The bottom line: To sell a car privately in Connecticut, sign the title over to the buyer and give them the bill of sale the state requires, such as Form H-31. Neither needs a notary, and you do not need an emissions test or a safety inspection to sell.
Write the odometer reading on the title if the car is a 2011 model or newer. A car more than 20 model years old has no title, so give the buyer your last registration certificate and Form Q-1 instead.
Take your plates off, then cancel the registration online for free or by mail with Form E-159, unless you move the plates to another car you own. Until you cancel, the car stays on your town’s property tax bill.
If you have lost the title, replace it online for $25, which takes up to 20 business days. If a loan is still on the car, the buyer also needs the lender’s lien release letter.
- Sign the title over to the buyerMore than 20 model years old exempt. Odometer reading: required for model year 2011 and newer vehicles.
- Write a bill of saleForm H-31
- Take your plates off and return them with Form E-159 (Marker plate notice) by mail or at a DMV office; none for the online cancellationOnline through the DMV's Cancel Registration and Plates service, free, or by mail with Form E-159 to DMV Registry Record Section, 60 State Street, Wethersfield, CT 06161-5057. It helps protect you from liability for the car after the sale.
- Cancel your insuranceOnly after you cancel the registration with the DMV (online, and print the receipt).
- Emissions test
- Safety inspection
- Notary on the title
- Notarized bill of sale
- Replacing a lost title
- $25Takes within 20 business days when requested online; up to 90 days by mail; can be ordered online; Form H-6B
- Two owners on the title
- Any one joint owner named on the title and registration may sign the transfer alone.
Automated assistant: general info, not legal advice
Answers come from our state paperwork data and published guides. Confirm anything binding with your state DMV.
Compare Instant Offers
Step-by-Step Process for Connecticut
Step 1: Prepare Your Connecticut Paperwork
Documents you’ll need:
- Vehicle title – paper, in your name, with the lien cleared; a car old enough is exempt from titling
- Driver’s license – so the buyer can see who signed
- Lien release letter – only if a lender was ever on the title
If your title is missing:
Order the duplicate title the week you decide to sell. The form is Form H-6B, the fee $25, and you apply online through the CT DMV portal, in person by appointment, or by mail to Department of Motor Vehicles, Specialized Registry Services, Room 305, 60 State Street, Wethersfield, CT 06109.
On timing, within 20 business days when requested online; up to 90 days by mail.
If you have no title at all:
Connecticut lets some cars change hands without one: the vehicle is older than 20 model years (no title required), or the original Connecticut title is lost and the vehicle is titled in the seller's name and the buyer will register the vehicle in Connecticut. The paper for that is Form Q-1 (Supplemental Assignment of Ownership), plus Form H-6B if the title is lost on a vehicle 20 model years old or newer; without it the DMV won’t transfer ownership.
If you have a loan on the car:
Ask the lender for the payoff figure the day you decide to sell. In Connecticut, the lender provides a lien release letter on official letterhead, which goes to the buyer; if the loan is more than ten years old, section 2 of Form H-6B stating the lien is satisfied stands in for it.
If you owe more than the car brings, you pay the lender the rest before the release comes.
Step 2: Prepare Your Car
Give it a proper wash and clear out the cup holders, the trunk and the glove box. Put the repair bills in one envelope with the last emissions slip on top. Order a history report on your own VIN, so you know what it says before a buyer reads it to you.
Step 3: Price Your Car
Step 4: Advertise Your Car
Facebook Marketplace finds the buyer down the road; Cars.com and Autotrader find the one driving in from New York, Massachusetts or Rhode Island. Put the model year, the mileage and the trim in the headline, and say whether the car sells on a title or on its registration.
If you’d rather not run an ad, Peddle and Wheelzy make offers on cars that are old or broken, and Carvana is the one to try for a car under 10 years old in good condition.
-
Offer amount 35% 5/5
-
Process ease 20% 5/5
-
Offer validity 15% 4/5
-
Pickup / drop-off 15% 4/5
-
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
-
Offer amount 30% 5/5
-
Quote speed 20% 5/5
-
Pickup speed 20% 4/5
-
Vehicle acceptance 15% 5/5
-
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
-
Offer amount 30% 5/5
-
Quote speed 20% 5/5
-
Pickup speed 20% 5/5
-
Vehicle acceptance 15% 4/5
-
Process ease 15% 4/5
- Tow truck comes to any Connecticut address at no charge
- Paid at pickup, usually by cashier's check, cash where they can
- Offer in minutes online or by phone, no visit needed first
- Nothing deducted: no title-transfer or removal fees
Step 5: Meet with Buyers Safely
Pick daylight and a busy spot, a bank lot or the swap zone outside a police station. Take a picture of the buyer’s license before the keys change hands, and ride along on the test drive.
Step 6: Handle Payment and Negotiate
Cash is fine for a small sale if you count it at your own bank first. For anything bigger, go to the buyer’s bank together and watch the cashier’s check being issued, or stay until a transfer lands in your account. Sign nothing until the money is yours.
Step 7: Complete the Connecticut Title Transfer
Your part is the assignment on the back of the Connecticut title. State law bars you from signing it before the buyer’s name and address are written in, so fill those two lines first.
