Documents
The paperwork for a private car sale
A private sale runs on a handful of documents: the title, a bill of sale, the odometer reading and your state's notice that you sold the car. What each one does, who keeps it, and the order they are signed in.
The title, in your name
Before you list the car, not after
Your state's rules
Form, notary, plates, inspection, deadline
A bill of sale, printed twice
Filled in as far as you can
The odometer, read together
On the title and on both copies
Payment, then signatures
The money clears before anybody signs
The notice of sale
Filed by you, the same day if you can
The documents
What each document does.
Four you will handle on the day of the sale, and two that depend entirely on your state.
The certificate of title
The state’s record of who owns the car, and the one document the sale cannot happen without. You sign it over and the buyer takes it to their agency to put the car in their name. It has to be in your name and in your hands before you list the car. If a lender holds it because of a loan, the payoff has to happen inside the sale, which is explained in selling a car you still owe money on.
The bill of sale
The record of the deal itself: the price, the date, the condition and both of your names, signed by both of you. The title goes with the car; the bill of sale is what each of you keeps. There is a free bill of sale form here that you can fill in or print blank.
The odometer statement
Federal law asks the seller for a written statement of the mileage on the title when ownership changes, with an exemption for older cars that NHTSA explains. The title is where it goes first. If yours has no room for it, your agency says what to use instead, and the bill of sale records the same reading.
The notice of sale
Many states have a form that tells them the car is no longer yours, often with a short deadline. It is what protects you from what the new owner does before they register the car. Depending on the state it is called a notice of sale, a notice of transfer or a release of liability.
Plates and registration
Whether the plates stay on the car or come off with you, and what happens to the registration, is your state’s rule. Ask before the day, because it decides whether the buyer can drive the car home legally.
Inspection papers
Some states ask for a recent safety or emissions inspection when a car changes hands. Your agency’s page says whether yours does, and how recent the certificate has to be.
What the buyer brings
A driver’s license, so the name on the bill of sale is the name of the person in front of you, and the payment in the form you agreed. If they are driving the car away, they need it insured in their own name first: your policy is about to stop covering it, and theirs is what covers the drive home. Ask them to bring proof of it, and write their details from the license rather than from a message.
Before you list it
The papers to have before the first message.
Finding one missing after somebody has agreed to buy is how a good sale turns into two weeks of waiting.
The title, in your name. Check the name on it now. A car inherited, bought from a relative and never retitled, or titled to a partner, has to be put right with the agency before anybody else can own it. If the title is lost, the duplicate comes from the state that issued it.
The payoff, if there is a loan. The exact figure, in writing, and the lender’s process for a private sale. Everything about the day depends on it.
Your state’s rules for the transfer. Whether it wants a bill of sale, on its own form or notarized, what happens to the plates, whether an inspection is due, and what the notice of sale is called and how long you have to file it. USA.gov lists the motor vehicle agency for every state, and that agency’s own pages are the answer to trust.
A bill of sale, ready to sign. Fill in what you already know and print two copies, so the only things left for the day are the buyer’s details, the odometer reading and the signatures.
On the day
The order they are signed in.
The order matters, because each step depends on the one before it having happened.
Match the car to the paper
The VIN on the title, on the bill of sale and on the car itself, character by character, before anything is signed.
Read the odometer together
At the car, with the buyer beside you. The reading goes on the title and on both copies of the bill of sale.
Take the payment
In the way you agreed, and only once it has cleared. Selling a car safely covers which methods to accept.
Sign the bill of sale
Both of you, on both copies, and each keeps one. If your state wants it notarized, this step happens in front of the notary.
Sign the title over
Exactly as the title instructs, in the right boxes, with nothing crossed out. Photograph it before it leaves your hands.
Hand over the car
The keys, the signed title and anything else your state has you pass on. The plates stay or come off according to your state’s rule.
Afterwards
What to do once the car has gone.
Two things are still yours to do, and one of them may have a deadline.
File the notice of sale. If your state has one, do it the same day if you can. Until the state knows the car is no longer yours, a parking ticket, a toll or an accident involving it can still find its way to you, and the notice is what closes that door.
Cancel the insurance, last. After the title has been signed over and the car has driven away, not before. A car still registered to you and uninsured is the worst of both positions, and it is the step people are tempted to take first because it feels like finishing.
Keep your copies. The bill of sale, the photograph of the signed title and any receipt the state gives you. If the plates stayed with you, your state says whether to return them, transfer them or keep them.
The forms
Documents you can fill in here.
Each one is made in your browser and downloaded as a PDF. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.
Read next
The sale around the paperwork.
The documents are the last hour of a private sale. These are the parts before it.
The whole process, in order: how to sell a car privately.
How to price a used car for a private sale
How to arrive at an asking price you can defend: three sources, an honest condition grade, the room to negotiate, and when a silent listing means the number is wrong.
Selling a car safely
How to sell a car privately without being scammed: which payment methods clear and which do not, where to meet, how to run a test drive, and how to hand over the title.
Selling a car you still owe money on
The lender holds the title, so the payoff has to happen inside the sale rather than after it. How that works, what to ask for in writing, and the safest place to do it.
Frequently asked questions
Which documents does the buyer leave with?
The signed title, their copy of the bill of sale, and anything your state has the seller hand over, such as an inspection certificate. Where the title is electronic or still with a lender, it follows by mail instead, and that arrangement belongs in writing before the day.
What should I keep after the sale?
Your copy of the bill of sale, a photograph of the signed title, the receipt for your notice of sale if your state gives one, and the plates if they stay with you. Keep them for a few months at least. They cost nothing to keep and are hard to recreate if a toll notice or a question arrives.
What if I have lost the title?
Apply for a duplicate from the agency of the state that issued it, and do it before you list the car. A buyer cannot put the car in their name without a title, so a sale agreed before the duplicate arrives is a sale that waits.
Can I sell a car without a title?
Not in the ordinary way. Without a title the buyer cannot put the car in their name, so the buyers who pay the most walk away from a car that has none. If the title is lost, get the duplicate first. If the car has never had one in your name, your state's agency has a process for that, and it is worth reading before you advertise the car rather than after.
Who files the notice of sale, the seller or the buyer?
Where a state has one, it is the seller's protection, so file it yourself rather than relying on the buyer's registration to do the job. Your agency's page says whether your state has one, what it is called and how long you have.
Does WheelSheet keep the documents I make here?
No. The forms run in your browser and the PDF is made on your device. We count which document was made and which state was picked, and nothing that was typed into it.
Put the car on one page first.
The photographs, the price and the facts from the VIN, on a page of its own, with a link you send yourself. 10 days free.