Private car sale receipt: what to include
A receipt for a private car sale is a one-page record of who sold what to whom, for how much, and in what condition. It takes two minutes and it is the thing you will wish you had if anything goes wrong later. Here is what it needs to say, in plain English.
1. Who is selling and who is buying
Full names and full addresses, including postcodes, for both of you. Phone numbers help. If a parking fine, a bus-lane ticket or a speeding notice arrives for the days after the sale, this is the part that proves you had already sold the car. Ask to see a driving licence if you have not met the buyer before, and check the name matches.
2. Exactly which car
- Registration number as on the number plate.
- Make, model and version, for example Ford Fiesta 1.0 EcoBoost Zetec.
- VIN (the 17-character chassis number). It is on the V5C logbook and usually visible at the bottom of the windscreen.
- Mileage on the day. Write down what the odometer shows at the handover. This is the line people argue about most, so put a number on it.
- Colour and MOT expiry date, so there is no doubt which car and what state it was in.
3. What was handed over
Tick what changed hands: the green V5C/2 new keeper slip (the buyer keeps this until the new logbook arrives; the seller keeps the rest of the V5C and tells DVLA), the number of keys, the service history, and anything else such as a spare wheel, locking wheel nut key or roof bars. If the buyer later claims there was only one key, the receipt settles it.
4. The money
The sale price, any deposit already paid and when, the balance paid on the day, and how it was paid. Bank transfer is the safest for both sides. If cash is involved, count it together and write the amount down. Writing the total in words as well as figures is an old habit that still stops disputes.
5. Sold as seen
Between two private individuals the standard wording is "sold as seen, tried and tested, without warranty". The Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies to businesses, not to you, so a private buyer cannot come back weeks later demanding a refund for a fault that was not hidden. What the wording does not do is let you lie: the car must be as you described it, and you must not conceal a known serious problem such as an outstanding finance agreement or a written-off history.
6. The two confirmations
The seller confirms they are the registered keeper and legal owner, that there is no outstanding finance, that the car has not been declared a write-off to their knowledge, and that the mileage is correct as far as they know. The buyer confirms they have inspected and driven the car, accept it as it is, and will tax and insure it before driving it on the road. Both are short sentences and both matter.
7. Date, time, place and signatures
The date and time of the handover, where it happened, and both signatures. Two copies, one each. A signed PDF on both phones is as good as paper.
Free template
You can print a blank receipt and fill it in by hand, or use the online version, which does the arithmetic, writes the amount in words, lets both of you sign on the screen and makes the PDF. Either way, do it at the handover, not afterwards.