Sell your car in Washington: no notary for you, then a Report of Sale
Your own signature on a Washington title needs no notary; it's the buyer's title application that gets notarized. The deadline that matters most comes after the handshake: a Report of Sale filed within five business days. Here's the whole process, checked against the Department of Licensing's own pages — plus city guides for five markets that sell cars very differently.
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How to sell a car in Washington
- 01Paid off a loan? Ask whether your title is electronic. Washington sells nothing without the certificate of ownership. If you just paid off a loan, ask the lender whether your title is electronic: if it is, the lien has to be released and a paper title printed and mailed before you have anything to sign, and that takes days. If the title is lost, the Affidavit of Loss/Release of Interest (Form 420-040) starts a replacement, which DOL mails in six to eight weeks, or prints at the counter as a quick title for $89.50.
- 02Sign the release of interest on the title. No notary. Your signature goes in the release of interest section printed on the certificate itself, and it needs no notary, no witness and no appointment. Write the buyer's name in yourself; never hand over a title with it blank. On a model year 2011 or newer car, write the odometer reading in whole miles; on 2010 and older, leave that section empty. Don't erase or cross anything out: an altered or erased Washington certificate is void.
- 03Fill in Form 420-065 unless the title already shows the price and date. DOL asks the buyer for its Washington bill of sale, the Vehicle/Vessel Bill of Sale (Form 420-065), unless the sale price and date are written on the certificate. You both sign it, and you keep a copy, because DOL keeps none. If the price is below DOL's value for the car, the buyer may be asked for a Declaration of Value (REV 32 2501) that you both sign, so agree on that before you part.
- 04Plates off: move them, hand them in, or keep them as a memento. In Washington the plates stay with you, and DOL says you are legally obligated to remove them. Move them to another vehicle you own of the same type ($10), hand them in at a vehicle licensing office, mail them to DOL at 1125 Washington Street SE, Olympia, WA 98504, or keep them as a memento with the tabs removed. Personalized and disabled parking plates, among other special types, have to go back to a licensing office. The buyer can't use the plates. If they need to drive the car home, they buy a $36 trip permit, good for three days, at a licensing office.
- 05Hand over the title and leave Form 420-001 to the buyer. From here the Washington title transfer is the buyer's job. They fill in the Vehicle Title Application (Form 420-001) and sign it in front of a notary or a vehicle licensing agent, never before. Don't sign it or fill it in for them. They have 15 days from delivery to file it at a vehicle licensing office (most are privately run subagents), and DOL charges them $50 on day 16. DOL suggests you both simply meet at a licensing office, where an agent can certify signatures instead of a notary.
- 06File your Report of Sale within five business days. The Vehicle Report of Sale (Form 420-062) is yours alone, and it is what keeps the next owner's parking tickets, tolls and towing bills away from you. Saturdays, Sundays and state and federal holidays don't count toward the five days. File online through License eXpress or DOL's no-login service and the record updates right away and you can print a receipt, or file at a licensing office. By mail it costs $18, you get no receipt, and the deadline counts the day DOL receives it, not the postmark. DOL's Sell a vehicle page lists all three routes.
Checked against the Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL, Washington's DMV) in August 2026.
What Washington requires when you sell
| Notary | Not for your signature. The release of interest printed on the certificate of ownership needs no notary, no witness and no appointment. The notarized form is the buyer's: they sign the Vehicle Title Application (Form 420-001) in front of a notary or a vehicle licensing agent. A release of interest written on anything other than the certificate, such as the lost-title affidavit (Form 420-040) or Form 420-050, must be notarized or certified by a licensing agent. |
|---|---|
| The title form | Ownership moves on Form 420001, the Vehicle Title Application. The buyer then has 15 days to retitle; on day 16, DOL charges them a $50 penalty plus $2 per day, capped at $125. Their deadline, their bill. |
| Bill of sale | Needed unless the title already shows the price and date. DOL asks the buyer for a signed Washington vehicle bill of sale, its Vehicle/Vessel Bill of Sale (Form 420-065), unless the sale price and date are written on the certificate of ownership. Both of you sign it. It is a receipt only: it does not transfer the title or count as your Report of Sale (DOL's form). |
| Lost your title? | A replacement runs $39.50: every registered owner signs an Affidavit of Loss/Release of Interest (Form 420040) before a notary, then the new title arrives by mail in roughly 6-8 weeks. In a hurry, Washington's Quick Title prints one same-day for $89.50 — though not for salvage, rebuilt, or stolen-vehicle cases. |
| Protect yourself after the sale | File a Vehicle Report of Sale (Form 420062) within 5 business days of the sale date; Saturdays, Sundays and state and federal holidays don't count. It shields you from the buyer's tow charges, parking tickets, and civil or criminal liability from that point on. File it online (with or without a License eXpress account) or at a licensing office; mailed filings carry an $18 fee. |
| License plates | They stay with you. DOL's own checklist says the seller is legally obligated to remove the plates before the car changes hands — transfer them to another vehicle of the same type, or surrender them at a licensing office. |
| Sales tax | The buyer's bill, top to bottom. No tax changes hands between the two of you; use tax is collected when the buyer registers with DOL, at the retail rate for their address plus Washington's motor vehicle sales/use tax (0.5% since January 1, 2026, up from 0.3%), worked out on DOL's fair market value rather than automatically on the price you agreed. |
| Inspections | None. After 38 years, Washington's emission check program ended on January 1, 2020 — no smog test before a renewal or a sale, even in the Seattle, Spokane, and Vancouver metros that used to require one. |
Forms, fees, and deadlines above were verified against the Washington DOL's official guide to selling a vehicle as of August 2026 — if something changes later, that page changes first.
Whether a notary has to watch you sign depends on the form in Washington — the rule in every state; a replacement title runs $39.50 — compare all fifty; what protects you after handoff; selling with a loan still on it; or price the Washington transfer in the fee calculator.
Asked by Washington sellers
Do I need a notary to sell my car in Washington?
Not for your own signature. The release of interest printed on the certificate of ownership needs no notary, no witness and no appointment. The notarized paper is the buyer's Vehicle Title Application (Form 420-001), which they sign in front of a notary or a vehicle licensing agent. You need a notary, or a licensing agent to certify your signature, only if you release interest on some other document, such as the lost-title affidavit (Form 420-040). DOL suggests you both simply meet at a licensing office, where an agent can certify signatures.
What is a Vehicle Report of Sale, and what happens if I skip it?
It's Form 420062, due within 5 business days of the sale (Saturdays, Sundays and state and federal holidays don't count), filed online, at a licensing office, or by mail (the mailed version carries an $18 fee and no receipt). DOL's Sell a vehicle page drops the word "business", but the statute, the rule and the form itself all use it. Filing it protects you from towing charges, parking tickets, and civil or criminal liability the new owner generates. Skip it, and everything the car does next can still trace back to your name.
Who pays the sales tax on a private car sale in Washington?
The buyer. Nothing tax-related passes between the two of you at sale time; use tax gets collected when they register with DOL, at the retail rate for their address plus Washington's motor vehicle sales/use tax (0.5% since January 1, 2026, up from 0.3%), worked out on DOL's fair market value rather than automatically on what they paid. You collect nothing and owe nothing. If the price is below DOL's value, you and the buyer may both be asked to sign the Department of Revenue's declaration of value.
I lost the title. How fast can I replace it in Washington?
The standard route costs $39.50 — all registered owners sign Form 420040 before a notary — and the replacement mails out in roughly 6-8 weeks. If that's too slow, the Quick Title service prints one the same day for $89.50, though it's unavailable for salvage, rebuilt, or stolen-vehicle cases.