AJC Cars Georgia Sales Kit

Use these handy For Sale signs to advertise your vehicle wherever you go. If you leave your car in a parking lot to sell, print out a couple of copies to leave on the windshield for potential buyers. Be sure to fill out with the vehicle year and a phone number and/or an email address.

Black and Red For Sale Sign:

Red and White For Sale Sign

top of page

Georgia requires the following information on the bill of sale: (divide into two columns)

• Name of seller/transferor.
• Complete address of seller. Must be street address; a P.O. box is not acceptable.
• Date of sale.
• Complete vehicle description, including vehicle identification number (VIN), make, model, year, series number, and body type.
• Lienholder created at time of resale.
• Date of lien, if applicable.
• Name of purchaser.
• Complete address of purchaser; P.O. box is not acceptable.
• Vehicle odometer reading at time of sale.
• Signature of seller or authorized representative.
• Signature of purchaser.
• Seller needs to provide Certificate or origin, or the original title.

top of page

Georgia requires that you transfer the title and registration of your vehicle within 30 days of purchase. Fees will be imposed for late registrations.You must remove your tag from your old car to put on your new car.

You will need the following c to your local tax commissioner's tag office to process the transfer:

• Your valid Georgia driver's license.
• Valid tag registration papers for the vehicle you no longer own.
• A completed application for the transfer.

A valid title for your newly purchased vehicle, or the manufacturer's certificate of origin. Proof of insurance. Georgia requires a minimum of liability insurance on all vehicles. Emissions certificate proving your vehicle has passed inspection, if required in your county. Not all Georgia counties yet require emissions testing.

Appropriate fees, listed below.

• $5 tag transfer fee.
• $18 title fee, if you are applying for a new title at the same time.
• $1 mailing fee if you want your registration papers mailed to you.
• If you are transferring your registration and title during the proper registration period, you will need to pay all taxes due at the time.

top of page

• Never wire money to a potential buyer under any circumstances. If a buyer pays via a check or money order, accept only the exact amount of the sales price.
• In general, it's a good idea to request a cashier's check drawn from a local branch.
• Confirm with the issuing bank that the check is valid. Look up contact information for the bank, a forged check may include a phony address and phone number. When possible, go to the bank with the buyer to verify the check's authenticity.
• If the buyer chooses to pay by money order, follow the same safe-payment guidelines for accepting checks. Verify the name and amount with the issuing bank, and request a money order from a local bank whenever possible.
• If those methods leave you feeling squeamish, there's always cold, hard cash.
• If you run across any fraudulent buyers, be sure to report them to the following web site: www.ic3.gov

top of page

If you owe money to a lender on your car loan, the lender appears on the title as a lien holder, and they are holding the title. To sell the car, you need that title, but you can get it from the lender after you sell it too. When you pay off the loan, they mark the title as lien satisfied, and send you the title. They mail you the title in about a week. Then you sign over the title to the buyer and you send it to the buyer. You can give the buyer your car without title for now, and they can get a temporary paper tag labeled "Tag Applied For" until your title comes in. Then the buyer can register the car with using the title. Auto loan lenders will not send the title to the buyer, they will only send it to you.

• Call your lending institution to determine the best way to close out the loan. At the same time, ask about obtaining a lien release, which states that there are no outstanding loan obligations on your car.
• If neither of these options is satisfactory, conduct the sale at the bank or credit union that holds the title or lien on your car. Just pay off the loan balance with the sale proceeds and sign over the title to the new owner. Call the lending institution beforehand to facilitate this transaction. If the lien holder is out of state, take the bill of sale to your state's Department of Motor Vehicles to obtain a temporary operating permit for the buyer. Then, once you've paid off the loan, you can send the signed title to the new owner. While this option involves more faith on the part of the buyer, you can tell the buyer that it's also in your best interest to transfer the title as soon as possible to eliminate your personal liability.

top of page

• You should accompany prospective buyers on the test drive. This gives you more selling time, and it spares you the distress of watching a stranger drive away in your car. When riding along, point out all the features you love about your car, including things you didn't have room to mention in your ad. You've got a captive audience - make the most of your time.
• If the buyer prefers going alone, make a copy of his or her driver's license or write the name, address, and driver's license number. Set a time limit and exchange cell phone numbers.
• Pre-plan a general route that allows the buyer to experience a variety of driving situations during the test drive. Give the buyer the opportunity to drive on the highway and in local traffic.
• Liability insurance coverage shouldn't be an issue. Many insurance policies cover other people who drive your car so long as they're doing so with your permission and have a valid driver's license. Verify your policy's details; if it doesn't offer this protection, ask to see proof of the buyer's insurance.

top of page

Fix up & clean up your car before you sell it:

Put a good wax job on the car, vacuum the inside, and gloss up the tires, appearance is everything. If there's any burnt lights or fuses, take care of it. Buyers get picky once they see little things like burnt bulbs are not replaced.

Get repair work done and have records or receipts available for the buyer. Getting things like your timing belt changed can be very important for a buyer, this is necessary and usually somewhat costly if it has not been done before.

PriceYour Car for Atlanta

There are several ways to price your vehicle. Kelley Blue Book's website (kbb.com) and Edmunds.com both have very good vehicle pricing tools. While they will give you different prices to sell at, a good rule of thumb is to pick somewhere in the middle of the two. You will also want to search for vehicles similar to yours on ajccars.com. This will give you an idea of what others are selling similar vehicles for and keep you from pricing yourself out of the Atlanta market. You can search by zip code to get a sense of what prices look like right in your neighborhood.

top of page