Sell your car in South Carolina with one form and no notary
South Carolina makes this about as easy as any state in the country: no notary, no safety or emissions inspection, and the state's fee lands on the buyer at registration — not on you. From the Upstate's assembly lines to the Lowcountry's salt air, we buy across all 46 counties, whatever shape the car is in.
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Our Charleston page covers the state's busiest city. The title, plate and Form 416 rules above are the same in every county.
How to sell a car in South Carolina
- 01Read the AND or OR between the owners' names. Look at the front of your South Carolina title. Owners joined by AND must all sign; owners joined by OR can each sign alone. If a lender is listed, it signs the lien release printed on the face of the certificate, so there is no separate release form. Lost the title? A duplicate costs $15. Skipping the ads is an option too: you can get an instant cash offer here instead.
- 02Fill in ASSIGNMENT OF A VEHICLE in dark ink. That first block on the back is where the South Carolina title transfer starts. Write the transfer date, the buyer's name and address, the mileage, and the date of sale and sales price in the small panel on the right. Sign by hand on Signature of Seller(s), since the SCDMV won't take an electronic signature on a title, then print your name and add your address. No notary is involved. Any alteration or erasure voids the assignment, so no white-out. If you slip, the TEA-1 Title Error Acknowledgement voids that one assignment on your signature, and you use the next block on the same title.
- 03Whole miles, and no exempt box on the title. The odometer box says no tenths and has just two tick boxes: over the mechanical limit, or not the actual mileage. Don't tick one to mean “old car”. Box 2 stamps WARNING - ODOMETER DISCREPANCY on every title the car gets after this. A car made before 2011 is exempt once it is ten years old; a 2011 or newer car only at twenty. If yours is exempt, leave the reading line blank. EXEMPT is ticked on Form 400, the buyer's application.
- 04Give the buyer a signed bill of sale; there's no state form. The SCDMV wants a signed bill of sale on every title transaction, showing the total price less any trade-in. Any signed South Carolina bill of sale works; our bill of sale guide shows what goes on it. Don't write a low price as a favor. The buyer's 5% Infrastructure Maintenance Fee, capped at $500, is based on fair market value, and the SCDMV can use a used-value guide instead of your figure.
- 05Send Form 416 the day you sell. The law says to tell the SCDMV in writing immediately upon the transfer, and the Form 416 Notice of Vehicle Sold is how. There is no fee and no notary. Drop it at any SCDMV branch or post it to the Mail-in Registration box in Blythewood. It doesn't transfer ownership; it protects you as the last registered owner until the buyer finishes. You get no confirmation back, so if the car still shows in your name months later, check with a $10 request on Form 5027-A.
- 06Take the plate home, then move or return it within 30 days. South Carolina plates stay with the seller (S.C. Code 56-3-1260), so yours comes off before the buyer drives away. The buyer drives home on a $10, 45-day temporary plate they apply for on Form 45-A. Within 30 days, either move your plate onto another car titled to you for $10, which needs at least three months left on the registration, or return it with the registration card on Form 452. Returning it earns a county property tax refund for the complete months left in the tax year. Tick the receipt box, because the auditor's office asks to see it. An expired plate doesn't need returning.
- 07Cancel the policy last, the way the SCDMV lists it. The SCDMV's buying or selling page puts the seller's steps in this order: Form 416, the plate turn-in form, the plate, and only then the liability insurance. Insurers report policy changes to the state's ALIR system. If it can't verify insurance while a live plate is still registered to you, your registration and license can be suspended.
- 08The buyer has 45 days to reach an SCDMV branch office. The buyer brings your signed title, Form 400 and the bill of sale, and pays the $15 title fee plus the Infrastructure Maintenance Fee. To get a plate they also need a paid property tax receipt from their county treasurer. A buyer without a South Carolina license or ID adds a Statement of Vehicle Operation, TI-006. Late penalties start at $10 from day 46 and rise to $75 past day 135.
Checked against the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles in August 2026. Every South Carolina form we cover is on our South Carolina forms page.
What South Carolina requires when you sell
| Notary | None needed. Sign the title over to the buyer with the odometer reading, purchase date, and selling price filled in on the back — notarization appears nowhere in the SCDMV's seller instructions. |
|---|---|
| The title form | The sale is assigned on the back of the title itself, in the ASSIGNMENT OF A VEHICLE block, which has its own panel for the date of sale and sales price. The buyer then files a Title and/or Registration Application (SCDMV Form 400) with the $15 title fee, and brings a signed bill of sale with it. |
| Bill of sale | Required. The SCDMV asks for a signed bill of sale showing the total price less any trade-in on every title transaction, and the buyer takes it to the branch with the title. South Carolina has no downloadable state form, so any signed bill of sale works; our bill of sale guide shows what to put on it. Source: SCDMV, buying or selling a car. |
| Lost your title? | A duplicate costs $15 using the same Form 400 — online, by mail, or at any SCDMV branch. Same-day expedited duplicates are in-person only for an extra $20, and if a lien is on record the duplicate goes to the lienholder, not to you. |
| Protect yourself after the sale | File a Notice of Vehicle Sold (SCDMV Form 416) — drop it at any branch or mail it to the SCDMV's Mail-in Registration box in Blythewood, printed at the foot of the form. It protects the last registered owner until the buyer completes the transfer. The law sets no day count, but its word is immediately upon the transfer, so file it the day you sell. |
| License plates | Plates stay with the seller in South Carolina — never the car. Pull yours before the buyer drives off, then either transfer it to another vehicle you own for $10 (S.C. Code § 56-3-1290) or surrender it to the SCDMV — surrender is required if you don't transfer it, unless the plate has already expired. |
| Sales tax | The buyer's problem, not yours — and technically it isn't sales tax at all. South Carolina collects an Infrastructure Maintenance Fee of 5% of fair market value, capped at $500, when the buyer titles and registers. On a private sale that value is the price less any trade-in, or a figure from a national used-value guide the SCDMV adopts. The seller owes nothing on the deal. |
| Inspections | Zero. South Carolina requires no periodic safety inspection and no emissions or smog testing anywhere in the state — the SCDMV registers passenger cars without either (Kelley Blue Book, inspections by state). |
Fees and forms current as of August 2026 — confirm the details on the SCDMV's buying-or-selling page before you sign anything.
No notary needed here, unlike a handful of states; a replacement title runs $15 — compare all fifty; what protects you after handoff; selling when the title is gone; or price the South Carolina transfer in the fee calculator.
Asked by South Carolina sellers
Do I need a notary to sell my car in South Carolina?
No. Sign the title over to the buyer with the odometer reading, sale date, and price on the back, and you're done — the SCDMV's seller instructions never mention a notary. Sign a bill of sale too: the SCDMV asks for one showing the price less any trade-in on every title transaction.
What happens to my license plate when I sell?
It stays with you. Take it off before the buyer leaves, then either move it to another vehicle you own for $10 or surrender it to the SCDMV — and note that only plates that are still active can be surrendered.
Do I owe any tax when I sell my car in South Carolina?
No. The buyer pays the state's 5% Infrastructure Maintenance Fee, capped at $500, when they title and register the vehicle. Nothing about the transaction lands on the seller.
What is SCDMV Form 416 and why does everyone say to file it?
It's the Notice of Vehicle Sold. Until the buyer actually completes the title transfer, the car can still trace back to you as the last registered owner — Form 416 cuts that thread. The law gives no day count, but it says to notify the SCDMV immediately upon the transfer, so file it the day of the sale, at any branch or by mail to Blythewood.