Car Purchase Agreement Template

This vehicle purchase agreement template is designed with only the information you need to include for selling a vehicle. It’s straightforward and includes: 

• Vehicle sale terms between private parties and dealers, covering cars, trucks, motorcycles, and commercial vehicles.
• Table to list down payment and balance amounts, as well as acceptable payment methods.
• Fields for vehicle make, model, body, color, year, mileage, and VIN.
• Odometer certification clause to eliminate future disputes with the buyer over mileage.
• Terms and conditions related to delivery, title assignment, indemnity, and severability are pre-written for your convenience, leaving space to fill in deal-specific information only.

Our car purchase agreement template is completely free and available for download in Word or PDF format. Customize before signing.

Who It's For

This sale agreement template is ideal for: 

• Sellers giving up title to a personal vehicle they own privately, without the intermediation of a dealer.
• Buyers who want a written record of their private vehicle purchase before paying.
• Independent used car salesmen who require a dependable and adaptable legal document for each vehicle they sell.
• Fleet administrators facilitating transfers between companies or employees.
• Financed buyers who want to document a down payment and the remaining financed amount.

What's Included in the Car Purchase Agreement Template

The following purchase agreement template includes most of the important provisions you will need for your full purchase of a vehicle:

• Names of Parties: The legal names of the purchaser and seller.
• Description of Vehicle: Vehicle year, make, model, body style, color, mileage, VIN, and number of keys.
• Purchase Price: Amount of down payment, balance due on delivery, and methods of payment.
• Delivery: Description of vehicle at the time of delivery.
• Title: Seller to sign all documents necessary for the purchaser to re-title the vehicle.
• Disclaimer of Warranties/AS-IS: Seller makes no implied warranties. 
• Odometer Statement: Seller’s certification of mileage. 
• Authorization of Buyer’s Representative: Allows someone to sign the purchase agreement on behalf of the buyer.
• Insurance and Tags: Allows the seller’s insurance policy to be cancelled at the time of delivery.
• Indemnification: Allows recovery of attorney fees and out-of-pocket expenses in the event of a breach.
• Entire Agreement and Severability Clause: Standard clauses ensure your contract holds up.

How to Write This Car Purchase Agreement

The template covers the legal entity. These are things you should decide prior to completing the template:

1. Determine your position on warranty before going into negotiation

The default position of this template is AS-IS sale, which states specifically that the seller disclaims all warranties, express or implied. If you are selling a vehicle that has a known mechanical defect, this clause is your primary defense. If you are willing to offer any warranty (including verbal), substitute the AS-IS clause with a limited warranty clause specifically stating what is and is not warranted and the duration of the warranty.

2. Put down payment and due at delivery amounts in the payment table, even for cash transactions

Always put the amount of down payment and amount due at delivery into their respective fields in the payment table, even for cash transactions. Identify the method of payment as cash. This is important, should the buyer later claim you overcharged them, or that the amount they paid was actually a deposit, not a down payment.

3. Fill out the vehicle description table to prevent title issues later

VIN is by far the most important field of this agreement. Verify the VIN matches the vehicle you're selling and the title being transferred before you sign. Include descriptions such as the number of keys if it matters to you, and lien status in the "Other" textbox of the vehicle description table. Ambiguity starts in the Other textbox. 

4. Decide how you want to handle odometer disclosure on older/high-mileage vehicles

This template comes with a standard odometer disclosure statement. If the odometer was ever replaced or if, for some reason, you don't believe the odometer reflects the correct mileage for the vehicle, please specifically state that. There are federal penalties for odometer fraud. This statement is your protection that you did the right thing.

5. Include a delivery date if possession will be delayed

The form specifies that the vehicle's condition at delivery must match its condition during the inspection, and that the buyer's possession must begin by the delivery date. If there will be a delay between signing and picking up the vehicle, get it in writing that both parties acknowledge the vehicle was in the same condition at inspection.