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The bottom line: To sell a car privately in Colorado, you sign the title over to the buyer, add a bill of sale if the price is not written on the title, and report the sale within 5 days. Nothing needs to be notarized.
Every owner named on the front of the title signs as seller, exactly as the name is printed there. For a 2011 or newer car, write the odometer reading on the title too. If the buyer lives in the Denver metro or North Front Range emissions area, you usually have to give them a passing emissions test that hasn’t already been used to register a car or renew a registration.
Reporting the sale, not taking the plates off, is what ends your liability for tickets and tolls on the car. File the release of liability on myDMV or at your county office, with the plate number and the VIN. The plates stay with you, to return to your county motor vehicle office or recycle.
If a loan is still on the car, the lender has to release the lien first. If the title is lost, order a duplicate on Form DR 2539A for $8.20 before you list the car, because it takes 2 to 6 weeks.
- Get an emissions testIf the buyer lives in an emissions-testing county (the Denver metro and North Front Range program area). A test is valid for 2 years for gas vehicles more than seven model years old.
- Sign the title over to the buyerOdometer reading: required for model year 2011 and newer vehicles.
- Take your plates off the carReturn regular plates to the nearest county motor vehicle office or recycle them with a recycling service that takes metal; personalized plates may be transferred to your next vehicle through your county motor vehicle office
- Report the sale to the DMV within 5 daysFile online through myDMV under Vehicle Services, Report Release of Liability, or directly with your county motor vehicle office. You need the license plate number and the VIN or the verification code from your registration card. It helps protect you from liability for the car after the sale.
- Write a bill of saleRequired if the sale price is not listed on the title. Form: DR 2173 Motor Vehicle Bill of Sale (a secure form sold by vendors), or a written equivalent
- Safety inspection
- Notary on the title
- Notarized bill of sale
- Replacing a lost title
- $8.20Takes 2 to 6 weeks; can be ordered online; Form DR 2539A
- The buyer
- Registers the car within 60 days from the date of sale$25 per month starting on day 61, up to a $100 maximum
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 Colorado
Step 1: Prepare Your Colorado Paperwork
Documents you’ll need:
- Vehicle title – the current Colorado title, with any lien released on it or by letter
- Driver’s license – the buyer will want to see who is signing
- Lien release – only if a lender was ever named on the title
If your title is missing:
Apply for the duplicate title before the ad goes up; only the owner, a lienholder or an agent with a power of attorney can. Fill in Form DR 2539A, pay $8.20, and hand it to your county motor vehicle office, or online at mydmv.colorado.gov.
The wait is 2 to 6 weeks, and applying online is yes.
Colorado leaves two openings for a sale with no title, and both put the title work on the buyer at their county office: for a non-roadworthy vehicle with no title, the buyer has 24 months instead of 60 days to apply for a title; for a vehicle 25 years or older, the buyer can establish title without a surety bond using a bill of sale presented within 24 months of the sale.
If you still owe money on the car:
Call the lender for the payoff figure the week you decide to sell. In Colorado, for a paper title, the lender signs the lien release section on the back of the title or provides a release letter on company letterhead; for an electronic lien, the lender releases it in the ELT system once the loan is paid and a new title is sent to the owner at the address the lender has on file.
Where the loan is bigger than the price, the gap is yours to close at the payoff.
Step 2: Prepare Your Car
Wash it, vacuum it, and empty the glovebox and the trunk. Put the service receipts in one folder in date order; a buyer wants to know the brakes and the cooling system were looked after. Order the history report on your own VIN and read it before the first buyer does.
An emissions test to sell is yes, if the buyer lives in an emissions-testing county (the Denver metro and North Front Range program area).
You can have it done at Air Care Colorado emissions stations in the Denver metro and North Front Range program area.
Step 3: Price Your Car
Take the KBB and Edmunds figures as the two ends of a range, then read what the same year and trim is asking along the Front Range and on the Western Slope. Compare against cars with the same drivetrain. Settle your lowest number before the first message lands.
Step 4: Advertise Your Car
Facebook Marketplace reaches the buyer in your own county; Cars.com and Autotrader reach one willing to drive in from Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico or Utah. Put the year, the trim, the mileage and the drivetrain in the headline, and say whether the car has a fresh emissions test.
Skip the ad altogether? Peddle and Wheelzy quote on an older car, or one that’s been through a hailstorm; Carvana quotes on one newer than 1992 that’s safe to drive.
