Just sold your car? The after-sale checklist
Key takeaways
- Lodge your notice of disposal, or start the seller's transfer in Queensland, the day the car goes. Most states allow 14 days, but WA and Tasmania allow only 7.
- Take your e-tag out of the car, remove the plate from your toll account and switch off any rego direct debit.
- Keep your insurance running until the car has actually been collected, then cancel it or move it to your next car.
- File your receipt, disposal confirmation and proof of payment together, so you can answer any fine or toll dated after the sale.
After you sell your car, lodge your state’s notice of disposal (or start the seller’s transfer in Queensland) the same day, take your e-tag out of the car and remove the plate from your toll account. Then stop any rego direct debit, cancel or move your insurance once the car has been collected, unlink your phone and apps, and keep your sale records together in case a fine or toll arrives later.
This checklist takes each job in the order it matters during the first week, with state rules checked against official transport authority pages in October 2026. If you haven’t sold yet, our guide to selling a car in Australia covers each state’s rules from the start.
Your first-week checklist at a glance
| Job | When | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Notice of disposal or seller’s transfer | Day one | Tells your transport authority you’ve sold the car |
| E-tag out, plate off your toll account | Day one | Stops the new driver’s tolls reaching you |
| Rego direct debit switched off | Before or on sale day | Stops a renewal coming out of your account |
| Insurance cancelled or moved | Once the car is collected | Covers you until handover, then stops the premiums |
| Roadside assistance and service plans | First week | Moves the cover to your next car, or ends it |
| Phone, apps and garage remote | First week | Keeps your contacts, location and home access private |
| Sale records filed | First week | Your proof if a fine or toll turns up |
Day one: has the sale been recorded?
This is the job that protects you most. Until your state’s records show the sale, the car is still yours on paper, so tolls, parking fines and camera offences can come to you. VicRoads warns that sellers who don’t submit the notice of disposal may be held liable for fines and tolls linked to the car after the sale.
Each state and territory runs it a little differently:
| State | Your deadline | What else the authority tells sellers |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | 14 days, but Service NSW says to lodge immediately | Keep your receipt and a copy of the notice |
| VIC | 14 days, most easily online in myVicRoads | VicRoads emails to confirm the car is out of your name; keep the transfer form |
| QLD | 14 days to transfer the rego out of your name, at no fee | While the car is registered to you, you remain liable for its tolls and fines |
| WA | 7 days, through DoTDirect or the MR9 form | Shorter than most states, so do it the day you sell |
| SA | 14 days, free | The notice doesn’t transfer the rego; it stays in your name until an SA buyer transfers it |
| TAS | 7 days | No automatic confirmation: allow a week, then check with Service Tasmania |
| ACT | As soon as you sell | You and the buyer sign the transfer and disposal sections of the rego certificate |
| NT | 14 days, by email, mail or in person | No online form; the notice must include the engine number and both signatures |
Who bought the car changes the form. In NSW, if you sold to a licensed motor dealer, you enter the dealer’s NSW motor dealer licence number and registered business name in place of a buyer’s licence. An interstate buyer can mean a paper form: in South Australia you can’t lodge the notice online when the buyer is from interstate.
One more day-one check: your plates. If you meant to keep personalised plates and they’ve gone with the car, contact your transport authority straight away. In Victoria, the buyer is presumed to acquire the number rights unless they’re transferred separately. Our guide to keeping personalised number plates covers the steps for each state.
How do you stop tolls coming to you?
Take the tag out of the car and take the plate off your account. Do both: a tag left in the car is still linked to your account, and so is a plate you haven’t removed. Here’s how that works in NSW, Queensland and Victoria:
- NSW. The NSW Government’s selling page says to remove the e-tag from the vehicle and delete the registration number from your account, so you don’t incur future bills. Service NSW adds that you should remove any tags, passes or permits from the car.
