Document
Odometer disclosure statement
When you sell a car, federal law asks you to state its mileage in writing, on the title. How to fill in that part of the title, which cars are exempt, and a free statement in the federal wording for you and the buyer to sign and keep. It is made in your browser, and nothing you type is sent anywhere.
The form
The odometer statement form.
A signed copy of the disclosure for both of you to keep. The disclosure itself is made on the title, and this statement does not replace it.
Where it goes
Where the mileage is disclosed.
On the title. The federal rule makes the mileage part of the transfer of ownership, so it is written where the ownership is.
The rule is 49 CFR part 580, and the part that concerns a private seller is short. When ownership of a car changes, the seller discloses the mileage to the buyer in writing. When the car is titled in the seller’s name, that disclosure is made on the title itself, paper or electronic, and not on a separate document. A title has to be issued with a space for it, which is the odometer section on yours.
NHTSA, the federal agency that investigates odometer fraud, summarizes it the same way: the seller gives the buyer the written disclosure on the title, and if the reading is wrong, the title says so.
So the statement on this page is a copy. It records the same reading in the federal wording, signed by both of you, so each of you holds a record of what was stated on the day. The buyer’s agency will look at the title, and nothing here changes what the title has to say.
The rule names one case where a separate statement is the disclosure: a vehicle that has never been titled. If your agency asks for a separate statement in any other situation, use its own form where it has one. USA.gov lists the motor vehicle agency for every state.
On the title
Filling in the title's odometer section.
It is a small part of the title and it is filled in once, so read all of it before you write anything.
The reading
The number on the odometer on the day of the sale, in whole miles. The rule says no tenths, so 61,400.3 is written as 61,400. Read it at the car with the buyer beside you, rather than copying it from your listing or a service receipt.
The date
The date of the transfer: the day the car and the title change hands, which is also the date on your bill of sale.
Your name and address
Printed as well as signed, with your current address. If you have moved since the title was issued, the rule asks for the address you live at now, not the one printed on the title.
The buyer's name and address
Printed the way their driver’s license shows it, with their current address. Copy it from the license in front of you rather than from a message.
The box that applies
With both boxes left empty, you are stating that the reading is the actual mileage, to the best of your knowledge. Tick one only if it is true: the mileage has gone past what the odometer can show, or the reading is not the actual mileage.
Both signatures
You sign first. The buyer then signs to acknowledge the disclosure, prints their name, and you get a copy. If the car has two owners on the title, the rule needs only one of you to sign the disclosure.
A mistake
Do not cross out a figure or write over it. Ask your agency how it wants a mistake on a title put right before you write anything else, because that is decided by the state that issued the title.
The car itself
The title already names the car. Check that its VIN matches the plate at the base of the windshield and the label on the driver’s door jamb, character by character, before anybody signs.
The statements
What each statement means.
The seller is the one who knows which of the three is true, and the statement is signed as theirs.
The actual mileage. The default, and what a form with neither box ticked says. The words “to the best of my knowledge” are part of it: you state what you know about the reading, including the years before the car was yours.
More than the odometer can show. Some odometers have fewer digits than the miles a car can cover, and start again from zero after the highest number they can display. A car that has been round once reads low. If you know it has, this is the statement, and the reading is still written as the odometer shows it.
Not the actual mileage. For a reading you know is wrong: an odometer or instrument cluster replaced, a display that stopped working for a while, or a figure you know to be false. The rule asks for a warning that a discrepancy exists, and the statement here prints it in capitals.
The last one lowers what the car is worth to a buyer, and it is still the one to choose when it is true. Leaving it unticked when you know the reading is wrong is a false statement, and the federal wording printed on the form warns that a false statement may result in fines or imprisonment.
Exemptions
Cars that need no disclosure.
The federal rule leaves out some vehicles by age and some by kind. Your state's own rules may still ask for the reading.
By age. A car of model year 2010 or older is exempt. A car from 2011 or later becomes exempt once 20 years have passed since January 1 of its model year, so the 2011 cars reach it in 2031 and a 2015 car in 2035. Type the year into the form above and it says when a car is past that line.
By weight. Vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating over 16,000 pounds, which is a heavy truck rather than a family car.
By kind. A vehicle that is not self-propelled, such as a trailer, has no odometer reading to disclose.
An exempt car can still have an odometer section on its title. Whether your state wants it filled in anyway is a question for your agency. The statement here can be printed as a record either way.
Lender or lost title
When the title is with a lender or lost.
