Purchase in Belgium

If you stay in Belgium when you buy your car, there are two things you should bear in mind:

• The seller must give you a Car Pass.
• If you are buying from a professional car seller, then your agreement must be confirmed on paper, and must include certain mandatory information.

Car Pass

A Car Pass records the total mileage of the car driven by all successive owners over the years. Fraud with the odometer is therefore not possible.

Every seller, dealer as well as private person, is obliged to transfer this document to the buyer, irrespective of the nationality or place of residence of the buyer or the destination of the vehicle.

If you have not received the Car Pass, we recommend that you cancel the sales contract.

If you are in doubt about the authenticity of the Car Pass, go to the website www.Car-Pass.be to check the identification number.

A written sales agreement

The Belgian government has adopted new legislation that applies to both new and used cars: the Royal Decree of 5 April 2019 regarding the sales agreement for automobiles. This legislation entered into force on 1 November 2019. Here is a brief summary of its most important rules:

• What kinds of contracts does this legislation apply to? It applies to every sale of a car by a professional dealer to a private individual.
• What obligations does the legislation impose? Every sale must now be recorded in a written sales agreement.
• What kind of information must be included in the written sales agreement? The agreement has to include information on certain essential elements, including a sufficiently detailed description of the vehicle, a record of the car’s mileage as recorded by the odometer, the duration of the car’s warranty and a list of all the documents the seller has handed over to the buyer.
• What if the car isn’t delivered on time? In a first instance, the buyer has to give the seller a reasonable extension of the delivery deadline. If the new deadline is not respected, the seller has the right to cancel the agreement with a full reimbursement of his deposit.