California REG 343: Application for Title or Registration

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
The buyer fills this in
The vehicle identification strip
VIN one character per printed box, then vehicle make, year model and fuel type.
Watch out: A comb field takes a single character per box. Crowd two into one and the number stops matching the title it is being checked against.
2
The buyer fills this in
Plate number, model or series, body type
The California licence plate number the car already wears, with the model or series and the body type model beside it.
Watch out: California plates stay with the car, so this is the number that was on it when you bought it - not a new one you are applying for.
3
The buyer fills this in
Type of vehicle
One box only: Auto, Commercial, Motorcycle, Off Highway or Trailer Coach.
Watch out: The form notes in small print under Commercial that it includes a truck or pickup. A trailer coach also has to have its length and width entered in inches.
4
The buyer fills this in
The two questions with consequences
Will the vehicle carry persons for hire, compensation or profit? And is it a commercial vehicle at 10,001 lbs or more, or a pickup over 8,001 lbs unladen or 11,499 lbs GVWR?
Watch out: A yes to the second one drags in a Declaration of Gross Vehicle Weight (REG 4008), and the IMPORTANT block beside it warns a Motor Carrier Permit may be required as well.
5
The buyer fills this in
Section 2, owner information
True full name in last, first, middle, suffix order, with the driver licence or ID card number and the state that issued it.
Watch out: The rule about co-owners is printed at the top of this section rather than buried elsewhere: joined by AND, every owner signs next time; joined by OR, only one has to.
6
The buyer fills this in
Physical residence or business address
Street, city, state and zip - the address the vehicle actually lives at.
Watch out: A mailing address goes on the line below it only where the two differ. Filling both with the same thing is a way of introducing a discrepancy that was not there.
7
The buyer fills this in
County of residence
The county you live in, or the county where the vehicle is principally garaged.
Watch out: It gets a line of its own because what you pay is not the same in every county. Skipping it is not a small omission.
8
The buyer fills this in
Section 3, legal owner
The bank or finance company lending against the car. Where there is not one, the heading says it in quotation marks: if None, must write None.
Watch out: An electronic lienholder needs its ELT number as well, and the attention line insists the name, address and number all match the ELT listing exactly.
9
The buyer fills this in
Section 4, odometer information
The reading on the day of purchase, digit by digit into the printed boxes, with miles or kilometers ticked beside it.
Watch out: The last box is shaded and marked no tenths - it is not part of the reading. Under it sit the two discrepancy boxes, and neither should be ticked unless it is true.
10
The buyer fills this in
Date the vehicle was purchased or acquired
Month, day and year, in section 5 on the reverse.
Watch out: The three date rows above it are about a vehicle arriving in California from somewhere else. On a car that has never left the state they stay empty.
11
The buyer fills this in
New or used, inside or outside California
Two tick boxes on the same row as the purchase date.
Watch out: Inside CA and Outside CA is about where the transaction happened, not where the car is now. It is the pair people answer from habit and get wrong.
12
The buyer fills this in
Section 6, cost information
Tick PURCHASE and enter the price paid. The note above it says the figure must be in U.S. dollars and must include the value of any trade-in and anything permanently attached.
Watch out: It also says what to leave out - sales tax, insurance, finance charges and warranty. The three boxes are exclusive: purchase, gift or trade, one only.
13
The buyer fills this in
Who the vehicle came from
Dealer, Private Party, Dismantler, or Immediate Family Member with the relationship written in.
Watch out: Ticking Immediate Family Member is what makes a Statement of Facts (REG 256) necessary, and the family list that qualifies is shorter than most people assume.
14
The buyer fills this in
Body type modifications
A yes or no about alterations since the vehicle was acquired - the form's own example is changing from pickup to utility.
Watch out: A yes here means a Statement of Construction (REG 5036) as well, which is a different form and a slower application.
15
The buyer fills this in
Section 7, for out-of-state vehicles
Whether sales tax was paid to another state, and what happened to that state's plates.
Watch out: N/A is a real answer here and the form prints it as the first of the three boxes. A California car bought from a California seller has nothing else to say in this section.
16
The buyer fills this in
Section 8, military service information
Two questions about active duty in the U.S. Uniformed Services, for you or a spouse.
Watch out: A yes may qualify for the exemption on the Nonresident Military (NRM) Vehicle License Fee Exemption (REG 5045) form, which the section names in full.
17
The buyer fills this in
Section 9, certifications
Printed name, signature, date and a telephone number or email address, under the perjury declaration.
Watch out: The paragraph above the signature is consent to receive service of process at the mailing address given, so an address entered carelessly on the front has a consequence here.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
The instruction at the top	For accuracy, please print legibly. Complete both sides. Section 2 adds that each owner must sign on the reverse - people fill in the front, sign nothing, and post it.
Section 1, vehicle information	VIN, make, year model, fuel type, California plate number, model or series, body type model, and a motorcycle engine number where that is what is being registered.
Type of vehicle	One box: Auto, Commercial - which the form notes includes a truck or pickup - Motorcycle, Off Highway, or Trailer Coach. A trailer coach also needs its length and width in inches.
The two questions that change everything	Will the vehicle carry persons for hire, compensation or profit? And is it a commercial vehicle operating at 10,001 lbs or more, or a pickup over 8,001 lbs unladen or 11,499 lbs GVWR? A yes to the second needs a Declaration of Gross Vehicle Weight (REG 4008), and may need a Motor Carrier Permit.
For commercial vehicles only	Number of axles, and unladen weight marked as either actual or - for vehicles over 10,001 lbs - estimated.
Section 2, owner information	True full name of each owner. The rule that matters is printed right here rather than buried: once registered, co-owners joined by AND require the signature of each owner, and co-owners joined by OR require the signature of only one.
Odometer disclosure	Go by the federal rule rather than the DMV's older ten-year wording - a 2011-or-newer car needs the mileage whatever a summary elsewhere says.

What gets this one rejected

•Completing one side. The form says to complete both, and the owner signatures are on the reverse.
•Filing more than 10 days after taking possession. The buyer's transfer deadline is ten days and a penalty follows it.
•Answering yes to the commercial weight question and not attaching a REG 4008.
•An out-of-state car with no verification. A vehicle last titled elsewhere needs a REG 31 completed by an authorised verifier.
•No smog certificate where one is required. That is the seller's to supply, and the application stalls without it.
•A gift between qualified relatives with no REG 256 attached claiming the use tax exemption.

Every line here was read off REG 343 (Rev 12/2022) itself — the PDF is here — and off the California Department of Motor Vehicles pages. This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ, theirs governs.

Forms that go with this one

When your buyer asks where to file this, point them to the three Sacramento-area DMV offices that list title transfers, on Broadway, La Mancha Way and North Avenue.

Back to all California seller paperwork, or what selling a car in California involves.

How to fill out California REG 343

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

The vehicle identification strip

Plate number, model or series, body type

Type of vehicle

The two questions with consequences

Section 2, owner information

Physical residence or business address

County of residence

Section 3, legal owner

Section 4, odometer information

Date the vehicle was purchased or acquired

New or used, inside or outside California

Section 6, cost information

Who the vehicle came from

Body type modifications

Section 7, for out-of-state vehicles

Section 8, military service information

Section 9, certifications

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Forms that go with this one

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