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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
- Accepts cars with active loans
- Trade-in can save on sales tax
- License plate starts the quote
- Direct deposit option available
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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
- Free towing
- Fast payment
- Buys non running cars
- Pays by check 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
- Collected free from any Colorado town or city
- The guaranteed sum handed over at pickup, as a cashier's check in most areas
- Quote in minutes by phone or online, sight unseen
- Zero fees: none for the sale, the title transfer or the removal
Step 5: Meet with Buyers Safely
Meet in daylight somewhere busy: a bank’s lot, or the marked exchange spot outside a police station. Photograph the buyer’s license before the test drive and go along for the drive. The title stays at home until the money is yours.
Step 6: Handle Payment and Negotiate
Cash works for a small sale when the two of you count it at a bank counter. For more than that, go with the buyer to their bank and watch the cashier’s check being drawn, or wait together until a transfer shows in your account. The title changes hands once the money has landed.
Step 7: Complete the Colorado Title Transfer
Colorado prints the seller’s section on the back of the title. Print your name there the way it’s printed on the front, then sign; the buyer prints and signs in the buyer’s section beside it.
Write the date and the price on the back too, and tick the actual-mileage box when you fill in the odometer line. The county keys the buyer’s new title from these lines, so print them clearly.
Colorado’s rule for more than one owner is that if there is more than one owner named on the front of the Certificate of Title, all owners must print and sign their names as the seller, and each signature must match the name exactly as it is printed on the front of the title
Odometer 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.
There is no separate state form for it; the reading goes on the title, or on the DR 2173 when the title has no space.
Got the mileage wrong? The DMV’s rule: if the odometer information is not correct, a new title will need to be obtained by the seller to complete it accurately.
Colorado allows the buyer 60 days from the date of sale to title and register at their county motor vehicle office.
After that the charge is $25 per month starting on day 61, up to a $100 maximum.
Step 8: Handle Colorado License Plates and Registration
Colorado plates stay with you. Unscrew them before the car leaves your sight; then: return regular plates to the nearest county motor vehicle office or recycle them with a recycling service that takes metal; personalized plates may be transferred to your next vehicle through your county motor vehicle office.
The buyer’s plates come from their county office, with a temporary permit if they need one first.
Step 9: Submit the Release of Liability
Tell the DMV the car has gone.
You have 5 days from the sale to do it, and File online through myDMV under Vehicle Services, Report Release of Liability, or directly with your county motor vehicle office. You need the license plate number and the VIN or the verification code from your registration card.
Skip it and there is no specific penalty, but you may remain liable for tickets, tolls, or violations tied to the vehicle until you report the sale
Step 10: Cancel Insurance
Keep the policy until the plates are in your hands and the report is filed, then call the insurer. Those two things end your link to the car; the policy has no part in that.
Colorado Sale Checklist
Before the Sale
At the Sale
After the Sale
Colorado DMV Resources
State Resources:
- Colorado DMV, Buying and Selling
- County motor vehicle offices handle titles and registrations in Colorado.
Phone Support:
- 303-205-5608 (Title and Registration), Monday to Friday
Colorado Fees and Costs
| What You Pay? | Cost | When? |
|---|---|---|
| Duplicate title (if the paper title is lost) | $8.20 | Before sale |
| Lien payoff (if applicable) | Loan balance | Before sale |
| Emissions test (only if the buyer lives in the testing area; the seller’s cost) | $35 for 1982 and newer vehicles, $20 for 1981 and older | Before sale |
| Everything else | $0 | Buyer pays the title fee and the sales tax |
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to get the title notarized when I sign it over in Colorado?
No. Colorado does not require the title assignment to be notarized; sign exactly as your name appears on the front of the title. A buyer from Kansas or any other state gets the same signed title; nobody witnesses it.
When is a bill of sale required in Colorado?
The state prints one, DR 2173 Motor Vehicle Bill of Sale (a secure form sold by vendors), or a written equivalent, and notarizing it is not required.
Our bill of sale generator writes one for you.
Can you sell a car without a title in Colorado?
Yes. The law is Colorado Revised Statutes 42-6-110 (24-month rule for non-roadworthy vehicles) and 42-6-115 (in lieu of bond for vehicles 25 years or older), and there is no form for you at all: the buyer files for a bonded title, or follows the in-lieu-of-bond route for a car 25 years or older.
For a car that still runs, the duplicate is faster for both of you.
My car was inherited. What additional Colorado forms do I need?
