Transfer vehicle ownership

As well as handing over the keys, the buyer and the seller of a vehicle need to take these steps to transfer its ownership.

Steps for the seller

1. Pick up a Transfer/Tax Form (APV9T) from any Autoplan broker.
2. Remove your licence plates from the vehicle you're selling.
3. Also remove your insurance and registration.
   Note: The insurance and registration are actually two parts of the same document (APV250).
4. Tear off (carefully please!) the bottom, vehicle registration portion.
5. Give the registration to the buyer, making sure it has your signature on it. (It must be the original registration, not a photocopy.)
6. After you've been paid, fill out and sign the Transfer/Tax Form.
7. To complete the transfer, take the registration and Transfer/Tax Form to an Autoplan broker. We strongly recommend going together with the buyer.

You can cancel your insurance or have it transferred to your new vehicle.

Steps for the buyer

1. Get the original vehicle registration, with the owner's signature on it, from the seller.  
2. Fill out the purchaser's portion of the Transfer/Tax Form (APV9T).
3. To complete the transfer, take these documents to an Autoplan broker. We strongly recommend going together with the seller. 

You can get the vehicle registered, licensed and insured at the broker's at the same time.

Using the plates from your old vehicle

You can drive your "new" vehicle using the licence plates from your old one for 10 days from the date of purchase if all of these conditions are met: 

• The vehicle you're switching plates to is registered in B.C. (or was purchased from a licensed B.C. auto dealer).
• You have sold or otherwise disposed of your old vehicle.
• Both vehicles are the same type (for example, passenger vehicles).
• The licence plates are valid B.C. plates.
  

During those 10 days, you must carry in your new vehicle

• the signed Transfer/Tax Form for your new vehicle,
• the original registration from the seller (or, for a new vehicle, the signed and dated bill of sale from a dealer),
• the insurance papers for your old vehicle (the insurance must still be valid), and
• proof, such as the "seller's" copy of the Transfer/Tax Form, that you sold your old vehicle.

Note: Vehicles with "prorate" and "restricted" plates do not qualify for this 10-day grace period.