Could reporting less than the sale of the vehicle get me into trouble?

For what's it worth here in Ontario Canada, the Ministry of Transportation has a high and low estimate of how much a car is worth.

If you ask nicely, sometimes the clerk will tell you the minimum value and maybe you can declare that as the price you sold it. It won't be $500, but the difference from actual selling price could be around $5,000 (for newer cars).

The illegal way is to pay a shady 3rd party to declare the car needs major repairs (ie. the engine is crap and needs replacement etc.) and that's why the car is being sold only for $500.

The disadvantage is if the car turns out truly a lemon, the buyer has no recourse to get their money back from the seller. But this works if the buyer knows cars and is 100% confident the car has no problem.

 

No way man. I don't lowball, I'm reasonable.
I bought the bike for $10k and had the seller write $1,000.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Yes. California.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

1. fill out paperwork
2. bring to dmv for processing
3. when asked, "is this what you paid?"
4. You say "yes"
5. done

 

I ended up spending $800 on new struts on a car whose engine died less than a month later in the middle of a cross-country trip. Was this annoying? Very. Did it result in a lot of expensive charges I didn't expect? Yes. Did it entitle me to a discount from the hotel I had to stay in or the rental car I needed to get? No. And I didn't get any breaks in price or taxes on the car I bought shortly after. That's life. The amount you put into your last car or plan to put into your new one doesn't matter either. It stinks that you have to pay the sales tax on top of the maintenance, but that's also life. It's also your decision if you think it's worth the risk of the prison time, etc. in order to save the money you'd avoid paying by changing the sale value. If saving the money is worth the legal punishment, then go for it. if not, pay the taxes.

 

This from a UCLA student legal aid site:

Question: I am interested in buying a used car and have found one that I like. The seller is asking $2,500 for it, but wants to put only $1,500 on the bill of sale; he says I will have to pay less in registration fees and taxes. Should I do this?
Answer: You run several big risks if you put an amount lower than the actual sale price on the Bill of Sale. First, and most importantly, it is illegal, and the Department of Motor Vehicles is really cracking down on this practice. Secondly, if there are problems with the car and you want to pursue a claim against the seller, you may not be able to recover the full amount of the purchase price. In addition, if you are in an accident and your car is damaged, the insurance company likely will argue that the car is worth only $1,500 and will refuse to pay for repairs in excess of that amount.

https://www.studentlegal.ucla.edu/assets/pdf/articles/CAR%20SALE%20ARTICLE%2001.pdf