How to fill out Idaho 3438

What to do with a plate that is not going onto another car. In Idaho the plate and the registration card stay with the person under section 49-431(1), so after a sale you are holding two things the buyer never had a right to - and this form is how you close them out. Its three tick boxes are the interesting part, because they let you keep half of what you have: cancel the plates but keep the remaining registration time to move to another vehicle, cancel the registration but keep the plate number, or cancel both. Its reasons list includes the one nobody wants to admit to - sold vehicle, plates left on vehicle - which is exactly why the form exists.

Written against 3438 (Rev 1/24), issued under Idaho Code 49-431 and 49-508. Cancelling a registration is not the same as filing a release of liability, and doing one does not do the other. Section 49-526 requires the separate notice within five days of delivery, and it is the notice - not the plate cancellation - that carries the protection against the next owner's tickets, tows and storage charges. Do both.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank 3438 from the itd.idaho.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our 3438 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Every line, in the order you meet it

1. 1
   You fill this in

   Decide whether you are cancelling at all

   If another vehicle is arriving, transferring the plate for the statutory five-dollar fee keeps both the number and the unused registration.

   Watch out: Cancellation is the option for somebody leaving the state, closing an estate, or simply done with owning a car.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   Pick one of the three boxes

   Keep the registration time, keep the plate number, or cancel both.

   Watch out: One only. They are three different requests and the department cannot act on two of them at once.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Name and plate number

   The registered owner's full name and the plate number being cancelled.

   Watch out: The plate number is the key to the record here. A VIN will not find it, because this form is about the plate rather than the car.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   Addresses and identifier

   Idaho residence address, mailing address if different, and a driver's licence number or business EIN.

   Watch out: The identifier is how the department matches the request to you rather than to somebody with a similar name.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Give the reason

   Sold vehicle with plates left on it, surrendered plates enclosed, moved out of state, deceased owner with plates enclosed, or a written-in other.

   Watch out: If you left the plates on the car you sold, this is the honest box and it is printed on the form for a reason. Tick it and move on.

6. 6
   You fill this in

   Enclose the plates where the reason says so

   Two of the four printed reasons carry the word enclosed inside the label.

   Watch out: Posting a form that says plates enclosed with no plates in the envelope is a phone call you do not need.

7. 7
   You fill this in

   File the release of liability separately

   This form closes a plate record. It says nothing to the department about who now owns the vehicle.

   Watch out: Five days from delivery, under section 49-526. The two filings do different jobs and only one of them protects you.

What gets this one rejected

• •Reporting lost or stolen plates on it. The form redirects you: if your plates have been lost or stolen and need to be replaced, please see your local county assessor to complete the transaction.
• •No plate number. This form cancels a plate record, and the plate number is the only thing that identifies it.
• •Ticking the deceased-owner or surrendered-plates reason without enclosing the plates. Both of those reasons carry the word enclosed in the printed label.
• •Ticking more than one of the three cancellation options. They are alternatives - keep the time, keep the number, or keep neither.
• •Somebody other than the registered owner signing. The form describes itself as a request by the registered owner of a vehicle.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •Transferring beats cancelling if there is another car. Section 49-431(1)(a) moves the plate to another vehicle you own for a five-dollar transfer fee, and ITD's tip sheet says the remaining registration time goes with it. Cancelling is for when there is no next vehicle.
• •Restricted Use plates are not yours to cancel. The black-and-white Restricted Use plate on an ATV, UTV or off-road motorcycle stays with the machine rather than the seller, so there is nothing to cancel after that sale.
• •A lapsed number does not stay yours. ITD's plate FAQ: a personalised combination becomes available to another applicant if the registration lapses even for one day, and an ordinary plate's text becomes available after the registration has been expired for sixty days.

Every line here was read off 3438 (Rev 1/24) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Idaho Transportation Department, Division 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 Idaho seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Idaho involves.