Frequently asked questions

Underbook reviews privately purchased vehicles in British Columbia to determine whether an appraisal may support a lower value for PST purposes. If the vehicle appears to be worth less than the value being used to calculate tax, an appraisal may help reduce the PST owed at transfer.

Underbook supports BC private-sale vehicle PST appraisals — before registration, or as refund support after you’ve already paid. See Service scope and appraisal boundaries for the complete fit boundary.

No. Underbook is designed so you can check whether an appraisal appears worthwhile before paying for one. Underbook reviews your submission first. If the appraisal is likely to save you more than it costs, a payment request is sent. If not, you are told before you pay anything. See How the Underbook review works for the complete journey.

No. You can start with your VIN and purchase price — no account is required.

No. Underbook reviews every submission. If an appraisal does not appear likely to provide a useful benefit, you will be told and Underbook will not request payment.

Yes — this is the simpler of the two paths. See Appraisal before registration for the exact sequence.

A completed appraisal may still support a refund. See Vehicle PST refund after purchase for the journey, and The appraisal-based refund deadline for the exact timing.

The BC government’s Motor Vehicle Appraisal form — a single document, not your whole appraisal package. See FIN 320 and your Autoplan broker for the complete explanation.

No. Your broker processes registration but does not perform the appraisal, decide the appraised value, or decide the tax result. See FIN 320 and your Autoplan broker for the complete responsibility map.

The standard appraisal fee is $80, including GST. You are never charged upfront — a payment request is only sent after Underbook reviews your submission, and only if the appraisal appears likely to be worthwhile. See Pricing and when payment is requested for the complete rule.

Your first completed appraisal is $80, including GST. After that, future eligible appraisals are $71, including GST — the returning-customer price. There is no membership and no subscription. Each new vehicle still needs its own review, evidence and photos, and its own final appraisal decision.

If a future appraisal has only modest PST savings, the fair-pricing rule can still reduce the fee below the returning-customer rate. You will never pay more because you are a returning customer.

No paid appraisal is offered, and no payment is requested. Underbook tells you plainly instead.

Your vehicle’s actual condition can differ from the general benchmark Canadian Black Book publishes. See How vehicle condition affects an appraisal for what evidence helps.

No. Any internal reference values used during review are not shown publicly. Customers see only a preliminary savings range or a final confirmed estimate after review.

Canadian Black Book data is used as an input in preparing your appraisal, but the underlying wholesale values are proprietary licensed data and are not displayed or provided to consumers. Your Underbook appraisal provides the appraised value relevant to your vehicle and transaction.

Underbook does not provide collector-market, insurance, agreed-value, estate or restoration valuations. Classic, antique, exotic, heavily modified and other specialty vehicles often require a specialist appraiser. A vehicle is not rejected solely because of its age or label — it must still fit Underbook’s narrow BC private-sale tax-appraisal purpose, service scope, and a value Underbook can responsibly support from the available evidence. See Service scope and appraisal boundaries for the complete boundary.

Under the applicable listing rules, the wholesale-value comparison does not apply, and PST is generally based on your purchase price. See Why Canadian Black Book may affect PST for the listing boundary.

No. A preliminary estimate is not a guarantee. Final acceptance and tax treatment depend on the information provided, the completed appraisal, and the transfer process. Underbook reviews every submission and tells you plainly when proceeding wouldn’t genuinely help — but no appraisal, tax or refund outcome is ever guaranteed.

A small clerical detail — a misspelled name, a VIN typo, or an incorrect date — is corrected at no charge. A change to the underlying facts or the appraised value is different: Underbook reviews it and may correct the package, but that isn’t treated as a simple clerical fix.