How to transfer a vehicle in a BC private sale: ICBC step by step

The paperwork in one list

• Transfer/Tax Form (APV9T): four pages, every page signed in original ink by both buyer and seller. Blank form (ICBC PDF); brokers also have them.
• The seller’s registration (APV250): the insurance and registration are two parts of one document. The seller tears off the bottom, signed registration portion and gives it to the buyer.
• A bill of sale is wise for both of you: date, price, VIN, odometer reading and both names.

Step by step

1. Before you meet

• Buyer: run the checks in our lien and history guide (ICBC’s free status search, a lien search, recalls) and match the VIN on the vehicle to the paperwork.
• Seller: if money is still owed on the vehicle, arrange to pay off the lien. A buyer who checks will find it, and a vehicle with a lien can be repossessed from the new owner.
• Agree on how you’ll pay. ICBC advises sellers to accept only cash or a bank draft, not a personal cheque, and to confirm a draft with the bank that issued it.

2. At the sale

• Payment first. Then both sign all four pages of the APV9T.
• The seller gives the buyer the signed registration portion of the APV250.
• The seller removes the licence plates. Plates stay with the seller, and selling plates or letting someone else use them on a different vehicle is an offence.

3. At an Autoplan broker

• The buyer takes the APV250 registration and the signed APV9T to any Autoplan broker to register and insure the vehicle.
• This must happen within 10 days of the purchase.
• The buyer pays PST here, on the greater of the price and the Black Book wholesale value. See BC used car tax and work out the amount with our calculator.
• ICBC strongly recommends that the seller comes along so the transfer is processed right away. If the seller can’t, they should keep a copy of the APV9T with both parties’ original signatures.

4. After the sale (seller)

• Cancel your insurance or move it to another vehicle. Until the transfer is done and your policy is cancelled, you can be exposed to claims from the buyer’s driving.
• Return plates you no longer need to an Autoplan broker or ICBC.
• If you listed the vehicle on OK Auto Search, mark it sold so buyers stop contacting you.

Driving it home: the 10-day plate rule

A buyer can drive the newly bought vehicle on the plates from their own old vehicle for up to 10 days, but only if all of these are true:

• the new vehicle is BC-registered, or bought from a licensed BC dealer;
• the old vehicle has been sold or disposed of;
• both vehicles are the same type, the plates are valid BC plates, and neither vehicle is leased.

Carry the signed APV9T, the seller’s registration, the insurance papers for your old vehicle, and proof the old one was sold. This doesn’t apply to prorate or restricted plates, and it never means driving on the seller’s plates. Otherwise, register and insure before you drive.

Selling in the Okanagan?

List your vehicle free on OK Auto Search. Start with your VIN, see how many local buyers have searched for one like it, and buyers with a matching CarWatch hear about it as soon as it’s approved. Your phone and email stay private.

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