How to buy a car on Subito without paying for it twice
Subito is where Italy sells things to itself, cars included, and it is the largest pool of private sellers in the country. The price you agree is not the price you pay: one number on the listing decides the tax, and it is not the price.
Cars sit next to sofas. The price is set by someone who has sold one car in their life.
Subito is a general classifieds site that happens to be one of the largest car markets in Italy. That is its whole advantage and its whole problem: the prices are set by people who are not in the trade, and so is everything else in the advert.
The short version
What to remember
- Value the car on the dealer portals, then go looking for it on Subito.
- The passaggio di proprieta is roughly 101.20 EUR of fixed fees plus IPT, and IPT scales with kW.
- Check the kW figure before you compare prices. Your province can add up to 30 percent to that tax.
- The Portale dell'Automobilista is free and shows the last revisione. Readings only exist from June 2018.
- A visura PRA costs about 6 euro and tells you whether anything is registered against the car.
- Any payment link that reaches you outside the platform is fraud. Receiving money never needs your card details.
Skip ahead: check a car nowwhat the transfer costs
Before you drive down to see it
The Italian record starts when the car was registered here, and the odometer readings only go back to 2018. A cross border check covers the rest.
Example: WBA3A5G59DNP26082Free preview included
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Where the stock actually is
| Where | How prices are set | What to use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Subito.it | The largest pool of private sellers in Italy, one car each, priced from memory | Finding the car and the price differences |
| AutoScout24.it | Dealer heavy, priced against other dealers | Working out what the model is actually worth |
| automobile.it | Smaller mixed marketplace | A second opinion on the value, and occasionally stock the others miss |
The method follows from the table. Price it on the portals, buy it on Subito. Dealer listings are the closest thing Italy has to a published market rate. Private sellers are not pricing against that rate, because most of them have never looked at it.
What the top of the page actually is
Posting on Subito is free. Being seen is not. Sellers can buy a spot in the vetrina or a promotion running from a single day to a month, for a few euro, and that is what most of the visible top of a category is.
The consequence is worth stating plainly: a promoted position tells you the seller spent a few euro, and nothing else. It is not a quality signal, it is not a recency signal, and on a platform where an advert costs nothing to post, it is not even a seriousness signal.
How to search so you see what everyone else misses
Search the model more than one way. Italian sellers type quickly and inconsistently. Citroen and Citroën, Skoda and Škoda, Peugeot and Peugot, Golf and Golf 6 and Golf VI. The versions do not always return the same adverts.
Browse the category, not just the model. On a site that sells sofas and cars from the same search box, a car posted under the wrong make or with the model missing from the title is genuinely invisible, and it is still available for exactly that reason.
Widen the area before you narrow anything else. Prices move noticeably between the north and the south, and between a city and the province around it. Two hours out is a different market with fewer people through the car.
Save the search and turn notifications on. A correctly priced private car does not sit for a week. The buyers who get those cars are not smarter than you. They are earlier.
The listings everyone else skips
| What it looks like | What it often means |
|---|---|
| Three dark photos taken in a courtyard | Someone who does not sell cars for a living |
| Two lines of description | The same seller, with no interest in marketing |
| Not promoted, deep in the results | The seller did not spend the few euro, not that the car is worse |
| A misspelled or unusual title | Fewer people have found it |
| A round number with no reasoning behind it | Chosen by feeling, which means it can be argued with |
Reading an Italian listing
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Non incidentata | No accident, claimed. A seller statement, and nothing on the platform checks it |
| Km certificati | Certified mileage. Ask certified by whom, and against what record |
| Unico proprietario | One owner from new. Easy to check on the libretto and the visura |
| Tagliandi certificati | Stamped service history. Ask to see every page |
| Distribuzione fatta | Timing belt replaced. Ask for the invoice, not the reassurance |
| Revisione | The roadworthiness test. Its date is a fact, and the readings taken at it are recorded |
| Gommata, gomme nuove | New tyres. Cheap to say, easy to verify with your eyes |
| Vendo per inutilizzo | Selling because it is not used. Often true, and often why it has been standing |
| Trattabile | Negotiable. The seller has already told you the price can move |
Km certificati is the phrase to look at hardest, because it sounds like a third party said something and usually means the seller is confident. The revisione is the opposite: a dull word that happens to be the only claim in an Italian advert with a state record behind it.
