The plain bill of sale, and the thing to understand about it is what it is not. ADOT describes it as supporting documentation for a vehicle title transaction: it records that money changed hands and who it changed hands between, and it does not transfer ownership. The form that does is the one numbered 38-1306, and the two are easy to confuse because the shorter one is the one people go looking for.
Written against 48-2004 (R05/25), issued under A.R.S. 28-2058.
Two forms in ADOT's library are called a bill of sale and only one of them can move a title. This is the short one. If your vehicle is titled in Arizona and you have no certificate to sign, the form you want is 38-1306, which carries the odometer disclosure and the legal status this one has no room for.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank 48-2004 from the apps.azdot.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual 48-2004, rendered from the PDF the Arizona Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Division publishes and completed end to end: letterhead, every field, and the blocks at the foot.
Amber — you write it
Grey — not yours to fill
Numbered — explained below
Count the signature lines. There is exactly one, and it is the seller's - which tells you what this document is for. It records that you sold the car; it does not record that the buyer accepted anything, and it says nothing at all about the mileage.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Vehicle identification
VIN, year, make and body style. Body style is the department's abbreviation - 4DSD for a four-door sedan, PK for a pickup.
Watch out: There is no model field. If the buyer wants Tacoma written down somewhere, that is what the title or the 38-1306 is for.
2
You fill this in
Sale Date
The day the buyer takes the car.
Watch out: Use the same date on every document in the deal. Two dates on two forms is the most common reason a counter clerk stops and asks a question.
3
You fill this in
Sale Payment Amount
The agreed price, in dollars.
Watch out: Arizona does not tax this figure on a private sale, so there is no advantage in writing anything but the truth - and a low figure on a document that a buyer keeps is a problem waiting for both of you.
4
The buyer fills this in
Buyer name, licence number and date of birth
Full legal name, driver licence number and date of birth, then the mailing address underneath.
Watch out: Copy the name from the licence in front of you rather than from a text message. This is the document that proves who bought the car.
5
You fill this in
Seller name, licence number and date of birth
The same three lines for you, and your mailing address.
Watch out: Use the name MVD has on the vehicle record. If you have married or changed your name since, that is a One and the Same Certificate rather than a different name written here.
6
You fill this in
Signature and Date
One line, yours, dated.
Watch out: Sign it where the acknowledgement will be made - at an MVD counter, at a Third Party office, or in front of a notary - and not before.
7
The buyer fills this in
The acknowledgement block
Filled in by the notary or MVD agent: date, county, state, commission expiry and their signature.
Watch out: An MVD processor does it for no fee and writes their employee identifier rather than a commission number. Both are acceptable; only one costs money.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Vehicle Identification Number, Year, Make, Body Style
Four fields across the top. There is no model line and no plate line - this form identifies the vehicle, it does not describe it.
Sale Date and Sale Payment Amount
The date and the price, side by side.
Buyer Name, Driver License Number, Date of Birth
Then a mailing address with city, state and ZIP.
The transfer sentence
Printed between the two parties: I do hereby sell and transfer ownership of the vehicle above to the Buyer in consideration of Sale Payment Amount.
Seller Name, Driver License Number, Date of Birth
The same three lines for you, then your mailing address.
Signature and Date
One signature line for the seller, with the date beside it. There is no buyer signature anywhere on the form.
The acknowledgement block
Acknowledged before me this date, with date, county, state and commission expiry, headed Notary or MVD Agent Signature.
What gets this one rejected
•Sending it instead of a title or a Title Transfer Bill of Sale. This form supports a transaction, it does not create one.
•Expecting it to carry the mileage. There is no odometer block anywhere on this sheet, so a car that still needs a disclosure needs a different document as well.
•A missing acknowledgement. The block at the foot is part of the form, and an unwitnessed signature leaves it incomplete.
•Using it for a vehicle where the seller is a licensed dealer. Dealers have their own retail bill of sale, form 38-1305, which is issued to them through their dealer system.
•Filling in the buyer's date of birth from memory. The identification numbers and dates on this form are what tie it to the people named on it.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•It is the buyer's tax evidence. The Arizona Department of Revenue asks a private-party buyer to bring a copy of the bill of sale or any documentation that shows you purchased the vehicle from a private party, because casual sales between private parties are not taxable.
•MVD lists it as an acceptable supporting document. It appears on ADOT's own list of papers that may be used with a Title and Registration Application to supply details the application does not carry - a sale date being the usual one.
•It is not the release of liability. Nothing filed with a bill of sale reaches MVD's ownership record. The Sold Notice is the document that does that, and it has its own ten-day deadline.
