Selling privately puts the job of checking the money on you rather than on a dealership, and most of the risk sits in the short window between agreeing a price and handing over the keys. That window becomes manageable once you slow it down.
This page answers the questions sellers commonly ask about payment, deposits, test drives, meeting places and receipts, and covers the scams currently aimed at people advertising a car.
A payment confirmation is not a payment. Screenshots, emailed receipts, SMS alerts and the buyer's own banking screen can each be staged or faked, and none of them prove money has reached you. Check your own account balance yourself, in your own banking app or by phoning your bank on a number you looked up, before you sign anything or hand over the keys.
FAQs
How should I take payment when selling a car privately?
Many private sellers use a real-time bank transfer over the New Payments Platform, which your banking app may label Osko or PayID, because the money usually lands within seconds and you can verify it in your own account rather than trusting a receipt. Give your BSB and account number exactly as the account is held: Australian institutions have been rolling out Confirmation of Payee since July 2025, so a buyer paying you for the first time is told whether the name matches before they send, and a mismatch shows them a warning. Cash is final once counted, though carrying a large sum has its own risks, and your bank reporting a cash deposit of $10,000 or more to AUSTRAC is a routine anti-money-laundering obligation rather than an accusation. No method is risk-free, so pair whichever you use with the checks below and with safe payment when selling a car.
Should I accept a bank cheque for a car?
Bank cheques used to be common for large private sales, and forged ones are a long-running scam — the paper looks convincing and the fraud often surfaces days later, once the car is gone. They are also being wound down: under the Australian Government's cheque transition plan, cheques including bank cheques are due to stop being issued by 30 June 2028 and stop being accepted by 30 September 2029, so check where that timetable has got to before you rely on one. If a buyer insists, treat it as unbanked money until your own bank confirms the funds have cleared into your account, which is not the same thing as the cheque having been deposited. A real-time transfer sidesteps the question.
How do I know the money has actually cleared?
Open your own banking app and look at the available balance — not a text message, not an email, and not the screen on the buyer's phone. A real-time transfer between Australian accounts usually appears within seconds, while an ordinary transfer between different banks may not arrive until the next business day or later. Anything showing as pending, processing or on hold has not cleared and may still be reversed or recalled. Bear in mind the buyer may hit their bank's daily transfer limit, which often sits below a car's price, so it is worth both of you checking limits the day before rather than improvising in a car park.
Should I take a deposit to hold the car, and is it refundable?
A deposit is reasonable if you are taking the ad down or turning other buyers away, and a few hundred dollars is usually enough to show someone is serious. Put in writing — a text message is fine — what the deposit does, how long you will hold the car for, and whether it is refundable if the buyer changes their mind. Whether you can keep it generally comes down to what you both agreed, which is why vague terms are where disputes start. Take it by bank transfer so there is a record, and decline any amount larger than you asked for, because overpaying and then asking for the difference back is the opening move in a common scam.
When should I hand over the keys and the paperwork?
After the full amount is sitting in your account as available funds, and not before — waiting is what protects you if something has gone wrong further up the chain. Sign the transfer paperwork at the same time and keep your copy. Lodge your notice of disposal promptly, because until the transfer is recorded you can still be pursued for tolls, fines and infringements; the form, the deadline and whether the plates stay with the car differ by state and territory, so check your own road authority's page. If money is still owing on the car, arrange for your financier to be paid out and the security interest discharged from the PPSR as part of settlement, because a careful buyer will check. Leave your insurance in place until the car has gone.
Is it safe to let someone test drive my car?
It is a normal part of a private sale, and the risk is manageable with a few checks. Ask to see the buyer's driver licence, photograph it or note the details, and check that it is current, that the photo matches the person, and that the class and any conditions suit the car — a manual or a high-powered car can be off-limits to a learner or provisional driver, and those rules vary by state. Ring your insurer beforehand and ask specifically whether an unlisted driver is covered and what excess would apply, because this varies between policies and some insurers expect you to be in the car. Go with them, choose the route yourself, and keep your own keys and phone on you.
Where should I meet a buyer?
Somewhere public, well lit and covered by cameras — a shopping centre car park or a service station forecourt in daylight. Some police stations have a designated exchange bay, but ring the station first rather than assuming. Bring someone with you, and tell another person where you are going and when you expect to be back. If you would rather meet at home, keep keys, spare keys and registration papers out of reach, and be wary of anyone who wants to turn up with several people. Meeting a buyer safely works through this in more detail.
What should a receipt for a private car sale include?
Write two copies and sign both, so each of you leaves with one. Include the date, the sale price, the make, model, year, registration number, VIN and odometer reading, plus both parties' full names, addresses and signatures, and note any deposit already paid. Adding "sold as is, where is" reflects that a private sale generally does not carry the statutory used-car warranty a licensed dealer has to provide, though it does not entitle you to misdescribe the car. Photograph the signed receipt on your phone before you part ways.
What scams target car sellers?
Three patterns recur. In the overpayment scam a buyer sends too much by apparent accident and asks you to refund the difference, but the original payment is fake or is later reversed and the refund comes out of your own money. In the fake escrow or secure payment scam you are sent a link to a service that will supposedly hold the funds until collection, when the site, the emails and the confirmations belong to the scammer — fake escrow and stakeholder sites covers the tells. In the shipping agent scam an overseas or deployed buyer offers full price sight unseen and asks you to pay a courier or transport agent up front. Anyone who will not inspect the car, pushes you off the platform onto email, or manufactures urgency deserves a slow and sceptical answer.
What should I do if something feels wrong?
Stop and slow down — pressure and urgency are what these scams run on, and a genuine buyer will wait an hour while you check something. Do not refund anything, do not send money to a courier, and do not release the car until you have spoken to your bank on a number you looked up yourself. If you have already paid or transferred, ring your bank straight away, because a fast report gives the best chance of a hold or recall. Then report it to Scamwatch, and report the listing, message or account to us as well so we can look into it.
Where to next
- Safe payment when selling a car — the payment methods in detail, and what clearing actually means.
- Meeting a buyer safely — where to meet, who to bring, and how to run an inspection.
- Fake escrow, stakeholders and "secure payment" sites — how the pitch works and how to check it.
- Avoiding used car scams — written for buyers, but the warning signs run both ways.