Private seller, or a trader who would rather not say
The distinction is worth money here. A dealer selling you a used car owes you the garanzia legale and cannot sign it away. Between two private individuals there is no such cover, and most adverts sell the car as seen. A trader working through a private account is quietly removing a protection you would otherwise have had.
| Signal | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Several cars live from the same account or phone number | Not a private sale, whatever the advert says |
| Every photograph taken in the same yard | A forecourt, not a driveway |
| Offers finance, delivery or part exchange | Typical dealer behaviour |
| The seller is not the name on the libretto | Selling on someone else's behalf |
| I did the work on it myself | Useful to know, and useful to keep in writing |
The two official checks, and where they stop
Italy gives you two, one free and one nearly free, and they answer different questions. Run both before you arrange a viewing.
| Check | Cost | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Portale dell'Automobilista | Free, no registration | Insurance cover and the last revisione from the plate, plus the readings recorded at revisione since 1 June 2018 |
| Visura PRA | About 6 EUR from ACI | Who legally owns the car, the ownership history, and whether there is a lien or other charge registered against it |
The visura is the one people skip and should not. A charge registered against the car does not disappear because you paid the seller. Six euro is the cheapest thing you will buy that day.
What it should cost you
Work out the value before you make contact. Take the same model, year, engine and comparable mileage on the dealer portals, then compare against a cluster of similar Subito adverts rather than the single cheapest one.
Realistic room is usually 5 to 15 percent. Closer to five to ten on a well kept, sensibly priced car; up to fifteen when it needs work or the advert has been up for over a month. A private seller normally has less room than a dealer but decides in an afternoon.
The strongest lever with a private seller is being ready to pay. The second strongest is a written repair quote: an expiring revisione, tyres, a timing belt that is due. Numbers move prices in a way opinions do not.
And budget the transfer before you negotiate, not after. It is the next section, and on a powerful car it is bigger than the discount you are arguing about.
The passaggio di proprieta maths
The transfer has two halves. A fixed part of about 101.20 EUR, the same everywhere in Italy, covering the ACI emolumenti, the Motorizzazione fees and the stamp duties. Then IPT, which is neither fixed nor the same everywhere.
| IPT | How it is calculated |
|---|---|
| Up to 53 kW | 150.81 EUR, the floor |
| Every kW above 53 | plus 3.51 EUR each |
| Your province | may add up to 30 percent on top of the result |
Worked through on a 95 kW car: 150.81 EUR plus 42 kW above the threshold at 3.51 EUR each, which is 298.23 EUR of IPT before any provincial uplift. Add the fixed part and you are at roughly 399.43 EUR, or closer to 488.90 EUR in a province that applies the full 30 percent.
The annual bollo is a separate matter again, set regionally and also driven by power. It is not part of the purchase, but it is part of what the car costs you, and it scales the same way.
Paying, and the scams
The classic fake advert is the same one running everywhere. The price is far below comparable cars, the seller wants to move the conversation off the platform, they are conveniently abroad, and they ask for a deposit to hold the car or arrange transport. There is no car.
Italy has a second one worth knowing by name. The platform's own protected payment service is real and holds the money until the deal completes, and that is exactly what the scam imitates. You are sent a link by WhatsApp, SMS or email that looks like the payment page and asks for your card or account details so that you can supposedly receive the money.
| Signal | What it means |
|---|---|
| A payment link that arrived outside the app or website | Phishing, without exception |
| Asked for card or account details to receive money | Receiving money never requires them |
| Immediate move to WhatsApp | Wants no record on the platform |
| Deposit before viewing | Theft |
| Sends a payment confirmation or a CRO as proof | A screenshot is not money. Check your own account, not their document |
| Refuses a video call showing the plate and the VIN | End the conversation |
Before you pay
- Price the model on the dealer portals before you search Subito.
