The bottom line: To sell a car privately in Oregon, sign the back of the title and hand it to the buyer, with no notary. Anyone else named on the title signs too. On a 2011 or newer model, write the odometer reading on it.
If there’s a loan on the car, pay it off first. The lender then signs the release on the title or gives you a signed release.
Within 10 days, tell the DMV you’ve sold the car, online through DMV2U or on Form 735-6890 by mail. The plates stay on the car unless you take them off, and moving them to another car you own costs $30.
A bill of sale isn’t required, though the DMV’s Form 735 501 is there if you want one. You don’t need a safety inspection or emissions test either. In the Portland and Medford areas, the buyer gets the emissions test when registering.
- Sign the title over to the buyerOdometer reading: the seller discloses the odometer reading at transfer, required for vehicles model year 2011 or newer and under 20 years old.
- Leave the plates on the car, or take them offLeave the plates on the vehicle for the buyer, or remove them before the sale and transfer them to another vehicle you own
- File Form 735-6890 (Notice of Sale or Transfer) within 10 daysFile online, or notify the DMV through DMV2U, or mail the paper form to the DMV. It helps protect you from liability for the car after the sale.
- Write a bill of saleIt is your proof of the sale. Form 735 501 Vehicle Bill of Sale
- Emissions test
- Safety inspection
- Notary on the title
- Notarized bill of sale
- Replacing a lost title
- $101 to $116 by combined MPG rating and $192 for an all-electric vehicle; there is no separate duplicate chargeTakes 2 weeks; can’t be ordered online; Form 735 515
- Two owners on the title
- Every person listed on the most recently issued title who no longer holds an interest must sign a release of interest.
- The buyer
- Registers the car within 30 days from the date of saleA $25 late fee for 31 to 60 days, rising to $50 after 60 days
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 Oregon
Step 1: Prepare Your Oregon Paperwork
Documents you’ll need:
- Vehicle title – the paper Oregon title, with the lienholder’s release on the front if there was ever a loan
- Driver’s license – so the buyer can match the person in front of them to the name on the title
- Lien release – the lender’s signed statement, if their release isn’t written on the title itself
If your title is lost:
Order the replacement title before the ad goes up. To get one, complete the Application for Replacement Title, Form 735 515, and submit it by mail or at a DMV office with the title fee. Allow 2 weeks.
If you have no title at all:
If you still owe money on the car:
The DMV says you cannot sell, donate or gift a car while a loan on it is unpaid. Call the lender for the payoff figure, and ask how they’ll sign off the title once it’s paid. Until that signature is on the front, the buyer can’t put the car in their name.
Step 2: Prepare Your Car
Wash it properly, clear the cabin and the trunk, and put the service receipts in one folder in date order. Run a history report on your own VIN before the first viewing, so you know about any accident before a buyer asks.
Step 3: Price Your Car
Step 4: Advertise Your Car
Facebook Marketplace reaches local buyers. Cars.com and Autotrader reach buyers further away, including in Washington, Idaho, California and Nevada. Put the year, the trim, the mileage and “title in hand” in the first line of the ad.
If you don’t have time for an ad, Peddle and Wheelzy make offers on older cars and cars with problems; 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 removal from anywhere in Oregon
- Cashier's check on the spot, cash where they can
- Guaranteed offer without seeing the car in person
- No dealer, title-transfer or removal fees
Step 5: Meet with Buyers Safely
Meet in daylight somewhere busy, such as a bank parking lot. Ask to see the buyer’s license before the test drive, and go along for it.
Step 6: Handle Payment and Negotiate
Cash is fine if you can count it at your own bank with the buyer there. For a larger sum, go to the buyer’s bank together and watch the cashier’s check being issued, or wait until a transfer shows in your account. Sign the title once the money has cleared.
Step 7: Complete the Oregon Title Transfer
You sign the back of the title. Print the buyer’s name and address, the date and the price, then sign and date as the seller. Write clearly, so the DMV can read it.
In Oregon, if you make a mistake on the title, most errors may be neatly lined through and written correctly above; an error or erasure in a name is explained on Form 735-502, Statement of Error or Erasure of a Name.
Oregon’s rule is that the seller discloses the odometer reading at transfer, required for vehicles model year 2011 or newer and under 20 years old. You and the buyer both sign the odometer line.
If the disclosure cannot go on the title, ask the DMV for a Secure Odometer Disclosure form, available from DMV on request.
The DMV gives the buyer 30 days from the date of sale to transfer the title. After that it charges a $25 late fee for 31 to 60 days, rising to $50 after 60 days.
Step 8: Handle Oregon License Plates and Registration
The DMV’s notice of sale form says taking the plates off is one way to avoid tickets and towing charges after the sale. The buyer can get a 21-day trip permit from DMV.
Step 9: Report the Sale to the Oregon DMV
Within 10 days of the sale, tell the DMV who has the car now. The notice is Form 735-6890 (Notice of Sale or Transfer); it asks for the buyer’s name and address and the date of sale.
You can notify the DMV through DMV2U, or mail the paper form to the DMV.
The form itself says the notice only notes on the vehicle record that it is sold; the owner on DMV records does not change until the buyer is issued a title.
