A one-page rescue for the sale where nobody wrote the price down. Where a Virginia vehicle is more than five years old and the sales price on the certificate is missing or wrong, this is what stands in for a bill of sale - and it is the only form in the Virginia set that gives the seller a certification block of their own, worded separately from the purchaser's and signed separately.
Written against SUT 1 (06/10/2014), issued under Va. Code 58.1-2402.
Age here is counted in model years against the current calendar year, and the two forms do not overlap: SUT 1 says the vehicle must be more than 5 years old, the SUT 1A says 5 years old or less. A car sitting exactly on the boundary belongs to the newer form, and that form wants a notary.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank SUT 1 from the dmv.virginia.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual SUT 1, rendered from the PDF the Virginia 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
Both halves completed for the same sale. Note that the two certifications are worded differently - selling price above, purchase price below - and that neither block mentions a notary.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
The vehicle row
Year, make, model and body type, copied off the certificate.
Watch out: The year box carries its own condition in brackets. If it is not more than five years old this is the wrong form and the counter will say so.
2
You fill this in
VIN, colour and sale date
The full vehicle identification number, the colour and the day the car changed hands.
Watch out: Colour is asked for here and nowhere else on the tax forms. Take it from the certificate rather than describing the paint.
3
You fill this in
The seller's figure
The selling price, written into the blank in the middle of the printed sentence.
Watch out: Read what surrounds the blank before writing in it: all accessories and attachments are included and no trade-in allowance is deducted.
4
You fill this in
Seller name, signature and date
Print, sign and date. That is the end of the seller's part of this form.
Watch out: The name should match the one printed on the face of the certificate you assigned, not a shortened version of it.
5
The buyer fills this in
The purchaser's figure
The purchase price, in the buyer's own certification block below.
Watch out: It is the same number. Two different figures on one form is the fastest way to turn a formality into an investigation.
6
The buyer fills this in
Purchaser name, signature and date
The buyer prints, signs and dates their half.
Watch out: This form travels with the title application. It is not something either party keeps - the copy that matters is DMV's.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Vehicle information
Year - and the box is labelled more than 5 years old - make, model and body type across the top row; then the vehicle identification number, colour and the sale date underneath.
Seller certification
A printed sentence with a blank in the middle of it: the selling price of the above-described motor vehicle was, then the figure, then which included all accessories and/or attachments with no trade-in allowance or any other transaction.
Seller name, signature and date
Printed name on the left, signature in the middle, date on the right. This is the seller's whole involvement.
Purchaser certification
The same sentence again, worded as purchase price rather than selling price, with its own blank.
Purchaser name, signature and date
The buyer's matching row underneath.
The affirmation both of them sign
Identical in both blocks: that all information presented in this form is true and correct, that any documents presented to DMV are genuine, made under penalty of perjury, and that knowingly making a false statement or representation on this form is a criminal violation.
What gets this one rejected
•Using it on a vehicle five years old or newer. The subtitle is a condition, not a description, and the newer car needs the notarised affidavit instead.
•Two different figures in the two blanks. The seller's certification and the purchaser's certification are separate sentences and DMV reads both.
•A figure that quietly nets off a trade-in. The printed wording is with no trade-in allowance or any other transaction, so the number is the whole price of this vehicle.
•Filing it as a dealer. The purpose line restricts it to individuals and adds not motor vehicle dealers in brackets.
•Leaving the sale date blank. It is the only date on the form and it is what ties the certification to a particular transfer.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•A handwritten bill of sale does the same job. DMV accepts either. Where the seller has already written the price into Section A of the certificate, neither is needed - that entry is itself treated as the bill of sale.
•Either party can start it. The instruction is that the seller or purchaser completes the vehicle information section and signs the appropriate certification section, so whichever of you noticed the problem can begin.
•It exists because the alternative is a guide price. With no price and no certification, the buyer's tax is worked out from a valuation guide rather than from what they actually paid - which on a tired old car is usually more.
Every line here was read off SUT 1 (06/10/2014) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Virginia 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.
