The bottom line: To sell a car privately in Tennessee, sign the title over to the buyer, with the mileage on a 2011 or newer model. Don’t fix a mistake on the title yourself, because alterations and white-out void it.
No notary, emissions test or safety inspection is needed. A bill of sale is recommended, and becomes required, signed by both of you and notarized, if a lender still holds the title.
The plates stay with you: move them to another car you own for $1, or hand them in at the county clerk’s office. Tennessee has no report of sale, so you stay on record until the buyer titles the car. Keep copies of the signed title and bill of sale.
If the title is lost or voided, apply for a duplicate at your county clerk with Form RV-F1315201 ($14 plus county fees).
Compare offers from multiple buyers before committing to a private sale.
- Sign the title over to the buyerOdometer reading: required for model year 2011 and newer vehicles.
- Take your plates off the carTransfer it to another vehicle you own for $1, or hand it in at the county clerk's office if you do not want it
- Keep your proof of the saleNo filing is required. Keep a copy of the signed title and bill of sale for your records.
- Write a bill of saleHave it notarized only when a lender or other lienholder holds the title.
- Emissions test
- Safety inspection
- Notary on the title
- Release-of-liability form
- Replacing a lost title
- $14 (plus county fees)Varies by county; typically 7 to 10 business days, with 3 business days in Shelby County and 4 to 6 weeks by mail; can’t be ordered online; Form RV-F1315201Faster: In person at the county clerk's office (varies by county), no separate state expedited fee; standard $14 state fee plus county fees.
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 Tennessee
Step 1: Prepare Your Tennessee Paperwork
Documents you’ll need:
- Vehicle title – the Tennessee certificate, in your name, with any lien released
- Driver’s license – you’ll each want to see the other’s before money changes hands
- Lien release – only if a lender is on the record
If your title is missing:
Download Form RV-F1315201 and take it to your county clerk, in person or by mail, with your ID and $14 (plus county fees). There is no online route in Tennessee.
If a lender still has a lien on the record, the request has to come from the lender, not from you.
Processing time varies by county; typically 7 to 10 business days, with 3 business days in Shelby County and 4 to 6 weeks by mail.
If you can’t get a title:
Tennessee has a route for a car whose paperwork was lost long ago. A car with a fair market value of $3,000 or less, or a car at least thirty years old whatever it is worth, can be titled on a Certification of Ownership at the county clerk.
Above $3,000 and under thirty years, the state asks for a surety bond instead.
A title you can sign is still the only way to pass ownership to a private buyer. The one sale Tennessee allows without one is TCA § 55-3-203: vehicle must be 12+ years old, sold to a licensed dismantler or scrap metal processor for parts, dismantling, or scrap; 3-business-day waiting period before processing; ID, signature, and thumbprint collected at pickup.
If you still owe money on the car:
Once the loan is cleared, the lienor signs the title release section, returns the tear-away portion with date and signature, or sends a lien release letter on lienor letterhead with the VIN to the Vehicle Services Division.
Ask your lender how long its release takes before you advertise the car. If you owe more than the car brings, you pay the lender the rest before the release comes.
Step 2: Prepare Your Car
No Tennessee buyer is going to ask for an emissions certificate or an inspection sticker, so the car’s condition and your paperwork are all they have to go on.
Wash it, clear it out, and put the service receipts in one folder for the buyer to look through.
Pull the VIN report yourself before the first viewing. You want to know what is on it before the buyer does.
Step 3: Price Your Car
Step 4: Advertise Your Car
Facebook Marketplace, Cars.com and Autotrader all reach Tennessee buyers, and a listing that names Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville or Chattanooga covers the four biggest cities.
Tennessee borders eight states, so a listing near a state line is worth writing for someone driving in from Kentucky, Georgia or Alabama.
If you’d rather not show the car to strangers, Peddle and Wheelzy buy old or 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
-
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
-
Quote speed 20% 5/5
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Pickup speed 20% 5/5
-
Vehicle acceptance 15% 4/5
-
Process ease 15% 4/5
- Buys damaged cars, as long as the engine and transmission are in
- Free towing and pickup anywhere in Tennessee
- Paid at pickup, usually by cashier's check
- No dealer, title-transfer or removal fees
Step 5: Meet with Buyers Safely
Meet in a bank lobby or a busy supermarket lot while it is still light, and tell someone where you’re going.
Look at the buyer’s license before the test drive and go along for the ride.
Step 6: Handle Payment and Negotiate
The easiest version is meeting at the buyer’s own bank, where the teller confirms the cashier’s check while you stand at the counter.
A wire transfer works too, once you can see it in your account.
Cash is fine, but count it inside the bank rather than in the parking lot, and sign nothing until the money is confirmed.
Step 7: Complete the Tennessee Title Transfer
Turn your Tennessee title over. The block you want is headed Assignment of Title by Registered Owner.
The reassignment blocks further down are for licensed dealers, not for you.
Sign exactly as your name is printed on the front, and fill in the buyer’s full name and address, the date, the price and the mileage.
On the mileage line, the rule is that 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.
Write the buyer’s name in before the title changes hands. Under Tenn. Code Ann. 55-3-127 handing over a signed title with the buyer’s section blank is a Class C misdemeanor, and so is holding one: an “open title” is an offense on both sides of the deal in Tennessee.
Do not correct a slip with white-out or a crossing-out: alterations, erasures and white-out void a Tennessee certificate of title; apply for a duplicate instead.
The buyer takes the signed title to the county clerk where they live and applies for the title and registration together. Tennessee has no title-only application for a private purchase.