The rule has a way through both, and it runs on a form your state issues rather than one you can print.
If a lender holds your title because of a loan, or the title is lost, the federal rule lets you give the buyer a power of attorney to disclose the mileage on your behalf, where your state’s law allows it. You state the reading on that form and both of you sign it. When the title arrives, the buyer copies the reading onto it exactly as you gave it and takes both to the agency.
That form comes from the state, printed by a secure process the rule requires, so it is not something a website can produce, this one included. Ask your agency whether it offers one and how it is used.
Often the simpler road is to clear the title first. With a loan, the payoff can happen inside the sale, which selling a car you still owe money on explains. With a lost title, apply for a duplicate before you list the car, as the paperwork for a private car sale describes.
For the buyer
What a buyer checks the reading against.
The mileage is one of the few claims about a used car that a buyer can test, and a careful buyer does.
What they compare it with
NHTSA’s advice to buyers is to set the odometer against the title, against service and inspection records, against the oil change stickers on a door frame or under the hood, and against the wear on the pedals. A buyer may also order a vehicle history report with the VIN, which shows readings recorded over the years.
What helps you
Have the service records ready, in date order, so the reading on the title has its own evidence beside it. If anything about the mileage is unusual, a replaced cluster or an odometer that has gone round, say so in the listing before anybody drives out to see the car, as how to write a car listing explains.
On the day
Disclosing the mileage, step by step.
Six steps at the car, with the buyer beside you, in this order.
- Step 1
Read the odometer together
At the car, with the buyer beside you, in whole miles and without the tenths.
- Step 2
Fill in the title's odometer section
The reading, the date of the sale, both printed names and addresses, and the box that applies, exactly as your title lays them out.
- Step 3
Sign it, then pass it to the buyer
You sign the disclosure first. The buyer signs to acknowledge it, prints their name and gives you a copy.
- Step 4
Sign two copies of the statement
The same reading and the same box on this statement, signed by both of you, one copy each.
- Step 5
Photograph the signed title
A clear photograph of the odometer section, before the title leaves your hands, is your record of exactly what was written.
- Step 6
Put the same reading on the bill of sale
The reading on the title, on the statement and on the bill of sale should match to the mile.
The bill of sale is where the reading meets the price, the date and both signatures, and there is a free bill of sale form here as well, with the same odometer statements on it.
Read next
The papers that go with it.
The odometer statement is one of the documents a private sale runs on. These are the others, and the sale around them.
Every document, and the order they are signed in: the paperwork for a private car sale. The whole process: how to sell a car privately.
Vehicle bill of sale
A free bill of sale for a private car sale: fill it in and download a PDF to print and sign, or print a blank one. Made in your browser; nothing you type is sent anywhere.
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
Do I need an odometer disclosure statement to sell my car?
Federal law requires you to disclose the mileage in writing when ownership changes, unless the car is exempt. When the car is titled in your name, that disclosure is made in the odometer section of the title. A separate statement like the one on this page is a signed record of the same thing for you and the buyer, and your state's agency may have a form of its own.
Which cars are exempt from odometer disclosure?
Under the federal rule: model year 2010 and older, vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating over 16,000 pounds, and vehicles that are not self-propelled, such as a trailer. A car from 2011 or later becomes exempt once 20 years have passed since January 1 of its model year, so the 2011 cars reach it in 2031. Your state can have rules of its own.
Do I write the tenths of a mile?
No. The rule asks for the reading without tenths, so an odometer showing 61,400.3 is written as 61,400. The form here drops the tenths for you.
What if the odometer was replaced or stopped working?
Then the reading is not the actual mileage, and that is the statement to choose. It prints with the warning of an odometer discrepancy that the rule asks for. Say what you know about it, such as when the instrument cluster was replaced, in your listing as well.
Does the buyer sign it too?
Yes. You sign first, then the buyer signs to acknowledge your statement, prints their name and gives you a copy. Where the car has more than one owner, the federal rule needs only one of the sellers to sign.
What if I make a mistake in the title's odometer section?
Stop and ask your agency before you write anything more. How a mistake on a title is put right is decided by the state that issued it, so do it the way that state asks.
Is anything I type here kept?
No. The form runs in your browser and the PDF is made on your device. We count that an odometer statement was made and which state was picked, and nothing that was typed into it.
Find the buyer, then read the odometer.
The photographs, the price and the facts from the VIN on a page of its own, with one link to send. 10 days free.