Buying a used semi truck is a business decision with a lot of paperwork behind it. Get the spec right and the truck earns; skip a step and you can inherit someone else’s loan, a failed inspection or a tax bill you didn’t plan for.
This guide walks the steps in order, from the work the truck has to do to the day it goes out with plates, with the BC rule behind each one. Browse our used trucks for sale as you go: every listing shows its spec and its VIN.
Seven steps, shortlist to plates
Decide what the truck has to do
The loads, routes and terminals set the axles, horsepower and model year you need.
Set the whole budget
Price, tax, insurance, registration and a reserve for repairs, then the payment.
Shortlist and read the spec sheets
Line by line, against the work.
Check the VIN, the history and the liens
The VIN on the truck against its papers, a lien search, the records.
Get it inspected
By someone working for you, plus a current CVI.
Pay the tax and transfer it
At an Autoplan broker within 10 days of the sale.
Insure, plate and put it to work
Registered, licensed and insured, with the carrier’s safety certificate.
Step 1: decide what the truck has to do
Before you look at a single listing, write down what the truck will haul, where and how heavy. Three BC rules turn that into a spec:
- Axles. A combination over 38,000 kg needs a towing truck with a tandem or tridem drive axle, one that drives all its wheels: a 6×4, not a 6×2.8
- Horsepower. Without an overload permit, the combination can weigh no more than 150 kg per rated horsepower of the tractor.8
- Model year, at the port. A truck joining a Port of Vancouver Truck Licensing System fleet has to be a 2018 model year or newer.11
Then the choices that are yours: day cab or sleeper, manual or automated, the axle ratio for your speeds and grades. Our guide to reading a used truck spec sheet works through each line, with a worksheet that checks a tractor against your weights. If you’re weighing a new truck against a used one, read EPA 2027: new or used too.
Step 2: set the whole budget
The price on the listing isn’t the cost of getting the truck to work. Add the tax (step 6), insurance and registration, the inspection and any repairs it turns up, and money in reserve for the first few months. Then work out the payment you can carry.
Financing through our sister company Blue Capital Equipment Finance Ltd., an affiliated broker, at the same Surrey yard. Blue Capital explains how equipment loans and leases work; our financing page covers what you can finance here.
Your numbers
What would it cost a month?
Put in the price, what you’ll put down and the term. An estimate, on approved credit.
Your balance, year by year
What you still owe at the end of each year, and how each year’s payments split between principal and interest.
- Balance owed
- Principal paid
| Year | Principal paid | Interest paid | Balance at year end |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $17,717 | $9,502 | $90,283 |
| Year 2 | $19,475 | $7,743 | $70,808 |
| Year 3 | $21,408 | $5,811 | $49,401 |
| Year 4 | $23,532 | $3,686 | $25,868 |
| Year 5 | $25,868 | $1,350 | $0 |
| Total | $108,000 | $28,092 |
The table fills in with your figures.
Step 3: shortlist and read the spec sheets
Shortlist on the work, not the paint. For each truck, read the spec sheet line by line: engine and horsepower, emissions year, transmission, axle ratio and configuration, axle ratings, GVWR, wheelbase and the condition lines. A truck that fails the work on paper won’t pass it on the road.
Guide · 11 min read
How to read a used truck spec sheet, line by line
What each line on a used truck’s spec sheet tells you, from the VIN and engine to axle ratio and weights, and…
Step 4: check the VIN, the history and the liens
The VIN is the truck’s identity. It should be the same on the frame, the door pillar, the dash, the compliance label and every paper the seller hands you; an inspector fails a truck whose VINs don’t match.10
Search for liens by VIN
A lender who registers its loan against a truck by serial number keeps its claim on the truck even after it’s sold to someone who didn’t know: under BC’s Personal Property Security Act, a buyer takes free of that kind of security interest only if it wasn’t registered by serial number.4 So search the Personal Property Registry by the truck’s VIN before you pay, and get any lien discharged first.4
Get the history
- Inspection and repair records. BC owners keep them for the last 3 years they own a unit, and can hand them to the buyer with the truck.6
- An ECM report: idle time, fault codes and how the engine has been run.
- The registration in the seller’s name, so you know you’re buying from the owner.
Buying from outside BC or outside Canada
A commercial vehicle brought into BC to work here, other than a trailer licensed in its home jurisdiction, must be registered right away.1 From outside Canada, check first that the vehicle is admissible with Transport Canada, then ICBC’s requirements, and the vehicle has to pass an inspection at a Designated Inspection Facility.9 At registration you surrender the old plates and papers, and an imported vehicle needs its Vehicle Import Form (Form 1).1
Step 5: get it inspected
Have the truck inspected by a mechanic who works for you, not the seller, with a hard look at the brakes, the frame, the engine and the aftertreatment. Read their report against the spec sheet and the price.
