Sell your car in Idaho — no notary, no smog check, no runaround
Selling a car in Idaho is refreshingly light on ceremony: no notary, no emissions test anywhere in the state, and the 6% sales tax lands on the buyer when they title it — not on you. Your whole job is a clean signature, a bill of sale, a release-of-liability filing ($3.50 on paper, free online), and keeping your plates. Below is every form, fee, and deadline — plus a cash offer if you'd rather hand the whole errand to us.
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Boise is Idaho's busiest city for car sellers, and it has its own Boise page. Wherever you are, your buyer titles the car at one of Idaho's 44 county assessor motor vehicle offices, and each one sets its own title admin fee.
How to sell a car in Idaho
- 01Title the car in your own name first. Idaho doesn't let you sell a car that isn't titled to you yet. If a loan is on it, the title may exist only as an ITD computer record; once the loan is cleared, ITD prints the paper title and mails it the next day. Lost it? Order an Idaho duplicate title on ITD 3367, or, for a 2010 or older model year, sell in one step on ITD 3369. There's no Idaho emissions test to book first: testing ended July 1, 2023.
- 02Assign the title with the buyer's legal name and true price. Fill in the seller's section, write the buyer's full legal name and the true selling price in the purchaser's section, add the date, and sign on the seller's line. Never leave the buyer's name blank: Idaho Code 49-519 makes that illegal for you to sign and for anyone to hold. On a 2011 or newer model year, write the mileage on the title in whole miles; 2010 and older need none. If the owners' names are joined by "AND", all of you sign; "OR" means one of you is enough. An Idaho title transfer needs no notary.
- 03Fill in the ITD 3738 bill of sale. Use ITD 3738 unless the price and date are already on the signed title. Either one works as the buyer's 72-hour driving permit, not counting weekends and state holidays. Hand over the title and bill of sale once the money is in your hands. Selling to a relative? Sign the seller's section of Form ST-133 and give it to them for the family-sale tax exemption; if nothing of value changes hands at all, the form is ST-133GT.
- 04Keep your plates and the registration card. In Idaho both stay with the seller (Idaho Code 49-431), so take them before the buyer drives off. Move the plates to your next car for a $5.00 transfer fee and the unused registration time goes with them, or cancel them on ITD 3438. The one exception is a black-and-white Restricted Use plate on an ATV, UTV or off-road motorcycle, which stays on the machine.
- 05Release your liability on ITD 3858, free online. You have 5 days from delivering the car. File ITD 3858 on paper for $3.50, or file the release of liability online with the Idaho DMV for free, where it's processed right away. Once it's filed, tickets, tows, storage and repair charges that come after delivery aren't yours.
- 06Your buyer titles it at a county assessor's office. The buyer takes the title to a county assessor's motor vehicle office (Idaho has 44) within 30 days of delivery, and a deputy there prepares the title application for them to sign. They pay the $14.00 title fee plus the county's admin fee (up to $18.75), 6% sales tax on the full price with no trade-in credit, and $3.75 per plate, since yours leave with you. If they're late, the $20 penalty is theirs, not yours.
Skip the listing if you like: an instant cash offer is available right here. Checked against the Idaho DMV in August 2026.