- Queensland. The Queensland Government’s seller page says to remove toll tags and update your details with Linkt, the toll payment provider.
- Victoria. As well as lodging the notice of disposal with VicRoads, take your e-tag out of the car and remove the plate from your toll account.
On a Linkt account, for example, you log in, open Vehicles, choose the car and remove it. Then watch your next couple of toll statements. A trip dated after the sale is the first sign that a tag or plate is still linked to you.
What happens to your rego, direct debits and CTP?
Switch off any automatic payment for the rego. The Queensland Government tells sellers to take the registration off direct debit so a payment isn’t deducted after the sale. The VicRoads selling page says to cancel any rego direct debit before you sell. In South Australia, lodging the notice of disposal stops direct debits. In any other state, log in to your rego account and check nothing is set to renew.
Compulsory third party (CTP) cover is tied to the rego, so there’s usually nothing separate to cancel:
- In NSW, the green slip transfers automatically to the new owner.
- In Queensland, CTP is bundled with your rego.
- In Victoria, compulsory third-party cover is part of your rego, and the rego stays with the car.
- In South Australia, the CTP insurer passes to the new owner with the transfer.
Selling across a state border is the main exception. WA vehicle licences (WA’s term for rego) can’t transfer to people who live outside WA, and VicRoads recommends cancelling the rego and removing the plates when you sell to someone interstate. Confirm those steps with your transport authority before the car leaves.
Cancel, change or keep your insurance?
Keep your comprehensive cover until the car has been collected, then deal with it the same day. Service NSW reminds sellers with comprehensive cover to contact their insurer and update the policy. Service SA says to check with your insurer whether to cancel.
Which call you make depends on what’s next:
- Not replacing the car? Cancel the policy from the collection date.
- Buying another car soon? Ask whether the insurer can swap the new car onto your existing policy rather than starting again.
- A gap of a few weeks? Ask whether you’re better off cancelling now and taking out a new policy later.
Many insurers refund unused premium, but whether you get any back, and whether a fee comes out of it, depends on your insurer and your policy wording. If you pay monthly, check that the next instalment has actually stopped.
Which other accounts need cancelling or updating?
Cancel or update your roadside assistance after the sale. Some plans cover only the vehicles nominated on the membership, so check yours, then swap your next car onto it or end the cover. If roadside assistance came with the car from the manufacturer, read the terms to see whether it stays with the vehicle.
Then work through anything else that knows your plate or your car:
- Prepaid service plans and extended warranties. Check whether they transfer to the next owner and whether the provider needs a form from you.
- Finance. If there was a loan, ask the lender for written confirmation that it’s paid out and closed, and check no further repayments are scheduled.
- Parking permits and car park access. Council permits, building car park registrations and parking apps often list your plate. Remove it or update it.
- Connected services. If you pay for a data plan or connected-car subscription, cancel it or transfer it.
If you want to see whether a lender’s interest has come off the Personal Property Securities Register, a search on the VIN costs $2 online through the PPSR, as at October 2026. Our guide to finance showing on the PPSR explains when it clears.
Have you disconnected your phone, apps and garage remote?
Paired phones, contact lists, call history and a saved home address can all sit in the infotainment system long after you’ve handed over the keys. Work through these before handover, or as soon as you remember:
- Delete paired phones and contacts from the infotainment system.
- Clear saved addresses and navigation history, starting with “home”.
- Remove the car from the manufacturer’s app and any connected-services account. Depending on the brand, the app may still show the car’s location or offer remote functions until you do.
- Clear any built-in garage door opener, and change your garage code if a remote went with the car.
- Take your dashcam memory card, fuel cards and anything in the door pockets.
If the car has already gone, you can still remove it from apps and accounts online. Data stored in the car itself is harder, so ask the buyer to do a factory reset. Our guide to wiping personal data from your car has the full list for next time.
Which records should you keep?
