Documents needed to sell a car in Australia, state by state

To sell a car in Australia, have five things ready: photo ID, the registration details, the service logbook, receipts for recent work and your bank details for the payment. If there’s a loan on the car, add your lender’s details and a payout figure.

Your state’s disposal or transfer form then asks for a few extras, such as the sale date, the price or market value, and sometimes the odometer reading or engine number. The state rules below were checked against official transport authority pages in October 2026, and there’s a printable checklist near the end.

What are the core documents every seller needs?

Whoever buys the car and wherever you live, these five come up in almost every sale.

Photo ID. We ask for it, and a careful private buyer may want to see it to check you’re the person on the registration. Showing it is different from handing over a copy. Our guide on giving a buyer your licence and bank details covers what’s safe to share.

Rego details. Note the plate number and VIN before you start any form. Buyers use the VIN for a PPSR search, so expect to be asked for it.

Logbook and receipts. If your logbook has gaps or has gone missing, our guide on whether service history affects car value explains how to fill them.

Bank details. Give your account name, BSB and account number, and nothing else. No genuine buyer needs your online banking password or a code your bank sends you. Scamwatch warns about buyers who want to pay in unusual ways, including across several different PayIDs. Wait until the money is in your account, not just an email saying it’s on the way, before you release the car.

What extra paperwork do you need if the car is under finance?

Three more things: your lender’s name, your loan account number and a current payout figure. A secured car loan is usually registered as a security interest on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR). That’s why the loan has to be paid out as part of the sale, and why a careful buyer searches the VIN before paying.

The payout figure isn’t the balance in your banking app. It’s the amount your lender quotes to close the loan on a set date, which can include interest to that date and any early exit fee. Our guide to car loan payout letters explains how to get one. If the car is on a novated lease, check your lease contract and talk to your provider first.

When you sell to us, we deal with your lender directly to pay out the loan, then pay any equity to you, and it usually takes 2 to 3 business days to settle. If you owe more than the car is worth, the difference has to be covered before settlement. Our page on selling a car under finance walks through each step.

What if the car isn’t only in your name?

These situations need extra paperwork, so raise them early.

• Joint names. Plan on both owners taking part. In the ACT, the transfer and disposal sections are signed by you, the other registered operator and the buyer. In WA, the paper MR9 form is required for jointly owned vehicles.
• A company car. WA requires the MR9 for company transfers too. In NSW, the online notice of disposal needs the registered operator’s NSW licence or Photo Card details, so ask Service NSW how to lodge it for a car registered to a business. Check who can sign for the business before you agree a sale. The ATO says a GST-registered business selling a car it used for business generally has to account for GST, so talk to your accountant.
• A deceased estate. In NSW, the transfer is done at a service centre with proof of identity, a transfer application and proof of death, such as the death certificate. An executor or administrator also provides the will, probate or letters of administration, or a letter from a solicitor or NSW Trustee & Guardian. WA requires the MR9 for deceased estates as well.
• Selling for a relative under a power of attorney. Bring a copy of the document as well as your own ID, and check with the state transport authority what it accepts before you agree a sale date.

What does each state’s form ask for?

When the buyer is a licensed dealer, some forms take the dealer’s details in place of a private buyer’s, as the NSW row shows.

Three things in that table catch sellers out:

1. The 7-day states. WA and Tasmania give you half the time most states do, so lodge the day you sell.
2. Interstate buyers. NSW and SA both switch to the paper notice when the buyer is from another state. VicRoads recommends cancelling the rego and removing the plates when you sell to someone interstate, and WA says a vehicle licence (WA’s term for rego) can’t be transferred to someone who isn’t a WA resident. Because we’re based in NSW, these rules can apply when you sell to us from another state. A South Australian, for example, uses the paper notice, and we help with that paperwork as part of the transfer of ownership.
3. Certificates on private sales. Victoria and Queensland add a roadworthy or safety certificate to a private seller’s list. When you sell to a licensed dealer, that private-sale rule usually doesn’t apply in either state, and we confirm what applies to your car.

For plates, tolls and who pays duty in each state, see our guide to selling a car in Australia.

