The bottom line: To sell a car privately in South Carolina, sign the back of the title, with the mileage on a 2011 or newer model, and hand it to the buyer. If the title joins two names with “and”, both of you sign.
No notary, emissions test or safety inspection is needed. A bill of sale isn’t required for most sales, and the SCDMV’s own form is needed only when the price and mileage can’t go on the title.
Take your plates off before the car leaves, then move them to another car you own for $10 or turn them in to the SCDMV. As soon as the car has gone, file Form 416, the Notice of Vehicle Sold, at a branch or by mail to release you from liability.
If there’s a loan, pay it off first and have the lender sign off on the title or give you a signed release letter.
- Sign the title over to the buyerOdometer reading: the seller discloses the odometer reading on the back of the title at transfer, required for vehicles model year 2011 or newer, under 16,000 pounds, and self-propelled.
- Take your plates off the carRemove your plates before the car leaves, then transfer them to another vehicle you own or surrender them at any SCDMV branch or by mail
- File Form 416 (Notice of Vehicle Sold)As soon as the car has gone. Drop off Form 416 at any SCDMV branch, or mail it to SCDMV Mail-in Registration in Blythewood. It helps protect you from liability for the car after the sale.
- Cancel your insuranceOnly after you turn in the plate and registration to the SCDMV (with Forms 416 and 452); cancel first and South Carolina can suspend your driving privilege, plate and registration, with up to $400 to reinstate.
- Write a bill of saleIt is your proof of the sale.
- Emissions test
- Safety inspection
- Notary on the title
- Notarized bill of sale
- Replacing a lost title
- $15Takes 7 to 10 business days for South Carolina replacement titles by mail; can be ordered online; Form 400
- Loan on the car
- The lender either signs off directly on the title or provides a signed lien release letter, and the loan must be paid off before the sale.
- Two owners on the title
- With "or" between the names, anyone on the title can complete any transaction for that vehicle without the other person's signature; with "and", both people must sign.
- The buyer
- Registers the car within 45 days from the date of saleA $10 late fee for 46 to 60 days, $25 for 61 to 75 days, $50 for 76 to 135 days, and $75 for over 135 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 South Carolina
Step 1: Prepare Your South Carolina Paperwork
Documents you’ll need:
- Vehicle title – paper, in your name, with no lien still showing
- Driver’s license – the buyer will want to see who they’re dealing with
- Lien release – only if a lender was ever on the title
If your title is missing:
Get a duplicate title before you list the car. The form is Form 400, the fee is $15, and you can apply online through the SCDMV EZ Duplicate Title portal, by mail to SCDMV Titles, PO Box 1498, Blythewood, SC 29016-0024, or in person at any SCDMV branch. The EZ Duplicate Title portal is the quickest route from home; same-day expedited duplicate titles are available in person only at any SCDMV branch, for an additional $20 expedite fee, for a $35 total in person.
If you can’t get a title at all:
A private buyer can’t title the car without one, so the duplicate comes first. The only other way out is the scrap yard: a car can be sold without a title to a licensed demolisher or secondary metals recycler if all four conditions are met: the seller is the owner with the title lost or destroyed (or the vehicle is abandoned on the seller's property), the vehicle is twelve model years old or older, has no valid registration plate affixed, and has no engine or is otherwise totally inoperable.
If you still owe money on the car:
A loan means the lender, not you, controls the title. Ask for the payoff figure before you list, because nothing moves until the lien is cleared. In South Carolina, the lender either signs off directly on the title or provides a signed lien release letter, and the loan must be paid off before the sale.
If you owe more than the car brings, you pay the lender the rest before the release comes.
Step 2: Prepare Your Car
Wash it, vacuum it, and take the junk out of the door pockets and the trunk. Stack the service receipts in date order in one folder for the buyer to flip through. Run a history report on your own VIN first, so you hear about any accident before the buyer does.
Step 3: Price Your Car
Step 4: Advertise Your Car
Start with Facebook Marketplace, because that’s where local buyers look. Add Cars.com or Autotrader if a buyer driving over from Georgia or North Carolina would suit you. Lead with the year, the trim and the mileage, and say up front if the title is clean.
