The bottom line: To sell a car privately in Nevada, sign the title over, give the buyer a bill of sale, and report the sale to the DMV within 5 days. Use the DMV’s free Form VP 104 for the bill of sale. Neither document needs a notary.
Sign exactly as your name appears on the front of the title. If the owners’ names are joined by “and” or by nothing, every owner signs, while “or” means one signature is enough. For a 2011 or newer model, write the mileage on the title.
The plates stay with you for another vehicle. File the report online as a Vehicle Resale Notification. Until you do, you can be held liable if the car is later abandoned.
Nevada has no safety inspection, and any emissions test is the buyer’s job. If the title is lost, order a duplicate on Form VP 012 for $20 before you sell. If a lender holds the title electronically, the lien has to be released and a paper title issued first.
See what the online buyers would pay before you commit to a private sale.
- Sign the title over to the buyerOdometer reading: required for model year 2011 and newer vehicles.
- Write a bill of saleForm VP 104
- Take your plates off the carKeep the plates and either use them on another vehicle or turn them in, within 18 months for a standard or special plate and within 30 days for a discontinued special plate
- File Vehicle Resale Notification (online filing) within 5 daysOnline through MyDMV. It helps protect you from liability for the car after the sale.
- Cancel your insuranceOnly after you cancel the registration on MyDMV (or surrender the plates); Nevada says to cancel the registration first to avoid fines for an insurance lapse.
- Emissions test
- Safety inspection
- Notary on the title
- Notarized bill of sale
- Replacing a lost title
- $20 when the vehicle is remaining in Nevada, or $35 if it is not physically located or registered in NevadaTakes approximately 2 to 3 weeks; can partly be ordered online; Form VP 012
- Two owners on the title
- Owners joined by "and" all sign; joined by "or" or "and/or", one signature is enough; and where no word joins the names the Department treats it as "and", so every owner signs.
- The buyer
- Immediately on purchase
Automated assistant: general info, not legal advice
Answers come from our state paperwork data and published guides. Confirm anything binding with your state DMV.
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Step-by-Step Process for Nevada
Step 1: Prepare Your Nevada Paperwork
Documents you’ll need:
- Vehicle title – the Nevada certificate, in your name, with any lien released
- Driver’s license – yours and the buyer’s, looked at before the money moves
- Lien release – only if a lender is still on the record
If your title is missing:
Apply for a replacement before you advertise the car. The form is Form VP 012, the fee is $20 when the vehicle is remaining in Nevada, or $35 if it is not physically located or registered in Nevada, and the DMV mails the new title in approximately 2 to 3 weeks.
You can start the application from home through Turbo Titles, but Nevada still makes you finish it at a counter: the DMV wants the original documents and the payment in person.
The duplicate application itself has to be notarized, or signed in front of an authorized DMV representative, so do not sign it until you are in front of one of them.
Nevada has one narrow way around a missing title. The rule: A title is required to transfer ownership, with a narrow exception for a vehicle last titled in Nevada that is model year 2010 or older and has no liens.
For a 2011 or newer car there is no way around it at all, and the DMV will not take a bill of sale in place of the title.
If you can’t get a duplicate title:
There is a bonded title route through the DMV’s Title Research Section, which is how you establish ownership when the title is gone and the previous owner cannot be reached.
If you still owe money on the car:
With the loan settled, the lienholder releases the lien electronically through the ELT system and the DMV mails a paper title, or for a paper title the lender completes a Lien Release (Form VP 186).
Ask your lender how long its release takes before you list the car. If you owe more than the car brings, you pay the lender the rest before the release comes.
Where to apply:
Send the duplicate title application in, or take it to a counter: by mail to Nevada DMV, Vehicle Title Section, 555 Wright Way, Carson City, NV 89711, or in person at a DMV office.
Faster service is available with Form VP 265, which costs $20 per title for expedited processing, in addition to the title fee, plus Federal Express shipping charges.
Step 2: Prepare Your Car
Nevada does not inspect a private car before it is sold, so the buyer judges it on what they can see and what you can show them.
Wash it, empty it, and put every service receipt in one folder they can look through.
Run the vehicle history report yourself before anyone comes to look, so you know what’s on it before a buyer does.
Step 3: Price Your Car
Step 4: Advertise Your Car
Facebook Marketplace, Cars.com and Autotrader all reach Nevada buyers, and a listing that names Las Vegas, Henderson, Reno or Sparks covers where most of them are.
Nevada only tests emissions in the built-up parts of Clark and Washoe counties. Write the ad for someone driving over from California, Arizona or Utah as well.