What Idaho requires when you sell
| Notary | Not required. A standard Idaho title transfer runs on signatures alone: the title, the bill of sale and the release of liability are all signed without a notary. Notarization shows up on just five ITD forms, and every one of them is about replacing a missing title, such as the duplicate-title applications ITD 3367 and ITD 3369. Even then, if you fill the form in at the county office, a county deputy can witness your signature instead (ITD Title and Registration FAQs). |
|---|---|
| The title form | You sign off the existing title, including the odometer reading for vehicles newer than model year 2010 and under 16,000 lbs. The buyer then takes it to a county assessor's motor vehicle office, where a deputy prepares the title application for them to sign. ITD 3337 is optional in a sale between two Idahoans; it is meant mainly for lenders, dealers and private sales made outside Idaho. The state title fee is $14.00 plus the county's own admin fee (up to $18.75), and the buyer has 30 days from delivery; missing that window adds a $20.00 late penalty, charged to the buyer. |
| Bill of sale | Needed, unless the title already carries the price and date. Idaho's form is ITD 3738. ITD says you can skip an Idaho bill of sale only if you write the selling price and the date on the title and sign it; the title then does the same job, including serving as the buyer's 72-hour driving permit (ITD Title and Registration FAQs). |
| Lost your title? | Replace it with ITD 3367, the Duplicate Idaho Title Application: $14.00 plus a small county admin fee, or add $26.00 for RUSH service. Your signature must be notarized or witnessed at the assessor's counter, and the form can't transfer ownership. To replace and sell in one step, use ITD 3369, but only for a 2010 or older model year, a vehicle over 16,000 lbs or one with no odometer; anything newer waits for the duplicate (ITD 3367). |
| Protect yourself after the sale | File a Notice of Release of Liability, form ITD 3858, within 5 days of handing over the vehicle. It costs $3.50 on paper and nothing when you file online. Idaho Code 49-526 requires it, and a properly filed release can protect you from what the car does next: infractions, towing, storage charges (Idaho DMV). |
| License plates | Yours, not the car's. Idaho Code 49-431 says the registration card and plates 'shall remain with and in the possession of the transferor' — so strip them before the handoff, and move them to another vehicle you own once that vehicle is registered (Idaho Code 49-431). |
| Sales tax | The buyer's bill, never yours. Idaho's 6% sales tax on the purchase price is collected by the county assessor or ITD when the buyer applies for their title. Your bill of sale is what establishes that price — write one and keep a copy (Idaho State Tax Commission). |
| Inspections | No emissions testing anywhere in Idaho. The Legislature repealed the requirement effective July 1, 2023, ending testing in Canyon County and Kuna, and the EPA approved shutting down Ada County's long-running program the same year. No smog check is needed to sell or register a car (Idaho DEQ). |
Form numbers and fees current as of August 2026, verified against the Idaho DMV's vehicle-titles page — double-check there before you sign; ITD revises its forms quietly.
No notary needed here, unlike a handful of states; a replacement title runs $14 — compare all fifty; what protects you after handoff; selling with a loan still on it; or price the Idaho transfer in the fee calculator.
Asked by Idaho sellers
Do I need a notary to sell my car in Idaho?
No. A standard Idaho title transfer takes signatures, nothing more: the title, the bill of sale and the release of liability are all signed without a notary. Notarization appears only on ITD's missing-title forms, such as the duplicate-title application (ITD 3367), and even there a county deputy can witness your signature if you fill the form in at the county office.
Who pays the sales tax when I sell my car privately in Idaho?
The buyer, always. Idaho's 6% sales tax on the purchase price gets collected when the buyer applies for their title at the county assessor's office or ITD — you never touch it. Your job is the bill of sale that documents the price, so write one and keep a copy in case the figure is ever questioned.
How do I release liability after selling my car in Idaho?
File form ITD 3858, the Notice of Release of Liability, within 5 days of handing over the vehicle. It costs $3.50 on paper and nothing if you file online, where ITD processes it immediately. Idaho Code 49-526 requires the filing, and filing it properly is what can protect you if the buyer collects parking tickets, abandons the car, or racks up tow and storage charges before retitling it.
I lost my Idaho title — can I still sell the car?
It depends on the model year. The duplicate-title application, ITD 3367, can't transfer ownership, so for most cars the replacement has to come first: file it with the $14 fee (notarized, or witnessed by the assessor), or pay $26 more for RUSH service. If the car is a 2010 or older model year, weighs over 16,000 lbs or has no odometer, you can sell in one step on ITD 3369 instead, handing the buyer a completed duplicate application with the assignment. A buyer can't get the duplicate for you; only the titled owner or the lienholder can.