Sell your car in Washington — one notary visit, five days, done
Washington is one of the last states where a notary still touches a car sale, and the deadline that matters most comes after the handshake: a Report of Sale filed within five 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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Pick your metro
The forms are identical in all 39 counties; the markets aren't. Pick your city below — Seattle's transit-driven second-car sell-off, Tacoma's PCS countdowns, Spokane's deicer forensics, Vancouver's two-state tangle, and Everett's shift-work schedules each get a page of their own.
What Washington requires when you sell
| Notary | Yes — for real. The Vehicle Title Application (Form 420001) must be signed by all registered owners in front of a licensed notary public, or in person before a licensing agent at a vehicle licensing office. The affidavit used when a title has gone missing (Form 420040) needs notarized signatures too. |
|---|---|
| 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. |
| 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 days of the sale date. 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. On top of the regular state and local rates, Washington adds a motor vehicle sales/use tax of 0.5% — raised from 0.3% on January 1, 2026. |
| 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.
Asked by Washington sellers
Do I need a notary to sell my car in Washington?
Yes, and it's one of the few states left that asks. Every registered owner signs the Vehicle Title Application (Form 420001) in front of a licensed notary public — or, alternatively, in person before a licensing agent at a vehicle licensing office. The missing-title affidavit gets notarized too, so build one notary stop into any selling plan.
What is a Vehicle Report of Sale, and what happens if I skip it?
It's Form 420062, due within 5 days of the sale, filed online, at a licensing office, or by mail (the mailed version carries an $18 fee). 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, including Washington's motor vehicle add-on, which rose from 0.3% to 0.5% on January 1, 2026. You collect nothing and owe nothing.
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.