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7 tips for handing the keys of your car to its new owner

We might want to sell or rent out our cars for multiple reasons. It might be because we’re moving out of the area, buying a new car, or simply looking for a way to make money by renting out the cars on a short-term lease.

But wait—don’t just hand over the keys after the payment is made. You must always do a final rundown to avoid any problems in the future. Here are five things that must be done with your car before you hand over the keys to the new owner.

Table of Contents

1. Gather all your documents

Whenever you’re selling a car or renting it out, you have to make sure all the documents are in proper order. Some of the most important papers in these cases include the transfer of title and car lease transfer documents.

Other documents include the agreement you and your client signed at the time of buying the vehicle. In addition to both of your signatures, the document will also mention how much money you received (or the installment agreement) to sell the car. Basically, this will serve as legal proof of purchase.

In addition to all that, you should keep copies of important documents about the seller as well. When making the purchase, you should ask for the following documents or information:

A photocopy of their identification papers. This can be a copy of their passport or national ID.
Their social security number
Two passport size photographs

Of course, at the time of meeting this person, you may have decided that they were trustworthy. However, in the event that something does go wrong, these papers will help the authorities find them.

2. Remove any belongings

If you’ve been using the car for a while, then it’s only normal to leave your personal belongings there. Be sure to take out everything before handing over the keys.

Start by checking all the compartments in your cars. This is where you will most often leave the car’s paperwork, your driver’s license, or essentials that you tend to use on the road. Take those out. It would prove to be a hassle for the new owners to come to return those things to you if you happen to find something missing.

3. Take off identification stickers/tags

A lot of car owners like to have stickers on their vehicles. These stickers are often used as identification, gate or parking passes, etc. You must remove these prior to handing over your car to prevent anyone from linking the car back to places you went to while you were the owner.

Some cars also have tracking devices installed in them. These are often called RFID tags, which stand for radio-frequency identification. If you happen to have one of those on your car, remove it as well.

4. Refill the gas tank

As you may already know, gas prices are going up. Your buyer will most likely use other means of transport to pick up the car. You should fill the car’s tank before you hand it over. It’s a very kind gesture, considering that this will make up for the money they spent on public transport getting to your place.

5. Clean the car

Giving away your car with little to no refurbishing can seem a little bit rude toward the buying party. You can start cleaning your car a day before the actual hand-off.

Start by taking out the carpets and the seat covers. You’re going to need to wash the carpets outside. If you’ve got enough time, send the seat covers to the cleaners. A professional wash will keep the quality of the seat covers intact, as opposed to a home wash, where you won’t have the appropriate equipment.

While your carpets and covers are drying, vacuum the inside of the car to remove any dirt or debris that might still be there. Give the windows and the exteriors a thorough wash as well. Lastly, spray the inside with an air freshener. Giving away a bottle of air freshener would be a nice gesture as well.

If you haven’t got time to do it yourself, then you can send the car to the car wash.

6. Reset all devices in the car

A lot of cars these days have smart devices installed inside them. You can use them to avail location services, connect your phone, listen to music or save personal information on it. Most of these devices are operated using an android processor, which means you need to use your email ID to log into the device in order to download apps.

Go to your device’s settings and select factory reset. Not only will this wipe out all the installed apps, but it will also remove any email addresses or other information you used to operate the device. If you have other smart devices installed, reset them to their default settings as well, so that the new owners can adjust those devices to their liking.

7. Show them around the car

You may have explained all the necessary details about your car and how it operates on the first day. However, it wouldn’t hurt to give another quick run down or give them an extra few pieces of information they should know.

Remember the smart devices that you reset? Why not sit with them and set it up together? Show them how it works and how they can use it to navigate (if it has a GPS tracking system). Then you might want to walk them through some of the specifications or functionalities that will come in handy. If your car has a lot of buttons, you can also explain what those are used for.

Finally, let them ask you questions if they have any.

In Conclusion

Many car owners who are either renting, leasing, or selling their cars forget to do these essential things before handing over the keys. Cross-checking papers and making sure everything is in place will help you avoid getting scammed.

Furthermore, before handing over the keys to its new owner, don’t rush. Being extra thorough while explaining how the car works will improve your reputation as a seller; if you want to sell a car in the future again, this will serve as proof of your honesty. Good luck!

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