How to fill out Michigan RD-108

A licensed dealer's form, and the one a private seller is most likely to end up signing without meaning to. It is what a Michigan dealership fills in when it sells or takes a trade-in, and if you trade a car in rather than selling it privately, your vehicle appears on somebody else's RD-108 as a line item rather than on a title assignment of your own.

Written against RD-108 (Rev 06/26), issued under Public Act 300 of 1949, as amended. If you are trading a car in rather than selling it privately, this is the form your vehicle disappears into, and you will not get a copy of a title assignment because there is not one. Ask for your copy of the RD-108 - the dealer is required to give you copies of every document you sign - and keep it as your record of the sale.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank RD-108 from the michigan.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank RD-108 — Application for Title and Registration, Statement of Vehicle Sale PDF at michigan.gov · new tab

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual RD-108, rendered from the PDF the Michigan Department of State 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

A Michigan RD-108 filled in for a dealership sale: Huron Shore Motors LLC of Ann Arbor, a used 2019 Ford Escape with VIN 1FMCU9HD2KUB37154 sold to Priya N. Venkatesan of Ypsilanti, a 2012 Honda Civic taken in trade with its plate transferred, an odometer reading of 61204 in a six-cell comb with the actual mileage box ticked, a title fee of 15 dollars, sales tax of 978 dollars, a credit union recorded as the secured interest, and both the dealer's agent and the purchaser signed and dated 08/08/2026. — A dealership sale, shown so a private seller can recognise it rather than fill it in. Note the odometer comb: six cells, no tenths, one digit each - the same rule as the title itself. The lines reading 0.00 down the right are the form's own arithmetic, which is why they are greyed.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
Dealers only
The dealership block
Dealer name, address, city, county, ZIP code and dealer license number, down the left of the form.
Watch out: If you are looking at this form and none of those boxes describe you, that is the answer to whether it is yours to complete.
2
Dealers only
Trade-in vehicle identification number
The VIN, make and year of the vehicle being taken in trade, under a yes or no tick.
Watch out: This is where your car goes when you trade it in. Check the VIN in this box before you sign anything on this form.
3
Dealers only
Vehicle identification number of the vehicle sold
The VIN of the vehicle being bought, with base MSRP or empty weight beside it.
Watch out: Michigan calculates the plate fee for a 1984-or-newer passenger vehicle from the base MSRP, which is why it is on the form at all.
4
Dealers only
Odometer mileage disclosure
A six-cell comb marked no tenths, then actual mileage, not actual mileage or exempt.
Watch out: The printed instruction is that the reading must match the mileage disclosed to the purchaser on the title or mileage statement. Two documents, one number.
5
Dealers only
Title fee
One box in the fee column on the right, above sales tax and the transfer total.
Watch out: Beside it sits the title late fee note - $50, or $100 for B dealer floor planned vehicles. That is the dealer's penalty for missing 21 days, not yours.
6
Dealers only
Sales tax
Worked out from the taxable price in the numbered block to the left and carried up into the fee column.
Watch out: Line 3 of that block is the trade-in sales tax credit, and it is the reason a trade-in is worth more than its cash offer looks.
7
The lienholder fills this in
Secured interest
The lender's name and address, with a lien code ID and a lien filing date beside them.
Watch out: A name here means the buyer's title will be held electronically. If the finance falls through afterwards, the form that moves it is the TR-210.
8
The buyer fills this in
Purchaser or lessor's signature and date
The bottom row, with a co-purchaser's signature beside it and lessee rows underneath.
Watch out: Read the warning printed immediately above it first. It says do not sign a blank form, and it is there because people do.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
Purchase date, stock number, delivery date	The top row, and the two dates are not the same date. The dealer's clock runs from delivery.
The dealership block	Dealer name, address, city, county, ZIP, dealer license number, phone, whether the vehicle sold is new, used or demo, and a sales tax license number.
Trade-in	A yes or no tick, then the trade-in vehicle identification number, make and year. This is where a car handed over at a dealership appears.
Vehicle registration to transfer plate	Plate transferred from - year, make, VIN and plate number - under a printed warning that it expires 30 days after delivery date.
The vehicle being sold	Plate number and expiration, months, make, year, body style, county of residence, the VIN, base MSRP or empty weight, and the driver's licence, ID or FEIN number of all owners or lessees.
Vehicle history and title brand disclosure	Five ticks: police vehicle, municipal vehicle, taxi, vehicle has been flood damaged, salvage title was previously issued - plus a free-text line for anything else.
Odometer mileage disclosure	A six-cell comb marked no tenths, and three ticks: actual mileage, not actual mileage, exempt. The printed line above it says the reading must match the mileage disclosed to the purchaser on the title or mileage statement.
Fees, down the right-hand column	License plate fee, plate transfer fee, title fee, sales tax and a total, with a printed note beside the title late fee box that it is $50, or $100 for B dealer floor planned vehicles.
The arithmetic block	Fifteen numbered lines from purchase price of vehicle to total amount of finance contract, including an optional electronic $34 filing fee the purchaser has to initial for separately.
Signatures	The dealer's agent signs and prints, with a title and a salesperson's name; the purchaser or lessor signs and dates, with rows for a co-purchaser and for lessees.

What gets this one rejected

•Handwriting it. The instruction at the foot is unambiguous: form must be typed only, and it points at the Dealer Manual for the corrections that are allowed by hand.
•Signing it before it is filled in. The purchaser warning printed above the signature row is four words long - do not sign a blank form.
•An odometer reading that disagrees with the title. The printed line says it must match what was disclosed to the purchaser on the title or mileage statement.
•A private seller trying to use it. Every one of its blocks assumes a dealer licence number, a sales tax licence number and a dealership agent's signature.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•Twenty-one days, not fifteen. The dealer's certification on the form: the dealership will apply for title and registration in the purchaser's name within 21 days of the delivery date. That is the dealer's deadline and it is a different one from the fifteen days a private buyer gets.
•Forty-five days before you start worrying. The note to purchasers beside the signature block: if you do not receive your vehicle title within 45 days, contact the Department of State Information Center.
•The electronic filing fee is optional and has to be initialled. The $34 line carries its own sentence - I have selected and agree to pay the optional $34 electronic filing fee - with a separate initials box. It is not a fee the state sets.

Every line here was read off RD-108 (Rev 06/26) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Michigan Department of State 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 Michigan seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Michigan involves.

How to fill out Michigan RD-108

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

The dealership block

Trade-in vehicle identification number

Vehicle identification number of the vehicle sold

Odometer mileage disclosure

Title fee

Sales tax

Secured interest

Purchaser or lessor's signature and date

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

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