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Cash for Cars Qld
Seller’s side · a registered car, sold privatelyQueensland · checked 8 October 2026

A guide, written and published by Dotto

The seller’s side of a Qld car sale, field by field

A Queensland car sale ends with a transfer form in two parts: one the buyer completes, one the seller keeps. These five guides follow the seller’s part, field by field, from the Queensland Government’s own pages.

  1. Safety certificateSafety certificates when sellingPrivate seller: 2 months or 2,000km from issue, whichever ends first
  2. Number platesPersonalised and customised platesYou own the combination; the plates themselves belong to the State
  3. PaymentGetting paid safelyAn overseas cheque can take up to 6 weeks to confirm
  4. TransferTransferring the registrationThe seller pays no fees; the buyer finalises within 14 days
  5. Through the tradeSelling to a dealer or on consignmentConsignment starts with a signed, written appointment
  6. Date of sale
  7. Seller’s signature
  8. Buyer’s signature

An illustration, not the real form. TMR’s form is the vehicle registration transfer application, F3520, and TMR recommends keeping the seller’s part, Part B, until the registration is out of your name.

A guide to the seller’s part

Cash for Cars Qld is a guide, written and published by Dotto, to the seller’s side of selling a registered car in Queensland. It is general information, drawn from the bodies that set the rules, and every page lists the sources it used at its foot.

Three sets of rules meet in a car sale here. The Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) runs safety certificates, number plates and registration transfers. The Office of Fair Trading licenses motor dealers and keeps the public register of them. And the Queensland Police Service and Scamwatch publish warnings about payment fraud, including fraud aimed at sellers.

A bunch of car keys with a remote key fob resting on a pale blue folded document, on a wooden surface in warm lamplight
Keys and a folded document on a table. Photo by LauraTara on Pixabay

The sale in order

  1. Before you advertiseTMR no longer requires a safety certificate before a registered car is advertised.
  2. Before the buyer arrivesGet the safety certificate, settle what happens to any personalised plates, and take the registration off direct debit if it is paid that way.
  3. When the money movesKnow which payments can be reversed, and which messages about payments come from scammers. Getting paid safely
  4. On the day of saleComplete Part B with the buyer, have them sign it, and hand over the certificate; or start the transfer online. Transferring the registration
  5. Within 14 daysThe buyer finalises the transfer and pays the fee and any duty.
  6. AfterwardsCheck that the car has left your name, through My registrations online or on 13 23 80.

Four figures from TMR, as at October 2026

Read on TMR’s pages on 8 October 2026; fees as at 1 July 2026
FigureWhat it is
$102.70The inspection fee for a safety certificate on a motor vehicle up to 4,500kg.
Over $700The fine a seller may face for not getting and giving a current certificate.
14 daysThe time allowed to transfer the registration after the sale.
$33.65The registration transfer fee, which the buyer pays.

The car these guides have in mind

The guides follow a registered, roadworthy car sold by a private person in Queensland. TMR’s own guide to selling begins from the same place: a registered car sold privately needs to be safe and legal, with steps to take both before it is advertised and once a buyer agrees.

A car sold unregistered is a different case. It needs no inspection, but moving it needs an unregistered vehicle permit. And a Queensland registration cannot be transferred to another state or territory, whoever the buyer is.

Selling through the trade instead

A licensed motor dealer can buy the car or sell it for you on consignment, and a car traded to a dealer needs no safety certificate. The rules a dealer works under, from the statement you sign to the trust account the sale money passes through, are in selling to a dealer or on consignment. And the safety certificate guide covers what the inspection checks, what it costs and how long it lasts.