If you’d rather skip the ad, Peddle and Wheelzy quote on older cars and cars with problems, 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 tow from any South Carolina address
- Cashier's check at pickup, cash in some areas
- Offer by phone or online in minutes
- No fee comes off the offer
Step 5: Meet with Buyers Safely
Meet in daylight somewhere busy with cameras, like a bank lot or the safe exchange spot outside a police station. Snap a photo of the buyer’s license before the test drive, then sit in the passenger seat for it.
Step 6: Handle Payment and Negotiate
For a low price, cash counted out inside your bank is the simplest way to get paid. For a bigger sum, meet at the buyer’s bank and have the cashier’s check cut in front of you, or wait there until the transfer shows in your account. Hand over the title only after the money has cleared.
Step 7: Complete the South Carolina Title Transfer
Turn the South Carolina title over: the seller’s section is on the back. Print clearly, because the SCDMV keys every line into the buyer’s new title.
Write the buyer’s name and address, the date, the price and the mileage, then sign as seller. The buyer signs too.
If you make a mistake on the title, don’t scratch it out. In South Carolina, an error in the reassignment is voided with Form TEA-1 (Title Error Acknowledgement), signed by the seller, and the seller then completes the next assignment on the title or a secured bill of sale with the correct details.
South Carolina’s rule is that the seller discloses the odometer reading on the back of the title at transfer, required for vehicles model year 2011 or newer, under 16,000 pounds, and self-propelled.
The buyer has 45 days from the date of sale to title and register it. If they’re later, the SCDMV adds a $10 late fee for 46 to 60 days, $25 for 61 to 75 days, $50 for 76 to 135 days, and $75 for over 135 days.
Step 8: Handle South Carolina License Plates and Registration
The plate is not part of the sale: plates stay with you. After the sale, remove your plates before the car leaves, then transfer them to another vehicle you own or surrender them at any SCDMV branch or by mail.
The plate can follow you: $10 to transfer plates to another vehicle you own. The buyer registers and gets one of their own.
Step 9: Submit the Release of Liability
Tell the SCDMV who has the car now. The form for that is Form 416 (Notice of Vehicle Sold); it names the buyer and the date, and you sign it.
Send it as soon as the car has gone. You can drop off Form 416 at any SCDMV branch, or mail it to SCDMV Mail-in Registration in Blythewood.
If you skip it, you stay listed as the owner on record until the buyer transfers the title, and remain liable for any incidents involving the vehicle.
Step 10: Cancel Your Insurance (In the Right Order)
Deal with the plate first, returning it to the SCDMV or moving it onto your next car, then call the insurer.
Keep whatever the branch or the mail-in office hands you with the sale papers.
South Carolina Sale Checklist
Before the Sale
At the Sale
After the Sale
South Carolina DMV Resources
State Resources:
- South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (SCDMV)
- SCDMV, Buying or Selling a Car
- Find an SCDMV Branch Office
Phone Support:
- (803) 896-5000 (SCDMV customer service)
South Carolina Fees and Costs
| What You Pay | Cost | When? |
|---|---|---|
| Duplicate title (if the paper title is lost) | $15 | Before sale |
| Same-day duplicate at a branch (optional) | an additional $20 expedite fee, for a $35 total in person | Before sale |
| Lien payoff (if applicable) | Loan balance | Before sale |
| Form 416 (Notice of Vehicle Sold) | Free | as soon as the car has gone after the sale |
| Plate transfer to your next car (optional) | $10 to transfer plates to another vehicle you own | When you register the next car |
| Everything else | $0 | Buyer pays the title fee and the IMF |
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to get the title notarized when I sign it over in South Carolina?
No. South Carolina does not require the title assignment to be notarized; the seller signs the back of the title. The buyer signs the same page, wherever the two of you meet.
When is a bill of sale required in South Carolina?
The SCDMV does not ask for one for most sales, and notarizing it is not required. The state’s rule on which form to use is narrow: Generic bill of sale for most sales, with the SCDMV-issued form required only when the sales price and odometer cannot be recorded on the back of the title.
