Sell your car in Oklahoma — one notarized signature, zero inspections, and a $10 form worth filing
Oklahoma asks one thing most states don't: your signature on the sale has to be sworn in front of a notary before the car changes hands — on the back of a paper title, or on Form 718 if your title is electronic, which has been the default since 1 July 2025. Sign in front of the notary, not before. Beyond that, it's an easy state to sell in: no safety or emissions inspection, the buyer pays every dime of tax, and your plate comes off with you. The one deadline is a pre-registration that you or the buyer files within two business days, and ten dollars more files a dated notice that the car stopped being yours. Every fact below is checked against the state's own paperwork.
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The Service Oklahoma rules on this page apply in every Oklahoma city, and selling a car in Tulsa has a page of its own.
How to sell a car in Oklahoma
- 01Find out if your title is paper or electronic. Since 1 July 2025 Oklahoma issues titles electronically by default, so there may be no certificate to sign at all. If there was ever a loan on the car, Oklahoma sent the title to the lender, and the Oklahoma lien release has to come from the lender before ownership can move. If it can't produce a standard release, the FL-797 letter sets out what its statement must contain. With an electronic title, the only time you need paper is when the buyer is taking the car out of state: ask for it on Form 701-5. If you'd rather not list the car at all, you can get an instant cash offer here instead.
- 02Check the mileage against your title record. For a model year 2011 or newer car, the mileage disclosure usually sits in the assignment on a paper title. With an electronic title it goes on Form 729, the one seller form with no notary block. You and the buyer both print and sign. Read the dashboard twice: if your figure is lower than the mileage already on your title, the buyer's new title is stamped ODOMETER DISCREPANCY for good. A 2010 or older car needs no disclosure.
- 03Sign in front of a notary, with the buyer there. Oklahoma law wants your signature sworn before a notary public, so don't sign anything at home first. On a paper title, you sign the assignment on the back and write the mileage and the real price. On an electronic title, you print Form 718, the Bill of Sale of an Electronic Title, fill it in and swear to it there. With a paper title, sign a separate bill of sale at the same visit: Service Oklahoma's glossary says one shows the price, VIN, buyer and seller and is notarized.
- 04Unbolt your plate; the bill of sale gets the buyer home. The notarized title or Form 718 goes to the buyer with the keys. Your plate is assigned to you, not the car, so take it off in front of the buyer. They can drive home with no plate for five calendar days if a dated, notarized bill of sale is in the car. Keep the plate: bring it when you register your next car and you get credit for the time left on the tags.
- 05Agree who files the pre-registration within two business days. This is Oklahoma's real seller deadline. Since 1 September 2024, under the Mason Treat Act, you or the buyer must submit the vehicle, the buyer's details and any plate on it to Service Oklahoma (the state's DMV) or a licensed operator, the old tag agency, within two business days of the sale. The state leaves it to the two of you, so say out loud who is doing it. If you file, it costs nothing on the state's Navigate portal and the buyer gets an email to confirm. The buyer is then mailed a metal plate and two pre-registration decals and has 10 days from the purchase to put them on.
- 06Decide on the optional $10 Form 773. Form 773, the Notice of Transfer of Ownership, has no deadline, but it is the nearest thing Oklahoma has to a release of liability. Once it is filed, the buyer is presumed to be the owner and answerable for how the car is used, and some transactions are blocked until they transfer the title. The form still says to mail it to a tag agency, which is a licensed operator now. Keep your insurance until the plate is off and the pre-registration is in.
- 07Send the buyer to a licensed operator within two months. From here the Oklahoma title transfer belongs to the buyer. They take the notarized title or Form 718 to any licensed operator with Oklahoma liability insurance, a driver licence and proof of the price, and apply on Form 701-6. They pay the excise tax, the 1.25% sales tax, the $11 title fee and the $17 transfer fee. After two months a $1-a-day penalty starts, capped at $100. None of the tax is yours to pay.
Checked against Service Oklahoma, Motor Vehicle Services in August 2026. The rest of the Oklahoma seller forms are on our Oklahoma forms page.
