How to fill out Texas VTR-441

Turns a wrecked vehicle's ordinary title into a salvage title, or into a nonrepairable title for one that will never legally return to the road. If you settled a total loss and kept the car, this is what has to be filed before it can be sold on.

Top of the blank Texas VTR-441, Application for Salvage or Nonrepairable Vehicle Title, as the agency publishes it

Step 1 · the form itself Blank VTR-441 — Application for Salvage or Nonrepairable Vehicle Title PDF at txdmv.gov · new tab View the blank VTR-441

Part of page 1 of our filled-in example of Texas VTR-441, Application for Salvage or Nonrepairable Vehicle Title, showing the filled-in entries

Step 2 · how to fill it in Our filled-in VTR-441 guide PDF · 3 pages · 960 KB · new tab See our filled-in example

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank VTR-441 from the txdmv.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our VTR-441 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Written against VTR-441 (Rev 01/25), issued under Texas Transportation Code 501.091 and 501.100. Texas brands wrecks two ways, and only one of them has a road back. Repair a salvage vehicle, pass the inspection, and it retitles as rebuilt salvage. A nonrepairable vehicle never does - the brand is terminal, and applying under the wrong one is not a clerical slip you fix later.

Last updated August 22, 2026.

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is all 2 pages of the actual VTR-441, 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

A Texas VTR-441 filled in for an owner-retained wreck: Salvage Vehicle Title ticked at the top, VIN 3GCPCREC8EG178403 for a 2014 Chevrolet Silverado, Texas as the surrendered title state, plate JHB-2705, an odometer reading of 112480, Flood Damage ticked as the type of damage, applicant Dale W. Fontenot of San Antonio, No lien ticked, and the certification signed and dated 28 May 2026, with all eight applicant checklist boxes on page two ticked. — Page 1 of 2. Salvage Vehicle Title ticked rather than Nonrepairable, a flood-damaged 2014 Chevrolet Silverado, an odometer reading with none of the three mileage boxes ticked, No lien, and the applicant signed and dated. The Last Titled Outside of Texas block stays empty because that block only applies where an insurance company is the applicant.

Page 2 of the filled-in VTR-441: Page two is instructions, definitions and the applicant checklist - and the checklist is the only part of it you write on. All eight boxes are ticked here, which is what the form asks for before it goes in the post. — Page 2 of 2. Page two is instructions, definitions and the applicant checklist - and the checklist is the only part of it you write on. All eight boxes are ticked here, which is what the form asks for before it goes in the post.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
Application type
Salvage Vehicle Title or Nonrepairable Vehicle Title, each an $8.00 fee, with a third box adding a Certified Copy of Texas Title for another $2.00.
Watch out: The certified copy box has a condition attached: the vehicle must have been last titled in Texas, the title lost or destroyed, and there must be no change in ownership - including adding or removing an owner.
2
You fill this in
Vehicle information
VIN, year, make, body style, model, the title or document number, the state that issued the surrendered title, and the plate state and number.
Watch out: Surrendered Title State catches people out on a vehicle that has only ever been in Texas. It is Texas, and it is not the same question as the plate state beside it.
3
You fill this in
Odometer reading
The reading with no tenths, and three boxes: Exempt, Not Actual, Exceeds Mechanical Limits.
Watch out: The printed line reads this is the Actual Mileage unless the mileage is - so an unticked row is an affirmative statement, not a gap. The checklist on page two asks for a reading for vehicles subject to federal odometer disclosure.
4
You fill this in
Type of damage
Accident/Collision, Flood Damage, or Other with a written specification.
Watch out: Flood has its own box because Texas tracks flood history separately, and a flood brand follows the vehicle into every subsequent record. Do not put a flood car under Other.
5
You fill this in
Applicant information
Your name, an additional applicant if the vehicle is in two names, the address, and an optional email and phone number.
Watch out: Page two puts it plainly on the checklist: legal name of applicant and mailing address is provided. The name has to match the ownership evidence being surrendered.
6
The lienholder fills this in
Lien information
No lien, Carry forward existing lien, or Record new lien - and that last one is marked on Salvage Vehicle Title Only.
Watch out: The default is against you: a release of lien is required if an existing lien is recorded and should not be carried forward; otherwise, the lien will be carried forward. Silence carries the lender onto the new title.
7
You fill this in
Certification and signatures
The applicant and any additional applicant sign, print and date under the third-degree-felony certification.
Watch out: The original title properly assigned goes in with this - and where you are already the owner on record, the form says no signatures are required on that original title at all.
8
You fill this in
The applicant checklist on page two
Eight boxes covering the application type and damage, the ownership evidence, your legal name and address, your signature and date, the vehicle information, the odometer reading, the fee, and any additional documents.
Watch out: Page two is otherwise all instructions and definitions, which is exactly why the checklist at the bottom of it gets skipped. It is the only part of that page you write on.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
Application type	Salvage Vehicle Title or Nonrepairable Vehicle Title, $8.00 either way. A third box adds a certified copy of Texas title for another $2.00, but only where the vehicle was last titled in Texas, the title is lost or destroyed, and there is no change of ownership.
Vehicle information	VIN, year, make, body style, model, title or document number, the state that issued the surrendered title, and the plate state and number.
Odometer reading	No tenths, with the same three tick boxes the 130-U uses: Exempt, Not Actual, Exceeds Mechanical Limits.
Type of damage	Accident or collision, flood damage, or other with a written specification. Flood is a separate box because Texas treats flood history differently.
Applicant information	Name, address, and an optional email and phone. Room for a second applicant.
Lien information	Three tick boxes, and they are not interchangeable: No lien, Carry forward existing lien, or Record new lien - and that last one is marked on Salvage Vehicle Title Only. A new lien cannot be recorded against a nonrepairable certificate.
Last titled outside of Texas	Only where an insurance company is applying. It asks what connects the vehicle to Texas: the damage happened here, the theft happened here, the recovery happened here, or the owner it was acquired from is a Texas resident.
Certification and signatures	Applicant and any additional applicant sign and print, under the third-degree-felony line.

What gets this one rejected

•Ticking the certified copy box on a vehicle titled outside Texas, or where ownership is changing at the same time. Both are excluded on the form.
•Choosing nonrepairable to save a step. A nonrepairable title is the end of that vehicle's road life and the decision does not reverse.
•Leaving the damage type blank, or writing 'other' with nothing after it.
•Guessing at the odometer rather than reading it.
•Ticking Record new lien on a nonrepairable application. The box is marked for a Salvage Vehicle Title only.

Every line here was read off VTR-441 (Rev 01/25) 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.

Forms that go with this one

Kept a car your insurer totaled after hail? Our page explains why a hail-totaled car can't be driven to the sale in Dallas, and when its registration stops counting.

Back to all Texas seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Texas involves.

How to fill out Texas VTR-441

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

Application type

Vehicle information

Odometer reading

Type of damage

Applicant information

Lien information

Certification and signatures

The applicant checklist on page two

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Forms that go with this one

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