Sell your car in New Jersey — no notary, no runaround
New Jersey makes selling a car simpler than its reputation suggests: the title itself is the transfer document, no notary is involved, and the buyer — not you — owes the sales tax. Get an instant cash offer, or call and talk it through with someone who has read the MVC's fine print so you don't have to.
Prefer a callback? Leave your number ↓
Offers powered by our buying partner — ★ 4.7 Trustpilot (205,000+ reviews) · ★ 4.5 Google (8,900+)
Pick your metro
Newark is New Jersey's busiest city, and our Newark page covers selling a car there. Wherever you live in the state, the buyer has to go in person to a motor vehicle agency, because an MVC title transfer can't be done by mail.
How to sell a car in New Jersey (NJ)
- 01Run a DO-22 lien search before you list. Selling doesn't clear a lien from the Commission's record. Even a loan paid off years ago stays there until someone applies with the lender's original release. A DO-22 title/lien search shows what the MVC has on file. If a lender still holds your title, mail it an OS/SS-54 asking it to send the title to a New Jersey vehicle center you name. Lost the title? Replace it first with the OS/SS-UTA.
- 02Write the bill of sale the MVC asks for. New Jersey requires a bill of sale with the title but publishes no form for it. A New Jersey bill of sale needs four things: the buyer's name and address, the date of sale, the odometer reading and the price. Our bill of sale guide walks you through it. If you'd rather not hunt for a buyer, you can get an instant cash offer here instead of listing the car.
- 03Sign the seller's section once the money has cleared. The title itself is the transfer document, and no notary is needed. With the buyer in front of you and the money cleared, sign the seller's section on the reverse in blue or black ink. Leave the buyer's section, including their license number, for them. Don't use correction fluid: a spoiled title means a $60 replacement.
- 04Write the mileage and the price on the title. Put the sale date and the odometer reading on the title. New Jersey sets no age cut-off of its own; under the federal rule, a 2011 or newer model carries the disclosure for 20 years. If the gauge is wrong, write your honest estimate and mark it as not actual. If the mileage block is full or spoiled, add the OS/SS-2. The price line needs a number, and if it's a gift, say so on that line, because the tax office reads it. Photograph both sides before you hand it over.
- 05Hand the plates to an agency, or drop them in its plate box. New Jersey plates stay with you and can never go to the buyer. Staff at any motor vehicle agency will take them, or you can use the plate box outside, and a receipt is mailed to you. The other option is moving them to another car registered in your name, in the same vehicle class.
- 06Keep the plate receipt: it stands in for a release. The MVC has no seller's notice of sale. The dated plate receipt is your proof the registration ended, so turn the plates in before you call your insurer. If the plates left on the car and you can't get them back, send the RSC-6 that same week.
- 07Send the buyer to an agency within 10 working days. A New Jersey title transfer can't be done by mail. The buyer goes in person to a motor vehicle agency within 10 working days or owes a $25 penalty. They bring the signed title, a BA-49 registration application, their license and proof of New Jersey insurance, and they pay the title fee plus 6.625% sales tax on what they paid.
- 08Keep your papers for Trenton's tax check. The Division of Taxation reviews private sales afterward with a Motor Vehicle Casual Sales questionnaire. It can ask the seller to swear an affidavit months after the car is gone, so keep your bill of sale and the title photos.
Checked against the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission in August 2026.