- Sort by price and date rather than accepting the default order.
- Read the badly presented adverts. That is where the value is.
- Search the model more than one way, and browse the category.
- Check the kW figure and work out IPT before you negotiate.
- Run the free Portale dell'Automobilista check on the plate.
- Buy the visura PRA and read the section on charges against the car.
- Get the VIN in writing and check the years the Italian record does not cover.
- Screenshot the advert and keep every message.
- Treat any payment link from outside the platform as fraud.
- Never pay a deposit for a car you have not seen in person.
The advert is written by someone selling one car. The price you argue about is one of three numbers, and the other two, IPT and whatever is registered against the car, are decided before you open your mouth.
Before you sign anything
Know what you are buying
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Frequently asked questions
Should I look on Subito or on AutoScout24 and automobile.it?
Both, for different jobs. The dedicated portals are dealer heavy and their prices are the closest thing Italy has to a published market rate, which makes them the place to work out what a model is worth. Subito is the biggest pool of private sellers in the country, and a private seller prices against what they remember paying. Value it on the portals, buy it on Subito.
How much does the passaggio di proprieta actually cost?
A fixed part of roughly 101 euro nationwide, which covers the ACI emolumenti, the Motorizzazione fees and the stamp duties, plus IPT, which is the variable part and usually the larger one. IPT starts at 150,81 euro up to 53 kW and adds 3,51 euro for every kilowatt above that, and your province may add up to 30 percent on top. A 95 kW car is around 298 euro of IPT before any provincial uplift.
Can I check the mileage of an Italian car for free?
Partly. The Portale dell'Automobilista lets you check insurance cover and the last revisione from the plate, free and without registering, and the readings taken at revisione have been recorded since 1 June 2018. That gives you a few data points, not a history, and nothing at all from before 2018 or from outside Italy.
What is a visura PRA and do I need one?
It is the official Public Vehicle Register extract, and it is the document that tells you who legally owns the car and whether anything is registered against it, such as a lien or an outstanding finance charge. It costs about 6 euro from ACI. On a private purchase it is the cheapest insurance you will buy that day, because a car with a gravame on it stays encumbered after you have paid for it.
What is the TuttoSubito scam and how do I avoid it?
The service itself is real and holds the money until the deal completes. The scam copies it. You are sent a link by WhatsApp, SMS or email that looks like a Subito payment page and asks for your card or account details, supposedly so you can receive money. Receiving money never requires those details. Any payment link that reaches you outside the Subito app or website is fraud, without exception.
Does a private seller in Italy owe me anything after the sale?
Far less than a dealer does. A dealer selling a used car owes you the garanzia legale, which cannot be signed away. Between private individuals there is no such cover, and most adverts are sold as seen. What survives is liability for defects the seller knew about and hid, which is exactly why keeping the advert text and the messages matters.
About this guide
- Transfer costs: the fixed quota and the IPT floor, the per kW rate and the provincial uplift are the published 2026 figures. Provinces set their own uplift and it changes, so confirm the rate where you will register the car before you budget from the worked example.
- The official checks: the free plate lookup covers insurance and the last revisione, with readings recorded from 1 June 2018. The visura PRA price is the ACI online rate at the time of writing.
- Listing terms: the local words are left exactly as they appear on the platform, because a translated term cannot be searched for. The condition and history fields in particular are seller declarations, not verified facts.
- Negotiating ranges and seasonal patterns: typical estimates rather than rules. They move with the model, the season, the seller and how long the advert has been up, and are worth treating as a starting point rather than a target.
- Why the VIN matters here: a border crossing is where a car paper trail usually goes missing, covered in how to check an imported car, and the mileage side in odometer fraud. If the car you are looking at came from Germany, the import guide for this market covers what it costs to bring one over yourself.
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