thanks and I totally agree, he has sent documents across in Italian which I am able to translate, he claims that he needs our info to prove the car isn't new - rubbish!! If he insists then we will send it direct to the officials as you say and send across a letter in Italian stating that we are no longer the legal owner of the vehicle and it was sold to him etc on x date.

The car is due to be registered in his name, not ours, he has all of the paperwork stating we sold it to him, so if he wants to register it in Italy he can do that with his ID - not ours.

I've lived all over Europe and have never had this requirement when registering an imported vehicle.

Our own bureaucracy has its mysteries. Those in another country are something else.

It might be a scam but equally Italy might want both sides in a sale/purchase properly identified; given the scope to register a stolen vehicle or to clone cut/shut etc it's not a massive leap.

As suggested above, can the Italian Embassy help?

Even then though it might be a regional thing.

Edited by Bromptonaut on 19/08/2020 at 21:50

Thanks for everyone's messages, either way no ID will be sent. This is how it looks to us, bank BACs transfer made, he sends proof of bank transfer, money hits bank and HSBC confirm there is no way the money can be recalled and either way they put a block on it so we are safe.

OP takes car back to Italy, has all the paperwork including bill of sale and COC, he even sends us a pic of the car that arrived safely in Italy so to that point we expected it to be done and dusted. He wants the bill of sale to state that there is no Cat C on it, we word it a slightly different way that still states all 'anomalies on the vehicle' as recorded.

Receives car in Italy and because he hasn't owned it for min 6 months which is the law in European countries unless you are a business exporting / importing, he faces a heavy tax / vat charge when registering it. So, to avoid this, he tries to register it in our name for min 6 months. That way 'if' the Italian authorities want a claw back of tax of any sort they come running to us / or if it isn't the above he tries to register it in our name to cover his back in case something comes back re the Cat C.

The car is 22 years old, we wouldn't ever be able to prove the tax / vat was ever paid on it initially and since then it had always been sold privately, but he claims that he needs our ID to also help show the car isn't new!!! Never heard such rubbish to be honest.

He then tells us someone he knows in the UK can also help explain the situation in Italy, ironically this 'person' is his mate who also buys and sells cars.

Anyway, we've taken the decision to ignore every message he now sends and keep evidence of everything.

Edited by jenster19 on 20/08/2020 at 06:43

.... I lived in France for 20 years, registered many imported cars and not once did i ever need ID from the person who sold me the car. I've lived all over, inc Paris. Anyway, i've had proof now that ID def isn't required :)