Then check its periodic inspection, the CVI. A truck over 8,200 kg licensed GVW needs an unexpired decal to be driven, operated or parked on a highway, and an Autoplan broker can’t register or license it without a signed inspection report showing it passed.6 Ask when the decal runs out: over 17,300 kg licensed GVW it lasts 6 months.6 Our CVI guide has the rules and a checklist from the inspection manual.
Step 6: pay the tax and transfer it
Buyer and seller fill in ICBC’s Transfer/Tax form (APV9T), and the buyer takes it, with identification and the seller’s signed registration, to an Autoplan broker within 10 days of the sale.1 The tax depends on who sold you the truck:
PST on a used truck in BC
| PST | On | Who collects it | |
|---|---|---|---|
| From a GST-registered dealer or business in BC | 7%, plus 5% GST | The purchase price | The seller, at the sale |
| From a private seller (not GST-registered) | 12% | The purchase price or the average wholesale value, whichever is higher | The Autoplan broker, at registration |
| Bought outside Canada and imported | 7% | The greater of the value for tax plus excise and duty on the CBSA form, and the average wholesale value | The Autoplan broker, at registration |
Provincial Sales Tax Act s. 34 (BC Laws, current to September 22, 2026); ICBC Transfer/Tax form APV9T (rev. 11/2024), “Tax owing”; CRA, GST/HST rates. For a vehicle that isn’t a passenger vehicle; exemptions can apply. Checked October 5, 2026.
The rates come from section 34 of the Provincial Sales Tax Act: 12% on a vehicle, or 7% when it was bought at a taxable sale by a GST registrant in Canada or imported.2 A dealer collects GST and PST at the sale; on a private sale the broker collects PST, and if you get an appraisal and both it and the price are below the average wholesale value, PST is on the greater of the price and the appraisal.1 In BC, GST is 5%.3 Passenger vehicles have their own, higher tiers under the same section.2
A highway tractor isn’t a passenger vehicle for PST. The Provincial Sales Tax Regulation leaves trucks larger than a 3/4-ton truck out of the definition, and brings in only trucks and vans of 3/4 ton or smaller that aren’t built mainly to carry people.12
Worksheet: your numbers
The tax on your truck
Your price, and the average wholesale value if the broker gives you one. Worked out in your browser.
Your result
From a GST-registered dealer: PST and GST
—
Of which PST (7%)
—
Of which GST (5%)
—
From a private seller: PST (12%)
—
Fill in your numbers to see the result.
PST Act s. 34 and ICBC’s Transfer/Tax form; GST from the CRA. For a vehicle that isn’t a passenger vehicle. Exemptions can apply. Not tax advice.
Moving your plates? If you’ve transferred your old BC-licensed, insured truck and are replacing it with another BC-registered one of the same type, neither of them leased, you can move its plates and drive the new truck for up to 10 days, carrying your copy of the Transfer/Tax form, your old Owner’s Certificate of Insurance and Vehicle Licence, and the previous owner’s registration. Otherwise it needs its own registration and plates before it goes on a highway.1
Step 7: insure, plate and put it to work
Before a commercial vehicle, trailer or semi-trailer is used on a highway, its owner (or the lessee, on a lease) registers it with ICBC, licenses it and insures it.5 To drive it for business, the carrier needs a valid National Safety Code safety certificate, with evidence of it in the truck: that applies to any truck or tractor over 5,000 kg licensed GVW.7
The compliance centre lists what your truck needs for the work you’ll do, from the CVI and the safety certificate to prorate plates, fuel tax and the port, each with its official source.
Before you pay
Before you hand over the money
Tick as you go, and print it for the day you pick the truck up.
14 items to check.
Sources checked 5 Oct 2026. The official sources govern; check them before you rely on a row.
We’d rather you make the right call slowly than the wrong call fast. From our family to yours.
FAQ
Buying a used semi: questions
Do I pay PST on a used truck in BC?
Yes, unless an exemption applies. From a GST-registered dealer it’s 7% of the price, collected with 5% GST at the sale. From a private seller it’s 12% of the price or the average wholesale value, whichever is higher, paid when you register (Provincial Sales Tax Act s. 34; ICBC Transfer/Tax form).
How long do I have to transfer a truck I’ve bought?
Take the Transfer/Tax form to an Autoplan broker within 10 days of the sale. It must be registered, licensed and insured before it’s used on a highway.
Does a used truck need a CVI before I can register it?
A truck in the periodic inspection program needs a signed inspection report showing it passed before an Autoplan broker can register or license it (MVA Regulations s. 25.10), and an unexpired decal to be on a highway.
How do I check a used truck for liens?
Search BC’s Personal Property Registry by the truck’s VIN. A lender who registered by serial number keeps its claim after a sale, so clear any lien before you pay.
Do I need an NSC number to run my own truck?
To drive a truck or tractor over 5,000 kg licensed GVW for a business, the carrier needs a valid National Safety Code safety certificate, with evidence of it in the truck (MVA Regulations s. 37.07).
Can I finance a used truck through you?
Financing is through our sister company Blue Capital Equipment Finance Ltd., an affiliated broker, at the same Surrey yard. See financing, or Blue Capital for how it works.
