Italy: selling a used car without surprises

Before the ad

• Have the documents ready: the Documento Unico, or the registration document and ownership certificate if the car is older, and a valid ID of yours.
• Check that car tax and inspection are up to date: the first inspection is four years after registration, then every two, and the ones done show on the Portale dell’Automobilista.
• Check whether the car has liens or mortgages: the ACI has a free check with SPID, and the online search costs €6. A car with a lien can be sold, but the lien stays until the debt is paid: tell the buyer.
• Write the defects you know of in the ad: it protects you after the sale.

The change of ownership, step by step

1. You agree on the price and on who pays the costs. The transcription tax is owed by the buyer, who is also obliged to register the change.
2. Your signature on the bill of sale must be authenticated: at the ACI and Motorizzazione online counters, at ACI branches and car-paperwork agencies, at the town hall or with a notary.
3. The change must be registered at the PRA within 60 days of the authentication, and the Documento Unico is updated with it. If late there is a penalty of 25% of the tax, plus interest.
4. If you did not do it at the counter, after 60 days check with a search that the change is there. The ACI also has a free service that warns you when the buyer registers the deed.

How much it costs

Besides any fee of the agency, the fixed items are the ACI fees, €27, the Motorizzazione fees, €10.20, and the stamps: €32 for the application, €16 for the Documento Unico and €16 for the authentication. In all €101.20.

The biggest item is the provincial transcription tax: it starts at €150.81 for cars up to 53 kW, rises with power, and almost all provinces raise it, many by 30%. It is paid to the province where the buyer lives.

The payment

Hand over car, keys and documents at the same moment you receive the money, by a traceable means. The ACI recommends the instant transfer, which cannot be revoked, and advises against the bank draft, especially on a Friday. Cash between private parties is forbidden from €5,000 up, even if the payment is deliberately split into several parts.

Beware of anyone who pays more than the price and asks for the difference back, and of anyone in a hurry to take the car away without doing the change of ownership.

After signing: insurance, car tax, warranty

• Insurance: the policy is tied to you, not to the car. When you sell you choose one route, and then cannot change it: cancel it with a refund of the unused premium, net of taxes, transfer it to the buyer, or move it to another vehicle of yours. Tell the insurer at once.
• Car tax: it is paid by whoever is the owner at the PRA on the payment due date. If registration is late, it can fall to you. From 2028 the rules change, and refunds depend on your Region.
• Warranty: between private parties there is no conformity warranty like when you buy from a professional. The Civil Code one remains for defects that make the car unfit for use, but not for easily recognizable ones: the buyer must report them within 8 days of discovery, and the action lapses one year after delivery.

The most common mistakes

• Handing over the car with only a deposit, “the rest after the change of ownership”.
• Trusting the buyer’s promise to register the change, without checking.
• Forgetting the insurance, and going on paying for a car you no longer have.
• Leaving the toll device, papers, or your data and contacts in the on-board system.