The statement that has to travel with a title whenever the mileage box is not simply true. RSMo 407.536 requires a seller who knows the true mileage differs from the odometer, or does not know it at all, to send a statement containing all facts known concerning the true mileage - and this is the Department's version of that statement, with five pre-written explanations to choose between.
Written against Form 1545 (Rev 08-2013), issued under RSMo 407.536.
Statement 2 is the one worth reading twice before ticking anything else. A cluster replaced under warranty, where the new odometer was set to the old reading, is a repair rather than a discrepancy - and it does not brand the title. Statements 3, 4 and 5 all do.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank Form 1545 from the dor.mo.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual Form 1545, rendered from the PDF the Missouri Department of Revenue 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
One box ticked out of five, and the figure that goes with it written into the same statement. The dealer number in the vehicle band is grey because a private seller has none, and the four boxes not chosen are grey because the instruction above them is CHECK ONE BOX ONLY. The transferor's own signature rule is blank because the Department's PDF puts no box behind it.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Your name and the reading
The opening sentence, with your printed name on the first rule and the current odometer reading on the second.
Watch out: The label under the second rule reads odometer reading (excluding tenths). Whatever the odometer is doing, this is the number it is showing today.
2
You fill this in
The vehicle
Make, model, body type, vehicle identification number, year and a dealer number a private seller leaves empty.
Watch out: The identification number sits in a seventeen-cell comb, one character each. It is the only thing tying this statement to the title it will be filed with.
3
You fill this in
Read all five before ticking one
No odometer; altered for repair with the same reading carried across; a replacement that could not register the same mileage; a replacement reset to zero; or a reading that is simply not actual.
Watch out: They describe five different histories and only one can be true. The instruction is printed in capitals and it is CHECK ONE BOX ONLY.
4
You fill this in
Fill in the figures inside the statement
Statements 1, 3 and 4 each have a mileage figure to write into the sentence itself.
Watch out: Statement 3 wants two: what the replacement odometer read when it went in, and what the original read before it came out. Guessing at either is the thing this form exists to avoid.
5
You fill this in
Statement 5 and its three lines
The true mileage is unknown because - followed by three ruled lines.
Watch out: Write what you actually know: when you bought the car, what it read then, what has been replaced since. The statute asks for all facts known by the transferor, not for an apology.
6
The buyer fills this in
The buyer's block
Transferee's name and signature, street address, city, state and ZIP.
Watch out: The buyer signing is their acknowledgement that they were told. A car sold with a discrepancy and no signature here is the version that turns into an argument later.
7
You fill this in
Your signature and address
Transferor's signature, street address, city, state and ZIP at the foot.
Watch out: No notary. This is a sworn statement in substance but not in form, and it goes in with the title rather than to a separate address.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
The opening sentence
I, ______ , state that the odometer on the vehicle described below now reads ______ miles/kilometers - your printed name on the first rule and the reading, excluding tenths, on the second.
Vehicle band
Make, model, body type, a seventeen-cell vehicle identification number, a four-cell year and a five-cell dealer number.
Check one box only - statement 1
No odometer at all, with a space to estimate the mileage.
Statement 2
The odometer was altered for repair or replacement while in my possession, and the mileage registered on the repaired or replacement odometer was identical to that before such services.
Statement 3
The replacement odometer could not register the same mileage, with two figures to write - the replacement reading at the time of replacement, and the original reading before it.
Statement 4
The repaired or replacement odometer was reset to zero, with the original reading before repair.
Statement 5
The reading is not the actual mileage and should not be relied upon, with three ruled lines to say why the true mileage is unknown.
Transferee and transferor blocks
The buyer's name, signature and address, then your signature and address underneath.
What gets this one rejected
•More than one box. Printed in capitals above them: CHECK ONE BOX ONLY.
•A box ticked with its figures left blank. Three of the five statements have numbers to write into them, and they are the substance of the explanation.
•Statement 5 with no reason given. The three ruled lines after because are the point of that option.
•A statement that contradicts the title assignment. The reading here and the reading on the back of the certificate are read together, and where they differ neither is believed.
•Sending it instead of ticking the box on the title. The certificate's own MILEAGE READING IS NOT ACTUAL box still has to be marked; this explains it rather than replacing it.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•It is a statutory requirement, not a courtesy. The form prints the statute across its head: if the true mileage is known to the transferor to be different from the number of miles shown on the odometer or the true mileage is unknown, a statement from the transferor shall accompany the assignment of title.
•It becomes part of the permanent record. RSMo 407.536.1 says the statement shall become a part of the permanent record of the motor vehicle with the Missouri department of revenue.
•The brand follows the car. Where the reading is not actual, the Department prints WARNING - ODOMETER DISCREPANCY on the face of the new title and on every title issued after it.
Every line here was read off Form 1545 (Rev 08-2013) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Missouri Department of Revenue pages.
This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ,
theirs governs.