Why do the forms ask for the odometer, the price and the market value?

The price or market value. In NSW, Victoria, Queensland and the ACT, the buyer’s stamp duty is worked out on the higher of the price paid and the market value. The NSW notice of disposal and the Tasmanian portal both ask the seller for the higher of the two, and Queensland’s online transfer asks for the dutiable value. Writing a lower price on the receipt to save the buyer some duty doesn’t help, because those forms ask for the market value if it’s higher.

The odometer reading. The Queensland online transfer asks for the reading at the time of sale. It records how far the car had travelled when it left your hands. Take a photo of the dash at handover, wherever you live.

The date and time. Service NSW says your receipt should include the date and time of sale, the vehicle details, and both parties’ names, addresses and signatures. If a toll or camera notice turns up for the day you sold, the time shows who had the car.

Put the same figures on your receipt. Our guide to what a bill of sale should include has the full list.

What should you hand over with the car, and what should you take out?

Hand over every key and remote, including the spare, with the owner’s manual, warranty booklet, logbook and receipts. Add the locking wheel nut key and charging cable if the car has them, plus the spare tyre or repair kit, jack, tools and any removable parts such as a cargo blind.

Before the car goes, take out or cancel:

• Your e-tag. The NSW Government says to remove it and delete the registration number from your toll account. Queensland says to remove toll tags and update your details with Linkt.
• Personalised plates you want to keep. NSW lets you swap them for general plates, SA asks you to get standard plates before you sell, and WA asks you to exchange optional plates before the sale.
• Your rego direct debit. VicRoads and Queensland’s transport department both say to cancel it.
• Personal items and data. Garage remotes, parking permits, paired phones and saved addresses.

What should you keep after the sale?

Keep four things together:

1. Proof you lodged the disposal. Service NSW says to keep a copy, and VicRoads emails a confirmation. Tasmania sends none, so allow a week and then check with Service Tasmania.
2. The signed receipt, with the date, time, price and odometer reading.
3. Proof the payment cleared, such as your bank statement.
4. Your lender’s confirmation the loan is closed, if there was finance.

Keep your insurance active until the car has actually been collected, then cancel it or move it to your next car. If a fine or toll dated after the sale reaches you, these papers show the car was no longer yours.

Printable checklist

Before you advertise or call a buyer

• Photo ID, usually your driver licence.
• Rego details: plate number, VIN and expiry date.
• Service logbook and receipts for recent work.
• Bank account name, BSB and account number.
• If financed: lender, loan account number and payout figure.
• A decision on personalised plates.

On the day

• Rego direct debit cancelled before the sale goes through.
• The money is in your account before you sign a transfer or hand over keys.
• Odometer reading written down and photographed.
• Receipt signed by both of you, with the date, time and price.
• Your state’s extras from the table above.
• Keys, manuals and accessories handed over, and the e-tag out.

After the sale

• Disposal lodged: within 7 days in WA and Tasmania, 14 days in most other places, and as soon as you sell in the ACT.
• Confirmation saved and the plate removed from your toll account.
• Insurance cancelled or moved once the car is collected.
• Every document from this list kept together.

Selling to us: the documents you’ll actually use

Sell privately and every line of that checklist is yours. Sell to us and the list is shorter: your photo ID, rego details, logbook and receipts, bank details and any loan details. We prepare the sale paperwork and help with the transfer of ownership.

We’ll make sure your notice of disposal is done correctly. In most states it’s a quick online form. In NSW you list our dealer licence number, MD 077404, and our business name in place of a buyer’s licence. Usually no roadworthy or safety certificate is needed when you sell to us, though rules differ by state and we confirm on the call.

You get a genuine offer by phone from a licensed dealer, not an online estimate, and a deposit often the same day. The inspection happens after you accept, at a time and place that suits you. The balance goes into your bank account, and we collect the car, anywhere in Australia, only after you confirm the funds have cleared. As Ray Murray put it: “Holly contacted me to fill in the sales details very professionally and without fuss.”

We buy cars, utes, SUVs and 4WDs 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, with no obligation and no fees taken out of the offer. Call 1800 73 55 73.