Sell your car in Arizona — one signature, no notary, no drama
Arizona makes it unusually easy to hand off a car: sign the back of the title, pull your plates, file a free Sold Notice, done. No notary, no sales tax on private sales, no statewide safety inspection. The hard part is getting a fair number — that's where we come in.
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The title, plate and Sold Notice rules are the same in every Arizona city; only the emissions test depends on where the buyer will register or drive the car. Selling in Tucson? Start with our Tucson page.
How to sell a car in Arizona
- 01Find out if your title is on paper at all. Arizona stores titles electronically, and you no longer get a paper one automatically. Check what you actually hold before you advertise the car, or before you take an instant cash offer here instead of listing it. If a lender was ever on the car, the Title Viewer on AZ MVD Now shows whether the lien is still recorded.
- 02Read the Legal Status word on the front. A paper title prints a Legal Status between the owners' names, and it decides who signs. OR lets one owner sign alone; AND or AND/OR needs the signature of every living owner.
- 03Paper title: complete the back, skip the dealer panels. Write the mileage in the shaded window in whole miles. Model year 2011 and newer cars need it until they are 20 model years old; 2010 and older are exempt. Sign the Seller Signature line, print your name, and add your address and the sale date. The buyer signs the right-hand half and writes NONE on the new lienholder line if nothing is financed. Leave the three DEALER REASSIGNMENT panels blank and cross nothing out: a mistake is fixed on a separate sheet, such as a Statement of Error (Form 46-0307). Nobody has to witness your signature.
- 04No paper title: use eTitle Transfer or Form 38-1306. eTitle Transfer runs the whole Arizona title transfer on AZ MVD Now: the buyer generates a code, you enter the mileage and release ownership, and it costs you nothing. It won't run unless the car has current emissions where they apply, or the buyer is in a non-emissions area. The paper route is the Title Transfer Bill of Sale, Form 38-1306, which stands in for the signed title on a car titled in Arizona. Its acknowledgement block can be witnessed by an MVD processor for no fee instead of a notary.
- 05Remove the plate; you have 30 days to move or surrender it. In Arizona the plate stays yours by law. Within 30 days, move it to another vehicle, turn it in to MVD or an Authorized Third Party provider, or file an affidavit that it was destroyed on Form 48-3302. ADOT gives the buyer temporary permission to drive in the meantime.
- 06File the Sold Notice within 10 days. It's free and takes about a minute on AZ MVD Now, or you can use the paper Form 46-8502. It protects you if the car is later ticketed, in a crash, used in a crime, or abandoned, which carries a fee of $500 or more. Skip it and MVD records may still show you as the owner.
- 07Claim your registration credit in the same sitting. The Sold Notice doesn't end your registration or refund anything. The credit does: you get back the unexpired vehicle license tax and registration fees, less a $12 processing fee, figured on the day you apply. It can't be backdated. Once you request it the car is no longer registered, so tell your insurer after that, not before.
- 08The buyer applies at MVD within 15 days. They file the Title and Registration Application at an MVD office (what most people call the Arizona DMV) or an Authorized Third Party provider, which adds its own convenience fee. No sales tax is due on a private sale; a bill of sale shows it was one. Unless the car is electric, five model years old or less, or a 1966 model or older, it needs an emissions test if it will be registered in the Phoenix or Tucson area, or driven into one for work or school. Miss the 15 days and the late fee is $8 for the first month and $4 for each month after, up to $100.
Checked against ADOT MVD's Selling Your Vehicle page in August 2026.