They have to apply before the vehicle is driven on a highway; Tennessee publishes no set number of days (Tenn. Code Ann. 55-3-119).
Step 8: Handle Tennessee License Plates and Registration
Plates stay with you, so the plate does not go down the road with the car.
From there it is a choice: transfer it to another vehicle you own for $1, or hand it in at the county clerk's office if you do not want it.
The buyer leaves the clerk’s office with a plate of their own.
Step 9: Cancel Insurance
Cancel the insurance last, once the title is signed over and the plate is off the car. You do not have to wait for the buyer to register it.
Tennessee Sale Checklist
Before the Sale
At the Sale
After the Sale
Tennessee DMV Resources
State Resources:
- Tennessee Department of Revenue, Vehicle Titling
- Tennessee Department of Revenue, Vehicle Services Division
- For a directory of all state DMV websites, visit: List of 50 States DMV Websites
Phone Support:
Tennessee Fees and Costs
| What You Pay | Cost | When? |
|---|---|---|
| Duplicate title (if the title is lost) | $14 (plus county fees) | Before sale |
| Lien payoff (if applicable) | Loan balance | Before sale |
| Plate transfer (optional) | $1 | After sale, if transferring to another vehicle |
| 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 a bill of sale to sell a car in Tennessee?
No. Tennessee does not ask for one and does not print one, so a bill of sale here is recommended rather than required.
There is one exception worth knowing: if a lienholder is still holding your title, the state wants a notarized bill of sale in place of the title assignment.
Write one anyway. It is the only record of what was agreed, the price and the date, and it costs nothing to produce.
Do I have to tell Tennessee I sold my car?
No. Tennessee has no sale notice, no seller’s form and no office to send one to; the buyer’s application at the county clerk is what moves the car off your name.
Form to file: None required
Handing the plate in does not do it either: no, plate surrender alone does not release liability; the state has no required release of liability filing
One letter may still arrive afterwards. If the Department of Revenue’s insurance check writes to you about a car you no longer own, the Department says to report it at driveinsuredtn.com under “respond to your notice” and complete the questionnaire.
Does my Tennessee title have to be notarized when I sign it over?
Sign it at the kitchen table if you like; the clerk is not looking for a stamp.
Can I sell a car in Tennessee with an out-of-state title?
For you, nothing: sign the title, hand over the paperwork, and the rest is the buyer’s errand at their own DMV.
A title issued somewhere else keeps that state’s rules when it is retitled in Tennessee. The Department of Revenue puts it plainly: Tennessee complies with the notary requirements for out of state titles, and Kentucky is the only state whose titles Tennessee does not require a notary from. So a Pennsylvania title being brought into Tennessee still needs the Pennsylvania notarization.
Both our names are on the Tennessee title. Does everyone have to sign?
It depends on the little word between the names. In Tennessee, both owners sign when the names on the front are joined by "and"; one signature is enough when they are joined by "or"
Check the front of the title before the buyer arrives, because a missing signature sends them back for a second trip.
The car was inherited, or it is going to family. What does Tennessee want?
It turns on whether the estate went to probate. If probated: Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration with the title. If not probated: completed Affidavit of Inheritance signed by all heirs plus a copy of the death certificate, filed with the local county clerk.
The estate threshold is $50,000 (small estate threshold for deaths after 2014; $25,000 for deaths before 2014)
A transfer inside the family is a separate matter, and the state has a form for it: RV-F1301201, Affidavit of Non-Dealer Transfers of Motor Vehicles and Boats
Is a junk car in Tennessee worth selling privately?
Buyers in Tennessee typically offer $480 for a junk car (cars 10 years and older, 268 offers, ranked 32 of 44 states), and selling to one is usually less trouble than a listing and a string of viewings.
Article Update History
Every rule on this page now comes from the Tennessee Department of Revenue and the county clerks.
Title transfer process checked against Tennessee Department of Revenue requirements.
Originally posted and shared with our readers.
Sources
"not required" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"yes" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Emissions Testing Required to Sell?
"no testing required" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"$1" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"$14 (plus county fees)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Replacement Title Processing Time
"varies by county; typically 7 to 10 business days, with 3 business days in Shelby County and 4 to 6 weeks by mail" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"recommended" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Duplicate Title Application Form
"Form RV-F1315201" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"the lienor signs the title release section, returns the tear-away portion with date and signature, or sends a lien release letter on lienor letterhead with the VIN to the Vehicle Services Division" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"RV-F1301201, Affidavit of Non-Dealer Transfers of Motor Vehicles and Boats" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Bill of Sale Notarization Required?
"required only when a lender or other lienholder holds the title" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Electronic Title Handling Note
"Optional through the ELT program. While a lien is recorded through a participating lender the state keeps the title as an electronic record instead of printing one. When the lien is satisfied an electronic release is sent, and the title may then be printed or kept electronically." Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Buyer Registration Deadline After Sale
"before the vehicle is driven on a highway; Tennessee publishes no set number of days (Tenn. Code Ann. 55-3-119)" 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
"alterations, erasures and white-out void a Tennessee certificate of title; apply for a duplicate instead" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"Tennessee Department of Revenue, Vehicle Services Division" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"(888) 871-3171 toll-free, or (615) 741-3101 from the Nashville area and out of state" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Inherited Vehicle Form Requirements
"If probated: Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration with the title. If not probated: completed Affidavit of Inheritance signed by all heirs plus a copy of the death certificate, filed with the local county clerk." Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Inherited Vehicle Estate Value Threshold
"$50,000 (small estate threshold for deaths after 2014; $25,000 for deaths before 2014)" 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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