How Do You Sell Your Car Yourself?

There are plenty of ways to sell your car, and a common way of doing it in Malaysia is to sell it yourself.

Selling your car by yourself is no easy feat, and chances are, you are not completely familiar on how to do it.

Here is a detailed step-by-step guide to selling your car yourself in Malaysia.

1) Settling on a List Price

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You have many choices on getting a price tag for your car. The simplest and easiest would be to get a car valuation from us at Motorist. We would give you an estimate based on your car’s make, model, year by having our network of dealers bid for it. Not to mention, it is completely free with zero obligation!

An old-school way would be to do your own research online and the classified sections to view the list price of similar cars.

Do keep in mind that your car’s actual worth may differ even from the best estimate due to various reasons, most commonly an accident history. A simple way to up the value of your car is to do minor service and maintenance works to fix small problems.

2) Advertise

The most important thing to do when selling your car yourself is to advertise it as effectively as possible. That would mean having as many people see it as possible.

The common place to do it nowadays is online. Websites like Mudah, Carlist, Oto, Motor Trader are available for use for free or a small fee. You can also advertise the old-school way on newspapers, and that would cost a small fee per day, depending on the publication.

3) Negotiation

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When you do eventually get your first few offers, chances are they will offer a lower price compared to what you listed. That’s when negotiations come in.

When considering the offers, be sure to find out whether they will be paying you in cash or taking a bank loan. Should they be offering to make you in cash, it’s good news for you as there would be less hassle and worries for both parties.

With a bank loan, things are more complicated and risky though as the sale will take longer and there is a chance your potential buyer might not get their loan approved.

Do take note that if the buyer needs a hire-purchase loan, they will need a car insurance policy for a sum assured of 90% of the car’s purchase price. Only then will they be able to complete the loan and transfer process.

4) Inspection from PUSPAKOM

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Upon agreeing upon a price with a buyer, you will need to send your car for a PUSPAKOM inspection.

Do remember to make an appointment in advance and to bring your car’s original registration card to the inspection(s).

PUSPAKOM has made an 18-point inspection under the Hire Purchase Inspection (HPI) programme compulsory if your buyer needs a hire-purchase loan. This inspection would cost around RM50 to RM100. Should your car pass the test, PUSPAKOM will give you a B7 report. The report is required so that your buyer can submit a loan application.

On top of that, don’t forget about the Transfer of Ownership Inspection, which is compulsory and costs RM30. Once your car has passed the test, PUSPAKOM will give you a B5 report. You need to submit it to the Road Transport Department (RTD), otherwise known as JPJ to register the transfer of ownership of your car.

5) Going to JPJ to Make the Transfer

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With your B5 report from PUSPAKOM, you can now proceed to file for a Transfer of Ownership from the RTD, otherwise known as JPJ. If you are in a rush, you can actually head down to JPJ to register the transfer as early as an hour after getting your PUSPAKOM reports.

You are advised to make the trip with the buyer to complete the transfer. Some sellers actually rather just pass on a copy of their identification, car registration card and signed documentation to the buyer for them make the transfer themselves.

Doing that is risky as the car and all the liabilities that comes from it like traffic summons could remain your problem if the transfer isn’t made properly.

6) Handing over the Car Keys

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If the buyer is paying in cash, you can then hand over the car keys when you receive the full sum of the car and all the paperwork from the transfer has been approved.

But if the buyer is taking a loan, you should consider holding back the keys until you have received a cheque from the bank. As a general rule, it’s best to have official agreements written out should you pass the keys over before receiving full payment.

7) Cancelling Insurance

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Now that you have transferred the ownership of the car to your buyer, you clearly have no use for your leftover car insurance. But, did you know that a refund on your car insurance is possible if you never made an accident claim on the plan? However, there is no standard exact amount in terms of how much you can get back.

Usually, you will receive a short rate refund when you cancel the policy, if it's your first year with your insurance company and you still have more than four months on your policy. A short rate refund is a refund that is based on a percentage assigned for the number of months that have gone past in your policy.

We understand that if you have kept the same insurance company for more than one year, they should be more flexible and prorate the refund based on the number of months left on your plan.

8) Using Motorist Instead

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We have listed the seven steps to sell your car yourself, and that is just if the whole process goes well! It’s a tedious process, we know, and no one, irrespective on how free or busy they are, should need to go through this long, drawn-out process in the digital age.

That being said, why not come to us? Here at Motorist, we offer a free car valuation service for everyone. Our valuation system is completely free and accurate, and we will consolidate all the bids from hundreds of car dealers and get the highest offer for you. If you are willing to let go of your car at that price, we will arrange a meetup between you and the car dealer.

As we said earlier, this service is 100% free, so there is really no reason why you should not get your car professionally valuated!

Read more: How to Sell Your Used Car for More