The bottom line: To sell your car privately in New York, sign your full first and last name on the Seller’s Signature line of the title, and fill in Form MV-912 (Vehicle Bill of Sale), which you and the buyer both sign. No notary is needed, and the safety and emissions inspection is the buyer’s job after registration.
Don’t alter anything on the title, because an altered title is void. For a lost title, order a duplicate on Form MV-902 for $20 online, by mail or at a DMV office.
On a 2011 or newer car, record the odometer reading. If the title shows a lien, give the buyer the lender’s release with it.
Keep your plates, and move them to another car you own or surrender them with Form PD-7 (Plate Surrender Application) before you cancel your insurance. The receipt the DMV sends back is your release from the car.
- Sign the title over to the buyerOdometer reading: required for model year 2011 and newer vehicles.
- Write a bill of saleForm MV-912 (Vehicle Bill of Sale)
- Take your plates off and return them with Form PD-7 (Plate Surrender Application)Surrender your plates in person at any DMV office (a $1 fee applies) or by mail to the NY DMV. The DMV mails the FS-6T receipt back as your proof of release. It helps protect you from liability for the car after the sale.
- Cancel your insuranceOnly after you surrender the plates and registration to the DMV; if you don't, New York suspends the registration and can suspend your driver license.
- Emissions test
- Safety inspection
- Notary on the title
- Notarized bill of sale
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 New York
Step 1: Prepare Your New York Paperwork
Documents you’ll need:
- Vehicle title – the paper title, in your name, with the lender’s original lien release clipped to it if the title shows a lien
- Bill of sale: Form MV-912 (Vehicle Bill of Sale), required in New York
- Sales tax form: DTF-802, Statement of Transaction, Sale or Gift of Motor Vehicle, which the buyer takes to the DMV at registration
If your title is missing:
Order the duplicate before the car goes up for sale. Form MV-902 with $20 goes online via the NY DMV title duplicate portal, by mail to NYS DMV Title Bureau, P.O. Box 2750, Albany, NY 12220-0750, or in person at any DMV office.
The DMV says the title prints within 72 hours of an accepted application and is mailed to you, never handed over at a DMV office.
If you can’t get a duplicate title:
Two kinds of car sell without one. Under NY Vehicle and Traffic Law section 429, plus the pre-1972 untitled-vehicle rule: the car is worth $1,250 or less and at least 8 model years old and sold to a registered dismantler or scrap processor, or the car is a 1972-or-older model New York never titled. For the yard sale the paper is Form MV-35 (Statement of Vehicle Owner Who Does Not Have a Valid Title), and the yard keeps a copy of your ID with it.
Peddle and Wheelzy both quote on cars in that shape, so get their quotes before you call a yard.
If you still owe money on the car:
The DMV’s rule for a loan: the lender must send you a signed lien release (a Notice of Recorded Lien, MV-901, or a letter on its letterhead) when the loan is repaid; you do not need a new title to sell, you give the buyer the original title and the original lien release. Ask for the payoff figure the day you decide to sell.
Without that original release, the buyer’s new title comes back with your old lender still printed on it. If the loan is more than the price, you settle the gap at payoff.
Step 2: Prepare Your Car
Wash it, empty it, and lay the service receipts out in date order in one folder. Buy a history report on your own VIN first; if it shows an accident you forgot, you want to know before a buyer does.
Step 3: Price Your Car
Step 4: Advertise Your Car
Facebook Marketplace reaches a buyer near you; Cars.com and Autotrader pull in shoppers from New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Vermont as well. Lead with the trim, the mileage and when the inspection sticker runs out.
If you’d rather skip the ads, Peddle and Wheelzy quote on older or damaged cars, 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
- Free pickup from any New York address
- Cashier's check at pickup, cash in some areas
- Guaranteed offer online or by phone in minutes
- No title-transfer or removal fees
Step 5: Meet with Buyers Safely
Meet in daylight somewhere with cameras: a bank lot, or a police station’s marked exchange spot if your town has one. Photograph the buyer’s license before the test drive, and go along for it.
Step 6: Handle Payment and Negotiate
Take cash only if you can count it at your own bank before you sign anything. For a bigger sum, watch the cashier’s check being drawn or sit with the buyer at their bank while the transfer clears; then sign the title.
Step 7: Complete the New York Title Transfer
Your part is the “Transfer by Owner” box on the back of the New York title. Leave the front alone, and write nothing until the buyer is there with the money.
What to fill in:
- Buyer’s full legal name and address
- Date of sale and exact purchase price
- Current odometer reading
- Your signature as seller
- Buyer’s signature
The car is theirs the moment you sign. The buyer signs the same box to confirm the mileage.
In New York, if you make a mistake on the title, the DMV will not accept a title with cross-outs, alterations or erasures of any kind; if you change or correct any information, including signatures or addresses, the title is no longer valid and you must get a duplicate title before you can transfer ownership.
The rule is that the buyer must register the vehicle before driving it on public roads, and within 180 days of the effective date on their New York State Insurance ID Card. Until that is done, the vehicle may not legally be driven on public roads until it is registered in the buyer's name.
Step 8: Sign Bill of Sale (Required)
New York is one of the few states that asks for a bill of sale on every private sale, and the DMV prints its own for the purpose. The form is an official New York DMV form available as a free PDF download; the buyer must give the original (not a photocopy) to the DMV when registering the vehicle, and both the buyer and seller sign it.
