Here's the one thing to remember if you read nothing else. In Latvia the car stops being yours the moment you confirm the owner change in e-CSDD. Not when the buyer registers it, not when you hand over the keys. So the money has to be in your account before you press that button.
Everything else about selling a car is fixable along the way. You can retake the photos or drop the price next week. That one step you can't undo.
The rest of this guide goes through the whole thing in order. We checked the rules and fees against CSDD, VID and the law texts at the start of November 2026. They do change, so glance at CSDD's page before the deal too.
Check you can actually sell it
Worth doing before anyone comes to look. CSDD won't register the owner change if:
- the car is on a lease. It's registered to the leasing company, so you buy it out first and the leasing company then makes a mark in the register;
- there's a commercial pledge on it and the pledgee hasn't agreed;
- a prohibition is registered on the car;
- fines or the vehicle operation tax for this year or earlier years are unpaid.
A few less obvious ones. If you bought the car in another EU country, it's 10 years old or less and you registered it in Latvia as a private person, you can't resell it for 30 days after that first registration. A car that went three years without a technical inspection and was struck off the register has to be restored before it can be sold. And if the car is joint marital property, the spouse it's registered to has to confirm in writing that the other spouse doesn't object to the sale.
One more thing if you're not from here. To register the owner change through e-CSDD, the buyer needs a valid Latvian-issued ID document on record and a declared address in Latvia. If that's not the case, the change has to be done at a CSDD customer centre instead (more on that below).
Setting the price
Nobody is objective about their own car. You remember the new clutch and the winter tyres, the buyer sees the other ads next to yours.
So start where the buyer starts. The AdSnap car prices section collects the asking prices from live ss.lv listings for the popular models. Each model page shows a typical price, the range most listings sit in, prices by model year and by generation, and how quickly that model loses value.
Keep in mind these are asking prices, not what the cars finally sold for. Nobody sees sale prices, us included. Treat the typical price as a starting point and adjust for your mileage, trim and condition.
Generation matters more than people expect. If your car is the last year before a new generation came out, buyers compare it with the new one and want to pay less for the old. We put numbers on that in the post on which cars lose value fastest.
You can also see how similar cars are doing. Copy the ss.lv link of a car like yours and paste it into the price history check. It shows how many times the price changed and by how much. If a similar car has been listed for a long time and cut its price a few times, its first price was probably too high, and you don't need to repeat that.
Listing on ss.lv from a computer? The AdSnap browser extension makes this quicker. When you fill in the ss.lv form, an AdSnap.lv section appears under the price field with the typical price of similar cars and the range half of them are listed at. You need to be signed in to an AdSnap account to see it. You can get the extension here.
Leave a little room to negotiate. Pretty much every buyer asks for a discount, and giving up a hundred feels better than a flat no.
Photos, description, mileage
Wash the car and shoot it outside in daylight. Front, back, both sides, interior, boot, odometer, tyres. Photograph the scratches and dents too - the buyer will find them at the viewing anyway, and it's better if they arrive already knowing.
In the description, be specific. What was replaced and when, any known problems, how many owners it's had in Latvia, why you're selling. "Good condition, everything works" tells a buyer nothing.
Don't round the mileage down. With a free e-CSDD account, anyone can see the odometer reading from every technical inspection done in Latvia, and a mismatch with your ad usually ends the conversation right there.
Where to list it
ss.lv is the obvious first choice. You don't have to stop there though, each extra site takes a few minutes. We've compared the Latvian classifieds sites, and if you don't have an ss.lv account, here's where else you can sell.
Full disclosure, AdSnap is ours. Listing is free, you can add up to 30 photos, a listing runs 30 days and can be renewed, and buyers message you through the built-in chat, so your phone number isn't on show to everyone.
If you list on ss.lv with the extension, the "Also publish on adsnap.lv" button opens the AdSnap listing form with the car details, price, text, town and the photos you added on ss.lv already filled in. You accept the terms, fill in anything that's missing and publish.
Viewings
Reply the same day. Buyers usually look at several cars at once, and if you get back to them two days later they may have picked another one.
Meet in daylight. Bring the registration certificate and any service records. Let the buyer take their time.
They may ask for the registration number to check the car in the CSDD app or by texting 1800. Each check costs 1.50 EUR and shows registered prohibitions and mileage, and the app also shows the number of owners and past inspection results. That's normal, and if you've been straight with them it only helps you.
Getting paid
Back to the rule from the top: ownership passes when you confirm in e-CSDD. Money first, confirmation second.
Careful with cash. The law "Par nodokļiem un nodevām" bans private individuals from making a cash transaction above 7,200 EUR, and selling a car to another private person is no exception. The fine is 15% of the amount. Above that, a bank transfer is the safer way, and it leaves a record on your statement. Wait until the money is actually in your account. A screenshot on the buyer's phone isn't money.
CSDD doesn't require a written sales contract. We'd still write a short one: the price, date and time, the mileage, and a line saying the buyer has inspected the car. One page, and it protects both of you if there's a dispute later.
As for tax, selling a car you used yourself isn't subject to personal income tax unless you bought it to resell. Non-taxable income only goes on your annual declaration if it adds up to more than 10,000 EUR in the year.
The owner change in e-CSDD
Both of you log in to e-CSDD with an internet bank, eID or eParaksts. A login with just your driving licence barcode won't let you change owners.
- Give the buyer the car's registration number and the registration certificate number.
- The buyer makes an application mark in e-CSDD.
- You confirm it within 5 days. If you don't, the mark is deleted.
- The buyer registers the change in e-CSDD or at a CSDD customer centre.
When you confirm, you pay by card: 3.02 EUR to deregister the car, plus any unpaid vehicle operation tax up to and including the current month and any unpaid fines. The buyer pays 26.37 EUR for the owner change, registration and new certificate, plus delivery if they choose it. Those were the fees at the start of November 2026.
From the moment you confirm, your OCTA policy ends. The buyer needs their own OCTA, and can take it out before registering, using the number of the electronic owner change confirmation. With a valid technical inspection and their OCTA they can drive straight off. Without a valid inspection, a one-day permit only gets them to the nearest inspection station. If they're going to drive the car, they have to register the change within 5 days.
Not using e-CSDD? You can do the owner change at a CSDD customer centre. Both of you go, or people you've authorised, with the registration certificate and a passport or ID card. You can also authorise the buyer to register it on their own, but then the car stays your responsibility until they actually do. So if you can, use e-CSDD or go to CSDD together.
After the sale
Two bits of money people forget to claim.
First, OCTA. The policy ends when the owner changes, and you're owed a refund for the unused period. The insurer can keep at most 5% of the remaining part, as long as no claim was made on the policy. Apply to your insurer within 7 days and give your bank account. Miss that and the refund only runs from the day they get your application. LTAB will send you an email or text saying the policy has ended, but don't wait for it.
Second, the vehicle operation tax. Tax you've already paid doesn't move to the buyer with the car. VID refunds the remaining full months if you send a free-form application, which you can also file through EDS. They pay within 15 days, and you have three years to ask. CSDD doesn't refund it.