Sell your car in Vermont — salt, mud season, and all
Vermont is a small state full of hard-working cars: salted winters, dirt-road springs, and a yearly inspection that decides many a vehicle's fate. Selling privately here is refreshingly light on red tape — no notary, no mandatory notice-of-sale — but the details still matter, and the details are below.
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Pick your metro
Three Vermont markets are different enough to earn their own guides — Burlington's fast-turnover county, flood-tested Montpelier and Barre, and high-mileage Rutland. Live somewhere else in the state? This page covers you, and so does the pickup truck.
What Vermont requires when you sell
| Notary | Not required for a standard private sale. The title assignment and the state's Bill of Sale & Odometer Disclosure Statement (form VT-005) carry no notary block at all. The single exception is the VT-025 affidavit, notarized only when a vehicle has no title or registration record in the national NMVTIS database — a rare situation. |
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| The title form | There is no separate seller's transfer form. Every owner named on the title signs the assignment section on the back of the Certificate of Title, the buyer's name goes on the transferred-to line, and any lien must be released. Pair it with form VT-005 — bill of sale plus odometer disclosure, the odometer part required for model year 2011 or newer. The buyer then registers with form VD-119. |
| Cars from 2009 and older | Vermont's famous quirk: a vehicle of model year 2009 or older with a Vermont registration needs no title at all — the registration certificate is the ownership document, handed over with a signed bill of sale. Selling to an out-of-state buyer? The DMV recommends getting a title first, since most states demand one to register it. (Titling rules changed July 1, 2024 under Act 165.) |
| Lost your title? | A replacement costs $42.00 (form VT-004). If your last title showed no liens, order it online at mydmv.vermont.gov; otherwise apply in person at any DMV office or by mail to Montpelier, with proof the lien was released — form VT-008 or a release on the lienholder's letterhead. |
| Protect yourself after the sale | Vermont imposes no mandatory notice-of-sale and no filing deadline on private sellers. Use the voluntary tools instead: Mark Vehicle Sold in your myDMV online account, and form VD-170 to cancel the registration and plates — which can also earn a full or partial refund of your registration fee. |
| License plates | Plates belong to you, not the car — take them off before the vehicle leaves. Transfer plate and registration to your next vehicle on the VD-119 application, or return them with VD-170 for the refund noted above. |
| Sales tax | The buyer pays Vermont's 6% Purchase and Use Tax when they register or title the car — sellers collect nothing. Tax is charged on the purchase price or the J.D. Power clean trade-in value, whichever is greater; a buyer of a car genuinely worth less than book can submit a dealer appraisal (form VD-012) to be taxed on the lower figure. |
| Inspections | Every registered vehicle needs a safety inspection once a year (23 V.S.A. § 1222), with an emissions/OBD-II check built in. Roughly 1,600 privately owned stations statewide perform them, and the DMV confirms there is no grace period on an expired sticker. |
Fees and rules above verified as of August 2026 against the Vermont DMV's vehicle title pages — check there for anything that may have changed since.
Asked by Vermont sellers
Do I need a title to sell my car in Vermont?
Only if it's model year 2010 or newer. Older vehicles registered in Vermont use the registration certificate as proof of ownership, sold with a signed bill of sale — though if your buyer is from out of state, get a title first, because their DMV will almost certainly want one.
Who pays the sales tax on a private sale?
The buyer, when they register — Vermont charges a 6% Purchase and Use Tax on the price or the J.D. Power clean trade-in value, whichever is higher. As the seller you collect nothing and remit nothing.
Do I have to notify the Vermont DMV after selling?
No — there's no required notice and no deadline. It's still worth two minutes: mark the vehicle sold in your myDMV account and cancel the plates with form VD-170, which cuts off any question about who owned the car when, and can refund part of your registration fee.
Can I sell a car whose inspection sticker has expired?
Yes — the sale itself is perfectly legal. The buyer just can't drive it legally until it passes, since Vermont gives no grace period on expired stickers, so expect that to figure into the price conversation.