealer (MD 077404), and led by a valuer who has priced cars since 1992 and supplies dealerships nationwide. We buy cars, utes, SUVs and 4WDs that are 2021 or newer with 100,000 km or less. If yours is older or has more kilometres, send it through anyway and we’ll tell you straight away if we can help.

The valuation is free, there’s no obligation, and no fees are taken out of the offer. To talk through a pickup at your home, your workplace or with a key drop-off, call 1800 73 55 73.