If the car has got to the point where you would rather not have strangers looking at it, Peddle and Wheelzy buy old and damaged cars outright, and Carvana is the one to try for a car under 10 years old in good condition.
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Offer amount 35% 5/5
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Process ease 20% 5/5
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Offer validity 15% 4/5
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Pickup / drop-off 15% 4/5
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Payment speed 15% 4/5
- Get a real offer online in 2 minutes
- Suits a car under 10 years old in good condition
- No haggling: its best offer comes upfront
- Pays off your loan when it buys the car
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Offer amount 30% 5/5
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Quote speed 20% 5/5
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Pickup speed 20% 4/5
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Vehicle acceptance 15% 5/5
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Process ease 15% 5/5
- Buys any car in any condition, running or not
- Free towing, with no fees taken off the offer
- You can cancel before pickup at no cost
- Pays by check on the spot at pickup
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Offer amount 30% 5/5
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Quote speed 20% 5/5
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Pickup speed 20% 5/5
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Vehicle acceptance 15% 4/5
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Process ease 15% 4/5
- Offer in minutes online or by phone
- Free towing and pickup anywhere in Nevada
- Paid at pickup, usually by cashier's check
- No dealer, title transfer or removal fees
Step 5: Meet with Buyers Safely
Meet somewhere busy and in view: a bank lot in daylight or a supermarket, not your own driveway.
Check the buyer’s license before the test drive, and ride along.
Step 6: Handle Payment and Negotiate
The simplest version is to meet inside the buyer’s own bank and let the teller confirm the cashier’s check while you are both standing there.
A wire transfer works as well, once you can see it landed in your account rather than in a screenshot.
Cash is fine. Count it at a counter rather than in the lot, and sign nothing until the money is settled.
Step 7: Complete the Nevada Title Transfer
Fill the title in slowly and get it right the first time, because any alteration or erasure voids the certificate.
Enter the buyer’s full legal name exactly as their license prints it, their Nevada driver’s license number, the date, the price and the mileage.
Odometer disclosure:
Separate odometer form: none; the odometer reading is recorded directly on the title for vehicles model year 2011 or newer.
Whether you have to fill it in depends on the age of the car, and disclosure is required for model year 2011 and newer vehicles, with model year 2010 and older, trailers, and vehicles rated over 16,000 lbs exempt.
If you make a mistake:
Multiple owners on the title:
After you sign the title over:
Hand the signed title to the buyer yourself rather than mailing it afterward.
The buyer’s deadline: immediately on purchase; Nevada publishes no set number of days.
Step 8: Sign Bill of Sale (Required)
A bill of sale is required on a Nevada private sale, and the DMV prints the form: Form VP 104.
The DMV’s guidance: a bill of sale is used for private vehicle sales in Nevada; the official Form VP 104 is a free download from the Nevada DMV and a signed copy should be kept for your records.
Notarizing it is not required.
One detail from the DMV’s own instructions: write the price in words as well as figures, fill every field, and change nothing once it has been signed.
It does not replace the title: a buyer cannot register a car on a bill of sale alone, so it goes with the title, not in place of it.
Step 9: Handle Nevada License Plates and Registration
Unscrew the plate before the buyer pulls away. In Nevada a plate stays with you.
Whatever you do with the plate, the unused registration you already paid for stays yours and cannot be handed to the buyer. Putting it toward another car of your own costs $6 to apply an existing registration credit toward another vehicle you own.
The buyer leaves the DMV with a plate of their own.
Step 10: File the Vehicle Resale Notification with the Nevada DMV
Nevada does not call this a release of liability. The DMV’s name for it is the Vehicle Resale Notification, and you file it through MyDMV.
File the Vehicle Resale Notification online through MyDMV within 5 days of the sale.
You can file it when you cancel the registration, or on its own afterward.
Until it is filed, Nevada still lists you as the registered owner. The penalty: no specific fine, but the registered owner is presumed responsible for the cost of removal and storage if the vehicle is later abandoned until the sale is reported.
Handing the plate in is not the same thing. The notification is what shows the DMV you no longer own the car.
Step 11: Cancel Insurance
Cancel the registration first, through MyDMV or by turning the plate in, and only then cancel the insurance. Canceling the insurance first can bring an insurance lapse notice.