What New Jersey requires when you sell
| Notary | None required for an ordinary sale. The MVC's transfer instructions ask only that you sign the seller's section on the back of the title and hand the buyer a bill of sale. New Jersey's notary requirements attach to other situations: a power of attorney used to sign for an owner, a company's letter of signature authority, a surviving spouse's BA-62 affidavit, a Transfer on Death beneficiary designation, a car bought in a state that issues no titles, and an odometer statement used to correct mileage. An owner selling their own car meets none of them. |
|---|---|
| The title form | There isn't a separate one — the title itself is the transfer document. You sign the seller's section; the buyer signs theirs, adds a driver license number, and pays the $60 title fee ($85 with one lien, $110 with two). Your bill of sale should list the buyer's name and address, date of sale, odometer reading, and price. The reading and the transfer date also go on the certificate itself under N.J.A.C. 13:21-5.8 — and a buyer who sits on the paperwork past 10 working days owes a $25 penalty. |
| Bill of sale | Required. The MVC lists a bill of sale as part of what you hand the buyer with the signed title, and names what goes on it: the buyer's name and address, the date of sale, the odometer reading and the price. New Jersey publishes no bill-of-sale form of its own, so you write one — our bill of sale guide shows how. Source: NJ MVC, Transferring Vehicle Ownership. |
| Lost your title? | File Form OS/SS-UTA with a $60 fee — in person at an MVC Vehicle Center by appointment, or by mail, where the MVC quotes 8–12 weeks. Book the appointment. If the car is or was financed, you also need a statement from the lienholder that they don't hold the original. Duplicate Title Unit: 609-633-8275. |
| Protect yourself after the sale | New Jersey has no notice of sale or release-of-liability filing for sellers. What stands in for one is the plate-surrender receipt: turn the plates in and the dated receipt proves when the registration stopped being live in your name. Keep it, along with your copy of the bill of sale. If the plates left on the car and you can't get them back, the RSC-6 tells the MVC the car was sold and where the plates went. |
| License plates | They stay with you, never the car. Remove them and surrender them at a motor vehicle agency, or transfer them to another vehicle you own. Plates cannot follow the car to a new owner. |
| Sales tax | The buyer's bill, not yours: on a private ("casual") sale the purchaser owes New Jersey's 6.625% sales tax when they title the car. Genuine gifts and inherited vehicles are exempt — a gift must be marked as such on the title paperwork. |
| Inspections | Selling triggers nothing. Passenger cars get a biennial emissions-only (OBD2) test tied to the registration and windshield sticker, not the transfer. Fully exempt: pre-1996 gasoline cars, 100% electric vehicles, motorcycles, low-mileage collector cars, and historic vehicles 25 years or older. |
Fees and rules above are current as of August 2026 — confirm the details on the NJMVC's official transfer page before you sign anything.
No notary needed here, unlike a handful of states; a replacement title runs $60 — compare all fifty; what protects you after handoff; selling with a loan still on it; or price the New Jersey transfer in the fee calculator.
Asked by New Jersey sellers
Do I need a notary to sell my car in New Jersey?
No. You sign the seller's section on the back of the title, write a bill of sale, and you're done. New Jersey asks for a notary only in other situations: a power of attorney signing for an owner, a company's letter of authority, a surviving spouse's affidavit, a Transfer on Death beneficiary designation, a car bought in a state that issues no titles, or an odometer statement correcting mileage. A regular owner selling their own car skips it entirely.
Who pays the sales tax when I sell my car privately in NJ?
The buyer. On a casual sale the purchaser owes 6.625% of the price when they title the vehicle at the MVC — you collect your price and owe no tax. The Division of Taxation may later check the price with a Casual Sales questionnaire and can ask the seller to swear an affidavit, so keep your bill of sale. Gifts and inherited vehicles are exempt, but a gift has to be written on the price line of the title.
What do I do with my license plates after the sale?
Take them off before the car leaves — plates belong to you, not the vehicle. Surrender them at a motor vehicle agency or move them to another car you own. Handing plates to the buyer is the one mistake New Jersey sellers genuinely regret, since the car keeps driving around on your registration.
I lost the title. Can I still sell the car?
Yes, once you replace it. File the Universal Title Application (OS/SS-UTA) with $60 — by appointment at an MVC Vehicle Center, or by mail if you can wait the quoted 8–12 weeks. Financed or formerly financed cars also need a lienholder statement. Start this before you list; nothing kills a deal like a title that's in the mail.