Make one anyway: it is the only paper on your side that records the price and the day the car changed hands. Our free bill of sale generator does the writing for you.
My car was inherited. What additional South Carolina forms do I need?
The probate court order, small estate affidavit, or Certificate of Appointment plus Form 400 submitted to the SCDMV, with the Affidavit only allowing the vehicle to be titled in the name of the person appointed by the Probate Court. On the estate’s value, the limit is not published (the probate court sets it and the Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property Pursuant to Small Estate Proceedings covers smaller estates outside full probate).
Both my spouse and I are on the South Carolina title. Do we both need to sign?
Look at the word between the two names. In South Carolina, with "or" between the names, anyone on the title can complete any transaction for that vehicle without the other person's signature; with "and", both people must sign.
Do South Carolina license plates transfer to the buyer?
No, the plate comes off and stays with you. Handing it back is not what releases you either; the notice you send the SCDMV does that.
How to sell a car without a title in South Carolina?
The yard takes the car on its own affidavit, Form TI-014A Affidavit of Disposal of Vehicle to a Demolisher/Secondary Metals Recycler, and nothing is signed on a title. The law behind it is SC Code 56-5-5670(E)(1) permits disposal of a qualifying vehicle to a licensed demolisher or secondary metals recycler without a title certificate.
Can I give my car to a family member or sell it for $1 in South Carolina?
The transfer must be a genuine gift rather than a sale. Qualifying removes the Infrastructure Maintenance Fee, which is capped at $500. Family for that purpose is a short list: Spouse, parent, child, sister, brother, grandparent or grandchild. The form is Form 400 (the person receiving the car checks the family-transfer box in the Infrastructure Maintenance Fee section).
A sale for a dollar is still a sale, with the same title assignment and the same notice afterwards.
How do I sell a junk car in South Carolina?
Nothing changes on the title; what changes is who signs as buyer. Buyers in South Carolina typically offer $490 for a junk car (cars 10 years and older, 170 offers, ranked 26 of 44 states). Our list of online junk car buyers is where to find a quote on one that won’t start.
Article Update History
Every rule on this page checked against the SCDMV, with title corrections, co-owner signing and junk-car offers added.
Forms, fees and filing deadlines checked against the SCDMV's official website.
Originally posted and shared with our readers.
Sources
Release of Liability Form Name
"Form 416 (Notice of Vehicle Sold)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"not required" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"$15" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"yes" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Title Replacement Available Online?
"yes" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Buyer Registration Deadline After Sale
"45 days from the date of sale" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Conditions to Sell Without Title
"a car can be sold without a title to a licensed demolisher or secondary metals recycler if all four conditions are met: the seller is the owner with the title lost or destroyed (or the vehicle is abandoned on the seller's property), the vehicle is twelve model years old or older, has no valid registration plate affixed, and has no engine or is otherwise totally inoperable" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"Form TI-014A Affidavit of Disposal of Vehicle to a Demolisher/Secondary Metals Recycler" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (SCDMV)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Inherited Vehicle Form Requirements
"The probate court order, small estate affidavit, or Certificate of Appointment plus Form 400 submitted to the SCDMV, with the Affidavit only allowing the vehicle to be titled in the name of the person appointed by the Probate Court." Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"Generic bill of sale for most sales, with the SCDMV-issued form required only when the sales price and odometer cannot be recorded on the back of the title" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
What to Do With License Plates
"remove your plates before the car leaves, then transfer them to another vehicle you own or surrender them at any SCDMV branch or by mail" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"$10 to transfer plates to another vehicle you own" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"an error in the reassignment is voided with Form TEA-1 (Title Error Acknowledgement), signed by the seller, and the seller then completes the next assignment on the title or a secured bill of sale with the correct details" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"(803) 896-5000" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"with "or" between the names, anyone on the title can complete any transaction for that vehicle without the other person's signature; with "and", both people must sign" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Release of Liability Filing Deadline
"as soon as the car has gone" 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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