What Oklahoma requires when you sell
| Notary | Yes — Oklahoma is one of the few states that requires it. The seller's signature must be sworn before a notary public (47 O.S. 1107(A)): on the back of a paper title, or on Form 718 if the title is electronic. Sign in front of the notary, not before — a notary can't swear to a signature they didn't watch you make, and a pre-signed paper title can't be redone. Bring the buyer and do it in one visit. |
|---|---|
| The title form | On a paper title, the assignment happens on the back of the certificate itself; since 1 July 2025 most Oklahoma titles are electronic, and then Form 718 takes its place (below). Either way the buyer applies for their own with Form 701-6 (Application for Oklahoma Certificate of Title). For model year 2011 or newer, the odometer disclosure sits in the paper title's assignment; Form 729 is only needed when it isn't printed there, which on an electronic title is always. Write the real sale price — the buyer's excise tax is calculated from it. |
| Bill of sale | Oklahoma requires one only when the title on record is electronic: then Form 718, the Bill of Sale of an Electronic Title, notarized, stands in for the paper title. With a paper title, the notarized assignment on the back is the transfer. An Oklahoma bill of sale is still worth writing: the buyer needs proof of the price (without one they swear Form 722-1), and a dated, notarized bill of sale in the car lets them drive home with no plate for five calendar days. Source: Service Oklahoma, electronic titles. |
| Electronic titles | No paper document on file? E-titled vehicles sell with Form 718, the Bill of Sale of an Electronic Title, which stands in for the paper title — and yes, that signature needs the notary stamp too. |
| Lost your title? | First check it is lost at all: since 1 July 2025 most Oklahoma titles are electronic, and an electronic title sells on a notarized Form 718 with no paper needed. If there was ever a loan, the certificate went to the lender. For a paper title that really is lost, file Form 701-7 (Application for Replacement Certificate of Title) with the record owner's signature notarized. The fee is $11, plus $1.66 if you mail the application in — and the duplicate is always mailed to you. Nobody can hand you one over a counter, so start this before you line up a buyer. |
| Protect yourself after the sale | Two different things. The deadline: under the Mason Treat Act (since 1 September 2024), you or the buyer must file the car's pre-registration within two business days of the sale, with Service Oklahoma or a licensed operator — agree at the handover which of you does it. The optional extra: Form 773, the Notice of Transfer of Ownership of a Vehicle, $10, no deadline. It records the sale in Service Oklahoma's system, makes the buyer the presumed owner for whatever the car does next, and blocks certain transactions until the buyer retitles. The buyer then has two months to register before a $1-a-day penalty starts, capped at $100. |
| License plates | Yours, permanently. Under OAC 260:135-7-84, an Oklahoma plate "shall not be transferable between motor vehicle owners" — a rule in force since July 1, 2019. Unbolt it before the vehicle leaves your driveway. |
| Sales tax | Entirely the buyer's bill, collected when they title and register: a used-vehicle excise tax of $20 on the first $1,500 of the price plus 3.25% of the remainder, and a 1.25% sales tax added by HB 2433 in 2017. As the seller, you owe nothing on the transaction. |
| Inspections | None whatsoever. Oklahoma repealed mandatory annual safety inspections in 2001 (House Bill 1081) and runs no emissions testing, so there is nothing to pass, schedule, or pay for before you sell. |
Every form number and dollar figure above was checked against Service Oklahoma's vehicle-title pages as of August 2026 — fees and statutes move, so verify there before you rely on a number.
Oklahoma is one of the few states that wants a notary — see the full list; a replacement title runs $11 — compare all fifty; what protects you after handoff; selling with a loan still on it; or price the Oklahoma transfer in the fee calculator.
Asked by Oklahoma sellers
Do I need a notary to sell a car in Oklahoma?
Yes — this is one of the handful of states where the seller's signature on the title assignment must be notarized before the transfer counts. The rule that trips people up: sign in front of the notary, not before. Oklahoma's statute wants the signature sworn before a notary public, and a notary can't swear to one they didn't see you make. Electronic titles follow the same logic — the Form 718 bill of sale that replaces the paper title has to be notarized too; Service Oklahoma has confirmed that going electronic didn't end the notary.
What is Form 773, and is it worth ten dollars?
It's the Notice of Transfer of Ownership — Oklahoma's optional seller-protection filing. For $10, with no deadline, it puts the sale on record in Service Oklahoma's system, makes the buyer the presumed owner, and blocks certain transactions until the buyer completes the retitle. The form still says to mail it to a tag agency; those are licensed operators now. It isn't the clock that matters most, though: within two business days of the sale, you or the buyer must file the car's pre-registration under the Mason Treat Act, and the buyer then has two months to register. A dated record that the car stopped being yours is cheap insurance against their tickets and tows.
Who pays the tax when I sell my car privately in Oklahoma?
The buyer, when they title and register. Their bill is the used-vehicle excise tax — $20 on the first $1,500 of the price and 3.25% of everything above that — plus a 1.25% sales tax that HB 2433 added in 2017. Nothing about a private sale generates a tax bill for the seller, which is one more reason to write the true price on the assignment.
I lost my Oklahoma title. How fast can I replace it?
First make sure it's lost: since 1 July 2025 most Oklahoma titles are electronic, and an electronic title sells on a notarized Form 718 with no paper needed. If there was ever a loan, the lender got the certificate. For a paper title that really is lost, file Form 701-7 with the record owner's signature notarized; the fee is $11, plus a $1.66 mail fee if you send it in rather than visiting a licensed operator. The catch for anyone selling on a deadline: duplicate titles are only delivered by mail — in-person pickup isn't offered — so order the replacement before you negotiate, not after.