Puts a value on a vehicle when the state cannot work one out for itself. It is the second half of the bonded-title process: the bond Texas asks for is set against the vehicle’s appraised value, and where the standard presumptive value and the national guides come up empty, this appraisal is where the number comes from.
Written against VTR-125 (Rev 06/26), issued under Texas Transportation Code 501.053 and Tax Code 152.0412.
This form is worth nothing on its own. It exists to be attached to a bonded title application or taken into a tax assessor-collector hearing, and the value on it drives the size of the bond Texas will ask you to post.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank VTR-125 from the txdmv.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our VTR-125 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.
This is the actual VTR-125, rendered from the PDF the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles 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
The real VTR-125, filled in for the same truck and the same applicant as our bonded-title page - because that is the only thing this form is for. The appraiser signs it, not you.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Vehicle information
VIN, year, make, body style and model of the vehicle to be appraised.
Watch out: It has to match the vehicle on the bonded title application exactly, including the VIN.
2
You fill this in
Applicant information
Your name and address, and a second applicant if the title will name two people.
Watch out: The applicant is whoever is trying to get the title - not the appraiser and not a previous owner.
3
Dealers only
Appraiser information
Licensed dealer or insurance adjuster, licence number, company, name, address and contact details.
Watch out: Check the licence number is filled in before you leave. A blank one is the commonest reason this comes back.
4
Dealers only
Date of appraisal
The date the appraiser physically inspected the vehicle.
Watch out: This starts the thirty-day clock for getting the form to the department.
5
Dealers only
Appraised value
The fair market appraised value, plus a tick for complete or incomplete vehicle and any comments.
Watch out: This number sets your bond. It is worth being there for the inspection so the comments reflect the car’s real condition.
6
Dealers only
Appraiser certification
The appraiser signs, prints and dates, certifying a personal inspection.
Watch out: The certification carries the same third-degree felony warning as the rest of the Texas set - it is the appraiser’s signature that carries it, not yours.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Vehicle information
VIN, year, make, body style and model of the vehicle being appraised.
Applicant information
You - the person applying for the bonded title or asking for the hearing - plus a second applicant if the title will carry two names, address, and optional email and phone.
Appraiser information
Whether the appraiser is a licensed dealer or an insurance adjuster, their licence number, the dealership or insurance company name, their own name, address, email and phone.
Appraisal information
Date of appraisal, a tick for complete or incomplete vehicle, the appraised value, and a comments box.
Appraiser certification
The appraiser signs, prints their name and dates it, certifying they personally inspected the vehicle.
What gets this one rejected
•Using it when the department can value the car anyway. The form limits itself: it may only be used where the department is unable to establish value from the standard presumptive value or a national reference guide.
•Using it for anything else. Strictly limited to establishing value for a bonded title or a tax assessor-collector hearing, in the form’s own words.
•An appraisal done from photographs or a description. The appraiser must inspect the motor vehicle in person.
•Filing it too late. It must reach the department within 30 calendar days from the date of the appraisal - so a valuation you got months ago is no good.
•An appraiser who is neither. Two tick boxes and no third option: licensed dealer, or insurance adjuster. A friend in the trade without a licence number cannot sign it.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•The appraiser has to be licensed, and the number goes on the form. The licence number box sits beside the tick boxes precisely so the county can check it. It is the reason a mate’s valuation does not work here.
•Complete or incomplete changes what is being valued. A vehicle missing major components is worth what it is worth as that, and the tick box tells the county which question the number answers.
•The comments box is not decoration. It is where the appraiser records what they actually saw. On a car with damage it is the difference between a number that survives a hearing and one that does not.
•Thirty days runs from the appraisal, not the application. Get the appraisal when you are ready to file, not before you start gathering the rest of the paperwork.
Every line here was read off VTR-125 (Rev 06/26) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Texas 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.