If probated: Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration with the title. If not probated: a completed Form DR 2712 Small Estate Affidavit plus a certified copy of the death certificate, submitted at your county motor vehicle office. The small estate limit is $88,000 for deaths in 2026, $86,000 for 2025, or $82,000 for 2024, adjusted each year for inflation under C.R.S. 15-12-1201, with at least 10 days elapsed since the death, and the forms are Form DR 2712 (DMV Small Estate Affidavit), or Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration if the estate is probated
Both my spouse and I are on the Colorado title. Do we both need to sign?
Yes, whatever word sits between the names, and each of you signs the name as it is printed on the front.
The buyer is from out of state. Does Colorado require anything special?
Your part doesn’t change: the same signed title and the same report to the DMV, with your plates off. The Colorado emissions test applies only to a buyer who lives in a Colorado emissions county, so it doesn’t apply here.
At home the buyer titles it under that state’s rules, tests included.
Do Colorado license plates transfer to the buyer?
They come off and stay with you, and the buyer gets their own at their county office. Taking them off is not what releases you: no, removing the plates alone does not release liability; file the release of liability online through myDMV
Do I need to file a release of liability after selling my car in Colorado?
Yes. It’s the item the DMV lists under “Sold a Car”, and you File online on myDMV. There is no paper form for it.
Save the confirmation with your copy of the title.
Who pays for the emissions test when selling a car in Colorado?
This is one of the few tests that falls to the seller: yes, in most cases within the program area. An emissions test is required when a vehicle changes ownership within the program area, including a gasoline vehicle in the last year of its seven-model-year exemption. The seller provides the buyer a passing test that has not been used previously to register a vehicle or renew a registration.
A pass is valid for 2 years for gas vehicles more than seven model years old. If it fails, a repair waiver after a second failed test and $715 of emissions-related repairs within six months, or an economic hardship waiver for an owner on public assistance; each covers one emissions cycle and is refused for a car that smokes or has missing or tampered emissions parts
Can I sell a car that won’t run without an emissions test in Colorado?
How do I sell a junk car in Colorado?
The title is endorsed the same way, and the report to the DMV is the same; what’s different is that a tow truck collects the car. A typical junk car in Colorado is offered $680 (cars 10 years and older, 312 offers, ranked 3 of 44 states). Our list of junk car buyers near you is where to start on one that won’t move.
Article Update History
Every rule on this page checked against the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles, with co-owner signing, odometer errors and junk-car offers added.
Every private-sale rule and fee on this page checked against Colorado's current DMV rules.
Originally posted and shared with our readers.
Sources
Release of Liability Filing Deadline
"5 days" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Replacement Title Processing Time
"2 to 6 weeks" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Emissions Test Validity Period
"2 years for gas vehicles more than seven model years old" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Buyer Registration Deadline After Sale
"60 days from the date of sale" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"yes" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Title Replacement Available Online?
"yes" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"$8.20" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Inherited Vehicle Form Requirements
"If probated: Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration with the title. If not probated: a completed Form DR 2712 Small Estate Affidavit plus a certified copy of the death certificate, submitted at your county motor vehicle office." Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Inherited Vehicle Estate Value Threshold
"$88,000 for deaths in 2026, $86,000 for 2025, or $82,000 for 2024, adjusted each year for inflation under C.R.S. 15-12-1201, with at least 10 days elapsed since the death" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"recommended; required if the sale price is not listed on the title" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Where to Get Emissions Testing
"Air Care Colorado emissions stations in the Denver metro and North Front Range program area" 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
"303-205-5608 (Title and Registration)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Does Plate Surrender Release Liability?
"no, removing the plates alone does not release liability; file the release of liability online through myDMV" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"regular plates cannot be moved to your next vehicle; personalized or specialty plates transfer at your county motor vehicle office when the next car is registered, and registration credit with more than a month left transfers there too, in person only" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Emissions Fail: Help Available
"a repair waiver after a second failed test and $715 of emissions-related repairs within six months, or an economic hardship waiver for an owner on public assistance; each covers one emissions cycle and is refused for a car that smokes or has missing or tampered emissions parts" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Emissions Exempt if Dismantled
"a car with a major mechanical or structural failure can be sold in the program area without a test if the seller gives the buyer a written Notice of Emissions Non-Compliance (Form DR 2023) and the car is towed away; a car whose only fault is a failed test or missing emissions parts does not qualify, and the buyer must pass the test before registering it (C.R.S. 42-4-310(4))" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Junk Car Value Statistics, Sell Car Advisor
"On this page: 1 figure from 17,628 instant cash offers" Accessed Oct. 2, 2026