Nevada Sale Checklist
Before the Sale
At the Sale
After the Sale
Nevada DMV Resources
State Resources:
Phone Support:
Nevada Fees and Costs
| What You Pay | Cost | When? |
|---|---|---|
| Duplicate title (if the title is lost) | $20 when the vehicle is remaining in Nevada, or $35 if it is not physically located or registered in Nevada | Before sale |
| Expedited title service (optional) | $20 per title for expedited processing, in addition to the title fee, plus Federal Express shipping charges | Before sale |
| Moving your registration credit to another car | $6 to apply an existing registration credit toward another vehicle you own | After sale |
| Lien payoff (if applicable) | Loan balance | Before sale |
| Everything else | $0 | Buyer pays |
Compare instant offers before you accept one
Compare instant offers before you accept one
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to get the title notarized when I sign it over in Nevada?
No. The Nevada DMV asks for no notary on a title assignment at all, so notarization is not required.
What matters is the signature itself: sign the back exactly as your name is printed on the front of the title.
There is one Nevada form that does need a notary, and it is not the title. An application for a duplicate title has to be notarized, or signed in front of a DMV representative.
Do I have to get a smog check before I sell my car in Nevada?
Not as the seller. The rule: no, in a private transaction the emissions test is the buyer's responsibility.
It only comes up at all for cars based in the built-up parts of two counties, and testing is done at privately owned, DMV-licensed emissions stations in the urban areas of Clark and Washoe counties.
How long a passing test lasts, which matters to the buyer: 90 days, or 180 days if the vehicle was purchased from a Nevada dealer
Does Nevada charge sales tax on a private sale, or on a car I give away?
No, on either. Who qualifies: Anyone. Nevada charges no sales tax on any private party transfer, gift or sale.
Gift form: No form. Apply any exemption at the time of registration, as the DMV does not apply them retroactively.
If the person taking the car is owed an exemption, they have to claim it at the counter on the day, because Nevada will not go back and apply it afterward.
My car was inherited. What additional Nevada forms do I need?
Which form you need turns on whether the estate was probated. Nevada uses Form VP 024 (Affidavit for Transfer of Title for Estates Without Probate), or Form VP 239 (Transfer on Death) if the owner named a beneficiary, or court documents if the estate is probated.
There is a size limit on the no-probate route: $25,000 or less of the decedent's Nevada property, not counting any vehicle registered to them, or $150,000 for a surviving spouse, and at least 40 days after the death.
The buyer lives out of state. Does that change anything for me?
Nothing changes on your side. Sign the title over, complete the bill of sale, take the plate off, and file the resale notification as you would for a buyer in Reno.
Registration is the buyer’s problem, in their own state and under their own state’s rules.
Safety inspection: Nevada has no periodic safety inspection program for private vehicle sales; a VIN inspection is required only for out-of-state or rebuilt vehicles before titling.
They can drive the car away on the signed title and Nevada insurance for three days. After that Nevada wants a movement permit, which is a dollar through MyDMV, so tell them if they have a long drive ahead.
My car is barely worth anything. Is a private sale still worth it in Nevada?
Often not. Buyers in Nevada typically offer $563 for a junk car (cars 10 years and older, 108 offers, ranked 15 of 44 states), and an online buyer will tow it away rather than make you show it to strangers.
Article Update History
Every rule on this page now comes from the Nevada DMV's Car Seller's Guide and Register a Vehicle page.
Every legal requirement checked against the Nevada DMV's official resources.
Originally posted and shared with our readers.
Sources
Bill of Sale Notarization Required?
"not required" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Release of Liability Filing Deadline
"5 days" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Emissions Testing Required to Sell?
"not required (buyer needs a passing test to register in the urban areas of Clark and Washoe counties)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"$20 when the vehicle is remaining in Nevada, or $35 if it is not physically located or registered in Nevada" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Replacement Title Processing Time
"approximately 2 to 3 weeks" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Title Replacement Available Online?
"partly (started online through Turbo Titles, finished in person)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"the lienholder releases the lien electronically through the ELT system and the DMV mails a paper title, or for a paper title the lender completes a Lien Release (Form VP 186)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Title Replacement Expedited Option?
"available with Form VP 265" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"yes" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Buyer Registration Deadline After Sale
"immediately on purchase; Nevada publishes no set number of days" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Inherited Vehicle Estate Value Threshold
"$25,000 or less of the decedent's Nevada property, not counting any vehicle registered to them, or $150,000 for a surviving spouse, and at least 40 days after the death" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"required for model year 2011 and newer vehicles, with model year 2010 and older, trailers, and vehicles rated over 16,000 lbs exempt" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"an error on title documents is corrected with an Erasure Affidavit (Form VP-19), which removes the incorrect information and is signed by the person taking responsibility for the error" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"$6 to apply an existing registration credit toward another vehicle you own" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Junk Car Value Statistics, Sell Car Advisor
"On this page: 1 figure from 17,628 instant cash offers" Accessed Oct. 19, 2026
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