The DMV’s list for any bill of sale: year and make, VIN, sale date, price, and both names with signatures. Keep a photocopy; the buyer needs the original.
Step 9: Handle New York License Plates and Registration
Plates stay with you in New York, so they come off before the buyer drives away. The registration and inspection stickers come off the windshield too; the DMV says to destroy them.
It costs $1 to surrender plates in person at a county office, free by mail.
Step 10: Submit the Release of Liability
New York has no separate notice of sale; the plate surrender is the release. The receipt the DMV mails back is your proof.
The form is Form PD-7 (Plate Surrender Application), one per set of plates, and it goes in before you cancel the liability insurance.
Do it the other way around and you risk registration suspension and possible driver license suspension if liability insurance is canceled before plates are surrendered, plus continued exposure to liability for tickets, tolls, or other violations involving the vehicle.
Step 11: Cancel Insurance
Cancel the policy only once the plates are handed in or moved to your next car. Keep the surrender receipt with the cancellation letter in case the insurer asks.
New York Sale Checklist
Before the Sale
At the Sale
After the Sale
New York DMV Resources
State Resources:
- New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
- New York DMV, Buy, Sell, or Transfer Vehicle Ownership
- For more state DMV links: List of All 50 State DMV Websites
Phone Support:
- 1-518-486-9786 (DMV contact center)
New York Fees and Costs
| What You Pay | Cost | When? |
|---|---|---|
| Duplicate title (if needed) | $20 | Before sale |
| Lien payoff (if applicable) | Loan balance | Before sale |
| Plate surrender | $1 to surrender plates in person at a county office, free by mail | After sale |
| Everything else | $0 | Buyer pays sales tax, registration and the title fee |
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to get the title notarized when I sign it over in New York?
When is a bill of sale required in New York?
For every private sale, gift included, and the DMV’s own form is the one the counter expects. Notarizing it is not required.
Our free bill of sale generator covers the same lines, if you want a copy of your own.
Can I sell my car if I still owe money on it in New York?
My car was inherited. What additional New York forms do I need?
Do New York license plates transfer to the buyer?
No. The buyer registers the car and gets a new set; yours never go with the car.
Can you sell a car without a title in New York?
Only two ways. A car worth little and old enough can go to a yard on the DMV’s no-title statement; a car the state never titled sells on its transferable registration instead.
Any other car needs the duplicate first.
Do I need a sales tax form to sell my car in New York?
Yes, and it is the statement of transaction named in step 1. The buyer takes it to the DMV, which works out the tax from the price on it and collects it from them.
Family sales and gifts are exempt on that form: The exemption covers a sale at a price as well as a gift, so the price entered does not defeat it for qualifying relatives.
Can I sell my car for $1 or give it to a family member in New York?
Yes. Mark it as a gift, or write the real price, on both the bill of sale and the sales tax form. Family, for the tax rule, is a short list: Spouse, parent, child, stepparent or stepchild. Siblings, grandparents and in-laws do not qualify.
How do I sell a junk car in New York?
The title is signed over the same way; the difference is that a yard or an online buyer tows it. Buyers in New York typically offer $640 for a junk car (cars 10 years and older, 528 offers, ranked 5 of 44 states), and our list of online junk car buyers shows who quotes on a car that won’t move.
Article Update History
Every rule on this page checked against the New York State DMV, with title mistakes, lender payoff papers and junk-car offers added.
Paperwork, fees and DMV procedures checked against current New York State law.
Originally posted and shared with our readers.
Sources
"Form MV-912 (Vehicle Bill of Sale)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"yes" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"with you" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"$20" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Duplicate Title Application Form
"Form MV-902" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Title Replacement Available Online?
"yes" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Emissions Testing Required to Sell?
"not required (buyer needs a passing test to register statewide, as part of the annual inspection)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Release of Liability Form Name
"Form PD-7 (Plate Surrender Application)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Where to Submit Duplicate Title Application
"online via the NY DMV title duplicate portal, by mail to NYS DMV Title Bureau, P.O. Box 2750, Albany, NY 12220-0750, or in person at any DMV office" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Sell Without Title: Legal Authority
"NY Vehicle and Traffic Law section 429, plus the pre-1972 untitled-vehicle rule" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Conditions to Sell Without Title
"the car is worth $1,250 or less and at least 8 model years old and sold to a registered dismantler or scrap processor, or the car is a 1972-or-older model New York never titled" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Separate Odometer Disclosure Form
"Form MV-103 (Odometer and Damage Disclosure Statement) when the title does not have an odometer section; odometer disclosure is required for vehicles model year 2011 or newer, 20 model years old or younger, and under 16,000 lbs gross vehicle weight" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Inherited Vehicle Form Requirements
"If the estate is probated: a photocopy of Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration plus the title transferred by the executor or administrator. If the estate is not probated and the vehicle is worth $25,000 or less: a notarized Form MV-349.1 (for a surviving spouse or minor child) or Form MV-349 (for next of kin) plus a photocopy of the death certificate. The heir submits the package at any DMV office along with Form MV-82 and a New York State insurance card." Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"DTF-802, Statement of Transaction, Sale or Gift of Motor Vehicle" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"the lender must send you a signed lien release (a Notice of Recorded Lien, MV-901, or a letter on its letterhead) when the loan is repaid; you do not need a new title to sell, you give the buyer the original title and the original lien release" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"1-518-486-9786" 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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