What Arizona requires when you sell
| Notary | Not required. Arizona's title-transfer statute asks only for your signed assignment on the certificate of title — there is no notarization language anywhere in it. You can even skip paper entirely and transfer the title electronically through eTitle at AZMVDNow.gov. One caveat: if your buyer plans to title the car in another state, that state's DMV may still expect a notarized Arizona title, so ask before you sign. |
|---|---|
| The title form | There's no separate seller's form for a standard sale — you sign the back of the Arizona title (or use eTitle Transfer online) and the buyer files a Title and Registration Application, Form 96-0236, within 15 days of the purchase. If there's no paper title to sign because it's electronic or missing, a Title Transfer Bill of Sale, Form 38-1306, takes its place. It works only for a car titled in Arizona. |
| Bill of sale | Depends on your title. Arizona has two forms called a bill of sale, and only one of them moves ownership. The Title Transfer Bill of Sale, Form 38-1306, replaces the signed title, but only when an Arizona-titled car's title is electronic or missing. The plain Arizona bill of sale, Form 48-2004, is optional: it records who paid whom, and it does not transfer ownership. Source: ADOT MVD, buying a vehicle. |
| Lost your title? | A duplicate Arizona title costs $4.00 through AZ MVD Now, online or by mail — and only one owner's signature is needed to request it. Mail processing can take up to six weeks. But you may not need one at all: for a car titled in Arizona, eTitle Transfer or the Title Transfer Bill of Sale, Form 38-1306, lets you sell with no paper certificate, so check that before you pay for a replacement. |
| Protect yourself after the sale | File a Sold Notice — free online at AZMVDNow.gov, or by mail on Form 46-8502 — within 10 calendar days of the sale. Until it's on record, MVD may still show you as the owner, which means the new owner's tickets, crashes, or abandoned-vehicle fees ($500 and up) can land on you. |
| License plates | Plates stay with you, not the car — MVD's instruction is to remove the plate before the buyer takes possession. You can move it to another vehicle, and after filing the Sold Notice you can claim a registration credit for unused fees at AZMVDNow.gov. The credit shrinks the longer you wait. |
| Sales tax | None on private sales. The Arizona Department of Revenue says it plainly: casual sales between private parties are not taxable. Your buyer just brings a bill of sale to MVD showing a private purchase. (The state's 5.6% use tax hits vehicles bought from out-of-state dealers — not person-to-person sales.) |
| Inspections | Arizona has no periodic safety inspection. The only test tied to registration is emissions, and only for cars registered in metro Phoenix (Area A) or metro Tucson (Area B), or driven into either area for work or school. Cars five model years old or less, 1966 and older, and electric vehicles are exempt. In a private sale the test is the buyer's errand at registration, and results reach MVD electronically. The one time it's yours: eTitle Transfer won't run unless the car has current emissions where they apply, or the buyer is in a non-emissions area. A car that can't pass is still worth less inside the two metro areas. |
Rules verified as of August 2026 against ADOT MVD’s official selling-a-vehicle page — fees and forms change, so check there before you sign anything.
No notary needed here, unlike a handful of states; a replacement title runs $4 — compare all fifty; what protects you after handoff; selling when the title is gone; or price the Arizona transfer in the fee calculator.
Asked by Arizona sellers
Do I need a notary to sell my car in Arizona?
No. The statute only requires your signed assignment on the title, and MVD's own instructions are to sign the back and hand it over — or transfer it electronically through eTitle at AZMVDNow.gov. The one exception worth knowing: if your buyer will title the car in another state, some out-of-state agencies still want a notarized Arizona title, so have them check first.
What is a Sold Notice and do I really need to file one?
It's Arizona's seller-protection filing — free at AZMVDNow.gov, or by mail on Form 46-8502. MVD says to complete it within 10 calendar days of the sale. Skip it and state records may keep you listed as the owner, which is exactly who gets the letter when the car is ticketed, wrecked, or abandoned. It takes about a minute online; file it.
What happens to my license plate and leftover registration?
The plate is yours — take it off before the buyer drives away. You can transfer it to your next vehicle, or file the Sold Notice and request a registration credit for the unused portion of your fees at AZMVDNow.gov. The credit gets smaller every month you sit on it, so don't.
Does the buyer or seller pay sales tax on a private car sale in Arizona?
Neither. The Department of Revenue's guidance is that casual sales between private parties aren't taxable — the buyer just shows MVD a bill of sale documenting a private purchase. Arizona's 5.6% use tax applies to cars bought from out-of-state dealers, which a driveway sale is not.