Selling your car privately in QLD vs selling to a wrecker

If your car still has some life in it, you have probably wondered whether to sell it yourself or just call a wrecker. There is no single right answer. A private sale can get you more money for a good car. It also comes with paperwork, strangers in your driveway and a safety certificate that might uncover repairs. Here is what each path involves in Queensland, so you can pick the one that suits your car and your patience.

Selling privately: what Queensland requires

If you sell a registered vehicle privately, TMR says you need to make sure it is in a safe and legal condition, and that when you sell it you have:

• A current inspection certificate. For most light vehicles this is a safety certificate from an approved inspection station. You give the buyer their copy, or for an electronic certificate, a copy or the certificate number.
• A gas certificate, if the car has gas fuel systems or other gas systems. It must not be more than 3 months old when the rego is transferred.

TMR is blunt about why this matters. Without an inspection certificate the new owner cannot transfer the registration, you remain liable for tolls and fines on a car still in your name, and there are on-the-spot fines for not giving a current certificate when you sell.

Transferring the rego

A private sale means transferring the registration, not cancelling it. TMR describes it as two steps:

1. 1The seller transfers the registration out of their name.
2. 2The buyer transfers it into their name and pays any fees and duty. They must do this within 14 days of the sale.

Even if you plan to transfer online, TMR recommends completing Part B of the vehicle registration transfer application (F3520) and having the buyer sign it on the day of sale. Keep your copy as proof the car changed hands.

Before you hand over the keys

• Take the rego off direct debit.
• Remove any toll tag and update your details with Linkt.
• Sort out personalised plates. Keeping them needs form F2964, and standard plates must go on before the transfer can be processed.

Selling to a wrecker: what changes

When a car goes to a wrecker, it is not going back on the road under a new owner. So instead of transferring the rego, you cancel it with form F3517 and hand in the plates. If the rego is current and in your name, you may get a refund of the unused registration and CTP, less a cancellation fee. Our guide on how to cancel rego in QLD covers it step by step.

TMR also lists selling to an auto parts dismantler as one of the options for a car that is unsafe or defective, alongside repairing it, selling to a dealer or selling it unregistered.

Side by side

Private sale

• Usually the most money for a car that is in good shape.
• Needs a current safety certificate for a registered car, plus repairs if it fails.
• Listing photos, ads, calls, messages, tyre kickers and test drives.
• Rego transfer paperwork, and you rely on the buyer to finish their side within 14 days.

Selling to a wrecker

• Paid for the car's parts and metal, so usually less than a good private sale, but often more than you would expect for a car nobody else wants.
• No safety certificate, no repairs, no strangers test driving it.
• Works for cars that do not run, are unregistered, written off or damaged.
• Collected on a truck, then you cancel the rego.

So which one should you choose?

Go private if the car is safe, legal, in demand and you have the time to deal with buyers. Go with a wrecker if the car is old, damaged, unregistered, not running, or if a safety certificate would turn up repairs that are not worth doing. Plenty of people try a private sale for a few weeks, get sick of the messages and call us anyway. That is fine too.

If you want to know what your car is worth as a wrecker sale before you decide, send us the details and we will give you a straight answer. It helps to read what decides a scrap car's value first. More on how we buy cars is on our cash for cars page.