Put everything from the sale in one folder, paper or digital. Keep it well after the transfer is confirmed, because a fine or toll notice can reach you some time after the trip it’s for:
- The receipt or bill of sale, showing the date and time of sale.
- Your copy of the notice of disposal or transfer, and any confirmation email.
- Proof of payment, such as the bank statement showing the funds arrived.
- The lender’s payout letter and confirmation the loan is closed, if there was finance.
- Photos of the odometer and the car at handover.
- The plate number, VIN, and the buyer’s or dealer’s details.
The time of sale matters more than people expect. If a camera fine or toll is dated the afternoon of the sale, the time on your receipt shows who had the car.
What if a fine or toll arrives anyway?
Check the date and time on the notice against your receipt first. If the offence happened after the sale, it should belong to the new driver. Service NSW says that once you’ve lodged the notice of disposal, you can’t be held responsible for parking or driving fines the buyer incurs. The NT’s Motor Vehicle Registry says that after the sale, the seller is no longer responsible for traffic infringement notices issued for the vehicle.
Don’t ignore it, though. Follow the instructions on the notice for telling the issuing agency the car had already been sold, and respond before its due date. Send a copy of your disposal or transfer record and your receipt.
For a toll notice, contact the toll provider with the sale date, and remove the plate from your account if it’s still there. If you never lodged the notice of disposal, do it now. A late lodgement fee may apply in NSW, but waiting longer only leaves you exposed to more of the new driver’s fines and tolls. Our guide on what to do when you get a fine or toll for a car you sold walks through each step.
Selling to a dealer: what’s left on your list
If you haven’t sold yet, how you sell decides how much of this list falls to you. In a private sale it’s all yours, from confirming the money has landed to checking the buyer has transferred the rego. When you sell to us, we arrange the payment and the collection, so your list comes down to the notice of disposal, your plates, your data and the accounts and policies in your own name.
Sell Your Car Australia is run by Autohaus Australia Pty Ltd, NSW motor dealer licence MD 077404. 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 the car is collected only after you confirm the funds have cleared. That gives you a fixed day to take out the e-tag and end your insurance.
We prepare the sale paperwork, help with the transfer of ownership and make sure your notice of disposal is done correctly. In most states it’s a quick online form. If there’s finance, we deal with your lender directly to pay out the loan, then pay you any equity. Roy, a customer with a Mercedes-Benz GLE 450, put it this way: “They helped me through the transaction of a high value car and made it very pleasant. From paperwork and working with the lenders, to a personal touch.”
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. Start with a free, no-obligation valuation or call 1800 73 55 73.
Questions sellers ask
Do I get a refund on the rego I've already paid?
Usually not when the registration transfers to the buyer, because the time left on it goes with the car. Access Canberra notes that sellers typically include the value of the remaining rego in the price, and that a refund of unused rego and MAI insurance is processed if you cancel the registration and sell without it. The NT's Motor Vehicle Registry also suggests checking whether you can get a rego refund if you sell the car unregistered, so ask your own transport authority before you agree a price.
Should I leave my e-tag in the car for the buyer?
No. The tag belongs to your toll account, so any trips the new driver takes can end up on your bill. The NSW Government tells sellers to remove the e-tag and delete the plate from their account, and Queensland's transport department says to remove toll tags and update your details with Linkt. The buyer can set up their own tag and account.
How do I know the sale has been recorded?
It depends on the state. VicRoads sends an email confirming the car is out of your name, while Transport Tasmania sends no automatic confirmation, so allow a week and then check with Service Tasmania. In NSW, Service NSW tells you to keep your receipt and a copy of the notice. In South Australia you can ask Service SA for confirmation of sale if you lose your copy.
I forgot to cancel my insurance after the sale. Can I get the premium back?
Contact your insurer now and give them the date the car was collected. Any refund for the time since then, and any cancellation fee, is up to the insurer and your policy, so ask them directly. Have your receipt or transfer confirmation ready as proof of the date.
