Short answer. Yes. Article 1163 requires every person obliged to give something to take care of it with the proper diligence of a good father of a family until delivery, unless the law or your agreement sets a different standard. You must keep the car reasonably safe and undamaged before handing it over.
What the law says
Every person obliged to give something is also obliged to take care of it with the proper diligence of a good father of a family, unless the law or the stipulation of the parties requires another standard of care.
Civil Code, Article 1163 — Diligence of a Good Father of a Family. Read the full provision →
The obligation to give includes an obligation to preserve
Article 1163 attaches a second duty to every obligation to give: every person obliged to give something is also obliged to take care of it with the proper diligence of a good father of a family. Having sold the car and promised to deliver it later, you are not merely a passive holder waiting for the delivery date to arrive. Between the sale and the handover, you remain responsible for looking after the car reasonably, since the buyer is entitled to receive it in the condition the sale contemplated, not whatever condition it happens to be in by the time you get around to delivering it.
What 'diligence of a good father of a family' actually requires
This standard does not demand extraordinary or heroic precautions; it asks for the ordinary care a reasonably prudent person would take of their own belongings. For a car awaiting delivery, that generally means keeping it secure, not exposing it to obvious risks of damage or theft, and not using it in a way that would foreseeably harm it before the buyer takes possession. It is a standard of reasonable prudence, not a guarantee that nothing will ever happen to the car regardless of the cause.
The standard can be changed by law or by agreement
Article 1163 itself allows for a different standard unless the law or the stipulation of the parties requires another standard of care. If your sale agreement specifies a stricter or more lenient level of care, that stipulation controls instead of the default good-father-of-a-family standard. Certain kinds of obligations under other laws may likewise impose a different degree of diligence. So it is worth checking exactly what your agreement with the buyer says about the seller's responsibility for the car pending delivery, rather than assuming the general default automatically applies unmodified.
What happens if the car is damaged before delivery
If the car is damaged or lost before delivery because you failed to exercise the required diligence, you may be held liable to the buyer for that failure, since the duty to take care of the thing is not optional. Keeping the car in a secure location, maintaining any insurance the sale contemplated, and avoiding unnecessary risks in the time before delivery all help demonstrate that you met the standard of care the law expects, which matters if a dispute later arises over the car's condition on the delivery date.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- Sta. Lucia Realty and Development, in Corpora Ted vs. Edsel B. Lumawag, G.R. No. 222897, February 22, 2023 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Sister Pilar Versoza vs. People of the Philippines, Michelina S. Aguirre-Olondriz, Pedro Aguirre, G.R. No. 184535, September 3, 2019 — read the decision on LawPhil →