Everything you need to know about consigning a car

Many people would be familiar with selling your car through newspaper advertisements, carousell, or even a car dealer, but are you familiar with car consignment?

Unlike many other parts of the world, buying and selling cars are more complex in Singapore because of Certificate of Entitlement (COE) that each car needs to possess. The entire sales process can be extremely time-consuming, as there will be a lot of paperwork involved.

Selling a car via consignment can be a fuss-free process and would allow you to still use your car as it is being marketed in the open market. Think of consignment as an option that is in-between selling a car on your own, and through a dealer.

Car consignment basically means that you get to set your own price and the dealer will handle all the paperwork and marketing for you while you still retain legal ownership of the car. Some consignment dealers may also offer you the option of leaving your car at their showroom to facilitate potential buyers to view your car.

If you do not leave your car with the dealer, when a buyer is found, the car dealer will set a meet-up venue and time and you would drive over your car for an inspection by the buyer. Once everyone is happy with the offer, a deal is closed!

The service fee chargeable by consignment car dealers differs from dealer to dealer. As a guide, dealers may charge somewhere from $500 to 1% of the selling price of your car for all the paperwork involved.

Seller would not need to worry about an entire barrage of phone calls from potential buyers if one is a direct seller.

You can also leverage on experienced dealers who would be able to advise you on the pricing and other relevant information as compared to doing-it-yourself. Consignment car dealers will also be responsible for all the paperwork and advertising of your car.

If you leave your car at the showroom, the consignment car dealer can take the chance to promote your car to walk-in customers who may not have considered purchasing your car make or model.

Having a third-party as a negotiator also makes things easier such that they will be able to fend off low-ballers to help you stick with the quoted price of the car.

Consignment car dealers, like car dealers, work with banks to offer financing packages and options to potential car buyers. This may be more attractive to car buyers who do not wish to fork up a huge upfront payment. They can also help to facilitate settling of the outstanding car loans with the banks before the actual transaction. Selling your car directly to a car buyer would meant that they will have to show up with cash or a cashier’s order on hand.

If you do not leave the car at the showroom, it may be a tiring process to drive down to the venue for a car inspection every time a potential buyer is found.

Like selling a car as a direct seller, car consignment would also mean that you would not know how long it would take until your car is sold.

Some buyers would still prefer to go through a used car dealer as they can be covered by the lemon law. Used car dealers will also repair the car and as much as possible, return the car to good state before reselling them. Cars on consignment may or may not be maintained by a workshop before they are marketed. Sometimes, when sellers request for consignment cars dealers to do some touch-ups, they will charge sellers for it!

Trading in

Sell as a direct seller, list with us

Sell a car to a used car dealer

Sell a car by consignment

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If you have a little bit more time and are in no hurry to sell your car, but still wish to maximise your sales proceeds, selling a car by consignment may be an option to consider.

Here at Oneshift, we’ll help to link you up with our carefully selected pool of trusted car dealers. All you have to do is to leave your details here: Sell by Consignment!

Within a day, our friendly and helpful staff will contact you to provide you with the information on the car consignment dealer with the highest quote. You can then arrange for a meet up date.

A face-to-face meetup needs to be arranged so that you can discuss the final selling price, for the dealers to take photographs, and to inspect the car. At the end of the meeting, you will go into a consignment agreement with the car consignment dealer.

The consignment could involve you placing a , and completing a document to ensure that you will sell your car through the consignment dealer, otherwise forfeiting your deposit.

The dealer will place help you list your car on various platforms such as on Oneshift and through their own contacts. The car consignment dealer will also help you to filter through various buyers to ensure that you do not waste too much time on viewings.

A lot of paperwork has to be completed when transferring your car to a new buyer. The car consignment dealer will also help you with all of that and to facilitate the sales, ensuring that there will be no mistrust or uncertainties when transferring ownership (for example, should the buyer pay the amount first or should the seller transfer the car ownership first).

Especially when you have outstanding car loans or when the buyer wishes to get a bank loan to pay off the car, the car consignment dealer can help you to settle all these with the various banks.

At this juncture, you will also need to prepare:

• – You will need your transaction pin. Request it by using this form. Nowadays, the transaction pin can also be obtained online by logging into LTA’s e-services at One.Motoring with your SingPass 2FA.

• – This is required for you to transfer the ownership of your vehicle to the buyer. You will also need to bring along your NRIC.

We hope that all these will help you better understand the consignment process and help you make a better decision on how you wish to sell your car. Should you wish to consign your car, our Swiftquote can help you to find the best possible price.

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