Car sale agreement Ireland: the bill of sale does not change the owner

A bill of sale records the contract between you and the buyer. It does not change the registered owner. The record of ownership is the National Vehicle and Driver File, and it changes only when the prescribed notification reaches the right office — which for a vehicle first licensed in the State on or after 1 January 1993 means the seller sending Part B of the vehicle registration certificate to the Department of Transport.

Until that is done you are still the registered owner, and the tolls, the speeding fines, the clamping charges and the motor tax arrears still come to you.

The procedure, exactly

Article 10(8) of the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) (Amendment) Regulations 1992 (S.I. No. 385 of 1992) is the rule for a vehicle first licensed in the State on or after 1 January 1993:

• the new owner completes Part B of the vehicle licensing certificate and retains Part A;
• the owner transferring the vehicle delivers the completed Part B to the Minister;
• on receipt the Minister notes the change of owner and issues an amended certificate to the new owner.

So the buyer fills it in and the seller posts it. Do both at the handover, and photograph the completed Part B before it goes in the envelope — it is the only proof you will have that you did it.

For a vehicle first licensed before 1 January 1993, article 10(1) and (2) set out the older route: the seller completes Parts A and C of Form R.F.2 and the buyer completes Part B; the buyer keeps Part C; the seller delivers Parts A and B to the relevant licensing authority — the motor tax office — and also delivers the registration book, in which the buyer has entered their name and address. Article 10(4) is the sting: a registration book not so delivered becomes void.

Regulation 11(4) of the Vehicle Registration and Taxation Regulations 1992 (S.I. No. 318 of 1992) requires the registration certificate itself to be handed over to the new owner at each change of ownership.

The motor tax disc goes with the car, or it dies

Article 10(6) of S.I. No. 385 of 1992: where a current licence has been issued, the owner transferring the vehicle shall deliver it to the new owner, and that delivery operates as a transfer of the licence. A licence not so delivered becomes void and shall be destroyed by the seller.

Keeping the disc back does not preserve any value in it. It destroys it. There is no refund to the buyer for unexpired tax either, so it is worth reflecting in the price.

What the agreement should record

• The parties, with addresses and Eircodes and a phone number each.
• The vehicle: make, model, year of first registration, registration number, VIN, colour, and the odometer reading. Regulation 12 of S.I. No. 318 of 1992 requires the chassis and engine numbers to be permanently displayed in a legible form and an accessible position — check the number on the car against the number on the certificate before money changes hands.
• The price, any deposit, and how the balance is paid.
• When property passes. Under rule 1 of section 18 of the Sale of Goods Act 1893, property in specific goods in a deliverable state passes when the contract is made, unless a different intention appears. If you are not being paid in full on the day, say expressly that property passes on payment in full — that is how you make the different intention appear.
• A declaration of title: that the vehicle is the seller's absolute property, is not subject to any hire purchase or PCP agreement, charge or lien, and has not to the seller's knowledge been stolen.
• Disclosure of every fault, past accident damage and repair the seller knows of.
• The change-of-ownership steps, so there is no argument later about who was supposed to post what.
• Two signed copies, one each.

Outstanding finance is the one thing you cannot paper over

Under a hire purchase or PCP agreement the finance company owns the vehicle until the final payment and any option fee are made. Section 12(1)(a) of the Sale of Goods Act 1893 implies a condition in every contract of sale that the seller has a right to sell — and section 55(3) provides that any term of that or any other contract exempting from all or any of the provisions of section 12 is void. There is no wording that changes it.

If there is finance on the car, settle it as part of the sale, in one meeting: the buyer transfers the settlement figure directly to the finance company and the balance to you, or you clear the account and produce written confirmation before the keys and the certificate change hands. Settlement figures expire, so check the date.

The two-year tail on safety

Section 13(2) of the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980 implies, in every contract for the sale of a motor vehicle except one in which the buyer is a motor trader, a condition that at the time of delivery the vehicle is free from any defect which would render it a danger to the public, including persons travelling in it. Section 13(9) makes any exclusion of that void, and section 13(7) lets a person using the vehicle with the buyer's consent sue the seller — within two years, under the amendment section 13(8) made to the Statute of Limitations 1957. That applies to private sellers. See what "sold as seen" actually covers.

For the buyer

Run a history check on the VIN before paying. It is the only practical way to see outstanding finance, a previous write-off or an imported history — none of which the seller may know about. Meet at the seller's home address and check it matches the registration certificate. And tax the vehicle in your own name as soon as the amended certificate arrives.

Our vehicle bill of sale prints the correct change-of-ownership procedure for the vehicle's registration date, and blocks a sale where the finance will still be outstanding when the buyer takes the car.