Step 10: Cancel Insurance
Keep the policy until the notice is filed and the plates are off or handed over, whichever comes last. Then call the insurer, and keep the cancellation letter with your copy of the notice.
Emissions and Safety Inspections
For the sale, an emissions test is not required (buyer needs a passing test to register in the Portland and Medford areas). The buyer’s cost is $25 per certificate in the Portland area and $20 in the Medford area.
A safety inspection is not required. Oregon has no periodic safety inspection program for passenger vehicles.
Oregon Sale Checklist
Before the Sale
At the Sale
After the Sale
Oregon DMV Resources
State Resources:
Phone Support:
Oregon Fees and Costs
| What You Pay | Cost | When? |
|---|---|---|
| Replacement title (if the paper title is lost) | $101 to $116 by combined MPG rating and $192 for an all-electric vehicle; there is no separate duplicate charge | Before sale |
| Plate transfer to your next car (optional) | $30 to move plates to another vehicle you own | When you register the next car |
| Lien payoff (if applicable) | Loan balance | Before sale |
| Everything else | $0 | Buyer pays the title fee and registration |
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to get the title notarized when I sign it over in Oregon?
When is a bill of sale required in Oregon?
Only when your name is not on the title: that is the one case where the DMV tells the buyer to collect one from you. Otherwise you sign and date either the back of the title or a bill of sale, so a signed and dated title does the job on its own. Write one anyway so the price and the date are on paper. The state’s own is Form 735 501 Vehicle Bill of Sale, available as a fillable PDF on the Oregon DMV website, and our free bill of sale generator fills one in too. Notarizing it is not required.
How do I sell a car without a title in Oregon?
Only an older car or a car going for scrap can change hands without one. Anything newer needs the replacement title in your hands first, because the DMV wants the odometer written on it.
Can I sell my car if I still owe money on it in Oregon?
If you owe more than the car brings, you pay the lender the rest before the release comes.
My car was inherited. What additional Oregon forms do I need?
When the estate isn’t probated, the DMV wants Form 735 516 Inheritance Affidavit, signed and notarized by all heirs showing who was awarded the vehicle, submitted with the title if available, an Application for Title and Registration, Form 735 226, and the title fee. On the estate’s value, there is no dollar threshold, since the Inheritance Affidavit is used whenever the estate is not probated and a probated estate uses court-issued Letters Testamentary. Get the title into your own name before you take money from a buyer.
Both my spouse and I are on the Oregon title. Do we both need to sign?
Yes, both of you sign. In Oregon, every person listed on the most recently issued title who no longer holds an interest must sign a release of interest.
Do Oregon license plates transfer to the buyer?
Yes, unless you take them off first. The DMV charges $30 to move plates to another vehicle you own. Handing the plates over does not release you from the car; the sale is reported separately to the DMV through DMV2U.
The buyer is from out of state. Does Oregon require anything special?
Nothing extra from you: the same signed title and the same notice to the DMV. You may take the plates off; the buyer registers the car under their own state’s rules.
Can I report my car sale to the Oregon DMV online?
Yes. File online at DMV2U, which is the route the DMV asks for, and keep the confirmation with your copy of the title.
Is there sales tax on a private car sale in Oregon?
No. In Oregon, only title and registration fees are due on a private transfer, and a gift to family is no different.
How do I sell a junk car in Oregon?
You sign the same lines on the back of the title; what’s different is that the buyer turns up with a tow truck. Buyers in Oregon typically offer $443 for a junk car (cars 10 years and older, 206 offers, ranked 40 of 44 states). Our list of online junk car buyers shows who quotes on one that won’t run.
Article Update History
Every rule on this page checked against the Oregon DMV and ORS 803, with title corrections, co-owner signing and junk-car offers added.
The page now reflects the Oregon DMV's official selling and title transfer pages, with fees, forms and deadlines checked.
Originally posted and shared with our readers.
Sources
Replacement Title Processing Time
"2 weeks" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"yes" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"$101 to $116 by combined MPG rating and $192 for an all-electric vehicle; there is no separate duplicate charge" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Emissions Testing Required to Sell?
"not required (buyer needs a passing test to register in the Portland and Medford areas)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
How to Apply for a Replacement Title
"complete the Application for Replacement Title, Form 735 515, and submit it by mail or at a DMV office with the title fee" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"the seller discloses the odometer reading at transfer, required for vehicles model year 2011 or newer and under 20 years old" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"Form 735 501 Vehicle Bill of Sale" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"$30 to move plates to another vehicle you own" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"$25 per certificate in the Portland area and $20 in the Medford area" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"Oregon Driver and Motor Vehicle Services (DMV)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Inherited Vehicle Form Requirements
"Form 735 516 Inheritance Affidavit, signed and notarized by all heirs showing who was awarded the vehicle, submitted with the title if available, an Application for Title and Registration, Form 735 226, and the title fee." Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"with the vehicle unless you remove them" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Release of Liability Form Name
"Form 735-6890 (Notice of Sale or Transfer)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"most errors may be neatly lined through and written correctly above; an error or erasure in a name is explained on Form 735-502, Statement of Error or Erasure of a Name" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"503-945-5000 (Oregon DMV Call Center)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Release of Liability Online Filing Portal
"File online" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
How to Complete a Gift Transfer
"only title and registration fees are due on a private transfer" 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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