The main difference between selling a car as a private person or as an entrepreneur is that you can privately exclude liability for material defects in the purchase contract. This means that you do not have to pay for expensive repairs due to alleged defects that occur after the sale. As an entrepreneur it is possible to shorten the period of time when selling used vehicles from a two-year warranty to one year, but this must be stated in the sales contract.
Attention: exclude warranty
When selling a car, a company owner cannot sell his car to a private person without being exposed to statutory warranty claims, like a car dealer would.
If you have shortened the liability for material defects in the sales contract to one year, you as an entrepreneur are responsible for defects that were already present at the time of sale and that were not described in the sales contract. The repairs are then carried out at your own expense. Furthermore, the buyer can withdraw from the purchase contract, should the defect be significant or unrecoverable. A further reduction of the liability for material defects to less than one year is excluded. If, for example, you should decide to completely exclude liability for material defects, the corresponding clause in the sales contract is ineffective. Make use of the sales tax calculator for understand the sales tax that you will have to consider at the time of buying the car.
For the first 6 months after purchase, it is assumed that there was a defect at the time of sale. The seller then has to pay for this. However, he can also provide evidence that this was not the case and is then not liable for the first 6 months either. If a material defect is reported later, the buyer must prove that the defect already existed when the risk was passed (usually when the vehicle was handed over).
Online Platform is the best partner for your car sales
With online platform you sell your car quickly and easily with a 100 percent reliable partner. As a company operating across Europe, we have the opportunity to examine almost every car in detail, regardless of make, model and condition. We also go into the individual options for successfully selling the car. Our advantage: With us you sell your car directly from home. Complete our two-part online assessment from the comfort of your home and then come to your submission date in one of our more than 130 branches throughout Germany.
Online evaluation
Enter a few basic data of your vehicle into our calculator for an initial online evaluation and you will immediately receive an initial estimate. This helps you to orientate yourself in terms of price.
Online assessment
You can then start the online assessment directly. To do this, you send us further vehicle information and a few simple photos. On the basis of this data, our experts will assess your vehicle and send you your final sales price by email. Book your drop-off date to sell your vehicle at this price directly in the branch.