Documents how a specially constructed or assembled vehicle came to exist - a kit car, a hot rod, a home-built trailer - so that it can be titled and sold. It is the form that turns a box of receipts into an ownership record.
Written against REG 5036 (Rev 3/2007), issued under California Vehicle Code 4750 and 5500. Assembled-vehicle titling is slow in California even when the paperwork is perfect. Start it well before you plan to sell, not after a buyer appears.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank REG 5036 from the dmv.ca.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
| On the form | What to put in it |
|---|---|
| Which sections apply to you | The instruction at the top: sections 1 through 5 and 8 for assembled trailers weighing under 6,000 pounds, both sides of the form for every other vehicle type. |
| Section 1, vehicle description | Identification number, engine year model, motorcycle engine number. |
| Section 2, construction of vehicle | Assembled by me, or for me by - with the name, address and telephone number of the person, company or agent who built it. |
| Section 3, component parts | Tick boxes for engine, transmission, frame and body, matching the bills of sale you are attaching. |
| Section 4, statement of facts | Free text explaining how you came into possession of any major component you cannot produce a bill of sale or invoice for. Write this carefully - it is the section a clerk actually reads. |
| Section 5, cost information and vehicle value | Separate lines for the unassembled kit, the partially assembled body and frame, the completely assembled vehicle, and new or used component parts. The total drives the use tax. |
Every line here was read off REG 5036 (Rev 3/2007) 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.
Back to all California seller paperwork, or what selling a car in California involves.