Carrying out the transfer of a car, that is, changing ownership of it, is a procedure that you must carry out at the Headquarters of the General Directorate of Traffic that corresponds to you. But first you must make a series of steps and obtain supporting documents for them. These actions vary depending on the reason for the change of ownership: sale, donation, inheritance, etc.
Steps to follow:
Through an agency.
The simplest way to make a car transfer is through an agency, since they can process it electronically with the DGT in a matter of hours and they can inform you in advance of charges associated with the vehicle that would prevent its sale. The management costs can vary from €50 to €80 approximately.
The car transfers.es website calculates the costs for the vehicle you want to transfer for free and shows you several trustworthy agencies in the province where you want to make the transfer.
To make your transfer you must go to a motor agency with the following documentation:
- ID of buyer and seller
- Original driving license
- Vehicle data sheet
- Original mandate (one signed by the buyer and the other by the
- seller)
- Purchase contract signed by buyer and seller
- With the General Directorate of Traffic.
- Before going to the General Directorate of Traffic to carry out the process of changing ownership of the car, you must pay a tax managed by the autonomous communities: the Property Transfer Tax.
- If the person who sells the car that we want to transfer acts as a company, we simply have to provide the invoice and we can skip the previous point.
- However, in Aragón you will always have to provide proof of the tax; and in Catalonia, too, except in the case of mopeds and vehicles over 10 years old.
- If the transfer of the car is made by a donation, that is, without any sale involved, proof of the corresponding tax must be provided.
In the event that the change of ownership is due to separation or divorce, it will be necessary to provide the ruling or the regulatory agreement of the rupture
On the other hand, if the transfer is due to death, the declaration of heirs or the will must be presented to the General Directorate of Traffic, together with the declaration of last wills; as well as proof of payment of inheritance tax.
If it is an agricultural vehicle, we must provide the registration document in the corresponding registry and the transport certificate in the case of buses or trucks of goods with a mass greater than 6 tons and cargo that exceeds 3.5 tons.
In addition, we will have to present the Customs certificate if the car we want to transmit comes from the Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla. In this case, we will have to pay more than 8.10 euros, corresponding to the entry of the import.
If the car comes from an auction or from an adjudication of the National Plan on Drugs, we must take the act or certificate of adjudication to the General Directorate of Traffic.
Before going to request the change of ownership, we must make sure of the following:
- That there is no debt on the car, unless the finance company authorizes the transmission.
- That the possible sanctions that weigh on the vehicle have been settled.
- That the Circulation Tax of the previous year has been paid.
Then, we go to the General Directorate of Traffic, pay a fee of 52.20 euros or 26.10 in the case of mopeds and fill out the application form for the change of ownership.
We must identify ourselves with our DNI, driving license, passport plus NIE or residence card.
We must also provide the car’s registration certificate, unless there is prior notification of sale. When the procedure has been carried out, a new circulation permit will be issued, which will only be valid if the ITV of the car is in force. You can read our article on How to pass the ITV.
