Selling or buying a used car in British Columbia

In BC, the car insurance and registrations are handled by The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC), a provincial Crown corporation exclusively through its 900 Autoplan brokers.  At this time, we do not assist with the private car sales transactions in BC; however, we are exploring the possibilities.

Steps For The Seller:

• Pick up a Transfer/Tax Form (APV9T) from any Autoplan broker. Due to COVID-19, it is temporarily available for download (see resources).  
• Remove licence plates, insurance and registration. The insurance and registration are two parts of the same document (APV250).
• Tear off the bottom, vehicle registration portion.
• Give the registration to the buyer, with seller signature on it. (It must be the original, not a photocopy.)  
• After the payment, fill out and sign the Transfer/Tax Form in full. Each of the four pages must have original signatures.
• Cancel insurance or transfer it to a new vehicle. 

To cancel insurance, you will visit your Autoplan broker and bring the following:

• a piece of primary and secondary ID,
• your licence plates, and
• your owner’s certificate (insurance and registration).

If you are interested in a VIN car history search, you can access it here.

Steps For The Buyer:

• Get the original vehicle registration, with the owner’s signature on it, from the seller.
• Fill out and sign in full the purchaser’s portion of the Transfer/Tax Form (APV9T).  Each of the four pages must have original signatures — electronic signatures are not accepted.
• To complete the transfer, take the registration and Transfer/Tax Form to an Autoplan broker. If the seller cannot visit the Autoplan broker with the buyer, the seller should keep a copy (with original signatures from both buyer and the seller).
• Get the vehicle registered, licensed and insured at the broker’s at the same time. 

FEES and TAXES: Car registration costs $18.  For a private seller, a total provincial tax rate is 12% on the ICBC’s valuation. The same value windows apply for the luxury tax rates of 15 and 20 per cent on higher-value vehicles.  The tax is payable at the time of registration with the ICBC Autoplan provincial insurance broker.