Sell your car in New York: bill of sale, title, plates off
New York is really five or six car markets wearing one trench coat — congestion-priced Manhattan, salt-belt Buffalo and Rochester, boom-cycle Syracuse, commuter Albany. The paperwork, at least, is identical everywhere: no notary, the plates stay with you, and the sales tax is the buyer's problem. Here's how it works, wherever you park.
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
Our New York City page covers the state's busiest market. The steps below are the same statewide, down to surrendering the plates before you cancel the insurance.
How to sell a car in New York (NY)
- 01Check the title is yours to sign. Turn the certificate over before you list the car. If the back already shows the last owner signing it over to you, you can't sign it again: get a title in your own name first with the MV-82TON. Lost it? A duplicate is $20 on the MV-902, and it comes by post, never over the counter. If a paid-off loan is still printed on it, you need the lender's signed original release; the DMV won't take a photocopy. Or skip the listing and get an instant cash offer here.
- 02Take the plates and windshield sticker off before anyone signs. New York plates belong to you, not the car. The DMV's order is plain: take them off and remove the registration sticker from the windshield before you complete the sale, not after the handshake. Plates left on the car can bring you traffic and parking tickets that aren't yours.
- 03Complete the Transfer by Owner block, with no corrections. This is the New York title transfer, and it happens on the back of the certificate. Don't fill anything in until you actually make the sale. Then add your signature, your name printed in full, your address and the date, and leave the front alone. Any change or erasure voids the title, so one slip means a $20 duplicate and a wait for the post. On a model year 2011 or newer car, write the mileage in whole miles; 2010 and older need no reading. The damage disclosure is filled in for every car, whatever its age. None of it needs a notary.
- 04Sign the MV-912 bill of sale together. A New York bill of sale is required with every private sale, even a gift, and the MV-912 is the DMV's own. You and the buyer both sign it. The buyer gives the DMV the original and you each keep a photocopy. Your copy is the only record you'll hold of the date the car stopped being yours, and it's what the DMV asks to see if an insurance-lapse letter arrives.
- 05Fill in your half of the DTF-802. Sales tax is the buyer's, and the DMV collects it when they register. The DTF-802 Statement of Transaction is still a joint form: both of you complete it. Your certification is Section 6 on page two, and a gift or a bargain price can't be registered without it. It's a tax affidavit, not a receipt.
- 06Surrender the plates, then cancel the insurance. Move the plates to another car you own, or surrender them with the PD-7. There's no fee, and you keep the FS-6T receipt it produces. Hand them in at a DMV office, or post them to Albany, where the postmark counts as the surrender date. Only then cancel the insurance. Do it the other way round and the DMV suspends the registration and can suspend your license. A gap of up to 90 days costs $8 a day for the first 30, $10 a day for days 31 to 60 and $12 a day for days 61 to 90; past 90 days it can't be paid off at all. To get back the unused part of your registration, ask at the counter when you surrender, or file the MV-215 afterwards.
- 07The buyer applies at a DMV office; the title comes by post. The buyer signs under you on the back of the title, then has 30 days to apply for a title at a New York motor vehicle office; the deadline is printed on the certificate. They file the MV-82 with the $50 title fee, plate and registration fees, and the county use tax that applies in most counties. Your inspection doesn't carry over and you don't need a new one: the buyer gets a 10-day inspection extension sticker at the counter. The Title Bureau in Albany posts their title afterwards, which can take several weeks.
Checked against the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles in August 2026.
What New York requires when you sell
| Notary | None needed. The state's own Vehicle Bill of Sale (form MV-912) has plain signature lines for seller and buyer — there's no notary block anywhere on it, and a standard private-sale title transfer doesn't call for one either. |
|---|---|
| The title form | There isn't a separate one. You sign the transfer-of-ownership section printed on the New York title certificate itself, then hand the buyer a bill of sale showing year and make, VIN, sale date, price, and both parties' names and signatures — MV-912 is the DMV's version. |
| Bill of sale | Required. A bill of sale goes with the signed title on every New York private sale, and the DMV asks for one even when the car is a gift. The state's own is the MV-912. The buyer hands the DMV the original and you both keep copies; yours is the only paper that proves when the car stopped being yours. Source. |
| Lost your title? | A duplicate costs $20 using form MV-902, filed online, by mail, or at a DMV office. Every title is printed in Albany and mailed — even applying in person, you leave empty-handed. Weekday orders in before 8 p.m. print the next business day and mail the day after. |
| Protect yourself after the sale | New York has no notice-of-sale or release-of-liability filing. Your shield is the plates: transfer them to another vehicle or surrender them (form PD-7, at a DMV office or by post) before canceling insurance, or the DMV suspends the registration — and can suspend your driver license too. |
| License plates | They belong to you, never to the car. Take them off, and the registration sticker off the windshield, before you complete the sale. Then either move them to your next vehicle or turn them in to the DMV with form PD-7. You keep the FS-6T receipt as proof, and plates posted to Albany count as surrendered on the postmark date. |
| Sales tax | The buyer pays it, and the DMV collects it when they register. The form, DTF-802, is joint, though: both of you complete it, and your certification is Section 6 on page two, which a gift or a bargain price can't be registered without. |
| Inspections | Required every 12 months and again at every change of ownership — your sticker is void for the new owner, who gets a 10-day extension from the date they register to pass a fresh one. Emissions testing rides along with the annual safety inspection for most vehicles 2 to 25 years old. |
Accurate as of August 2026 — rules shift, so double-check anything load-bearing on the official NYS DMV transfer page before you sign.
No notary needed here, unlike a handful of states; a replacement title runs $20 — compare all fifty; what protects you after handoff; selling when the title is gone; or price the New York transfer in the fee calculator.
Asked by New York sellers
Do I need a notary to sell a car in New York?
No. The state's bill of sale form has nothing on it but plain signature lines, and the title assignment doesn't require one either. Two signatures at a kitchen table make a fully legal New York private sale.
What happens with my license plates when I sell?
They come off the car and go with you, always, and before you complete the sale. Transfer them to your next vehicle, or surrender them with form PD-7 at a DMV office or by post, and do it before you cancel the insurance. You keep the FS-6T receipt, and plates posted to Albany count as surrendered on the postmark date. Get the order backwards and your registration gets suspended.
Who pays the sales tax on a private car sale in New York?
The buyer, and not to you. The DMV collects it when they register the car. The DTF-802 that goes with it is a joint form, though: both of you complete it, and your certification is Section 6 on page two, which a gift or a bargain-price sale can't be registered without.
I can't find my title. Can I still sell the car?
Once you replace it, yes. File form MV-902 with $20 — online, by mail, or at an office — and know that every replacement is printed in Albany and mailed out, so even an in-person visit ends with waiting on an envelope. Weekday orders placed by 8 p.m. print the next business day.