Add the date, the price and the mileage, then sign. Hand it to the buyer with the bill of sale; nobody from the DMV is involved until the buyer registers.
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.
Connecticut has no separate form for it; the reading is written on the title at transfer.
Connecticut’s rule is that for a vehicle older than 20 model years the previous owner's registration certificate is the proof of ownership, with Form Q-1 and/or the bill of sale.
The buyer registers it at a DMV hub or branch office, by appointment.
As for a deadline, there is none published; the car may not be driven on a public road until it is registered.
Step 8: Sign Bill of Sale (Required)
A bill of sale is required in Connecticut, and the buyer hands it in at registration. The DMV’s own is Form H-31; a homemade one works if it carries both names and addresses, the make, model, year, color and VIN, the price, the date, the mileage and both signatures.
Notarizing the bill of sale is not required. Keep a copy, because if a property tax bill for the car turns up later the town assessor wants it with your plate cancellation receipt.
Step 9: Handle Connecticut License Plates and Registration
Connecticut plates stay with you: they come off before the buyer drives away. From there, transfer your plates to another vehicle you own, or cancel your registration and return them to the DMV.
A plate moved onto your next car costs $21. The buyer gets plates of their own at registration.
Step 10: Submit the Release of Liability
Connecticut has no separate notice-of-sale form for you to file. Cancelling the registration is the notice, online or on the plate form by mail, and the DMV records the transfer the moment you do it.
On when to do it, no deadline is published; the DMV lists the cancellation right after removing the plates. Leave it undone and the vehicle remains assessed for local property tax until registration is canceled with the DMV.
Print the receipt the service gives you; it’s the DMV’s proof the car is off your name.
Step 11: Cancel Insurance
The DMV’s order is plates off, registration cancelled, then insurance. Call the insurer only once the cancellation receipt is in your hand, and file the two together.
Connecticut Sale Checklist
Before the Sale
At the Sale
After the Sale
Connecticut DMV Resources
State Resources:
Phone Support:
Connecticut Fees and Costs
| What You Pay | Cost | When? |
|---|---|---|
| Duplicate title (if the paper title is lost) | $25 | Before sale |
| Plate transfer to your next car (optional) | $21 | When you register the next car |
| Lien payoff (if applicable) | Loan balance | Before sale |
| Everything else | $0 | Buyer pays the registration, the title and the sales tax |
Compare instant offers before you accept one
Compare instant offers before you accept one
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to get the title notarized when I sign it over in Connecticut?
No. Connecticut does not require the title assignment to be notarized; you sign where you and the buyer meet, and the bill of sale needs no notary either.
When is a bill of sale required in Connecticut?
Every private sale. Nobody at the DMV asks for it when you cancel the plates; the buyer hands it in at registration.
Can you sell a car without a title in Connecticut?
Two ways, and neither is a scrap-only route. A car too old for a title sells on your registration certificate; the buyer’s proof of ownership is that certificate with the supplemental assignment you sign. A lost title on a newer car means the buyer pays the duplicate fee at registration, and only a Connecticut buyer can register that way.
My car was inherited. What additional Connecticut forms do I need?
The estate hands over Certificate of Title assigned by the executor or administrator (or Form Q-1 plus most recent registration certificate for vehicles older than 20 model years), a certified Probate Court appointment document, Form H-13B, and proof of Connecticut insurance. On the value, there is no fixed dollar threshold; Probate Court determines whether the estate qualifies for transfer without full probate proceedings using Form PC-264 or PC-264S.
Both my spouse and I are on the Connecticut title. Do we both need to sign?
Not in Connecticut: any one joint owner named on the title and registration may sign the transfer alone. Both of you signing does no harm, but the DMV doesn’t ask for it.
The buyer is from out of state. Does Connecticut require anything special?
Nothing extra on your side unless the title is missing: the no-title route needs a buyer who registers in Connecticut, so for a buyer registering in another state, get the duplicate first.
Do Connecticut license plates transfer to the buyer?
No, the plates are yours and the buyer registers their own. What releases you in Connecticut is cancelling the registration, which is unusual; until that is done the car stays on your record.
Do I need to file a release of liability after selling my car in Connecticut?
No separate filing. Cancelling the registration is the notice: File online.
How do I sell a car to a family member or for $1 in Connecticut?
The paperwork is the same: a signed title and a bill of sale. What changes is the sales tax the buyer pays at registration, and the form for that is AU-463, Motor Vehicle and Vessel Gift Declaration, for a gift. H-13B carries the immediate family exemption code.
The family list for the exemption is short: Mother, father, sister, brother, son, daughter, husband, wife or civil union partner. The donor signs the gift declaration. For a family transfer the vehicle must have been registered in that family member's name for at least 60 days and taxed on the last sale.
A dollar sale to anyone else is still a sale; write the real price on the title and the bill of sale.
How do I sell a junk car in Connecticut?
The DMV side is the same signed title, or the registration and the supplemental assignment for a car too old for one; the difference is the buyer brings a tow truck. Buyers in Connecticut typically offer $530 for a junk car (cars 10 years and older, 177 offers, ranked 17 of 44 states). For a car that won’t start, begin with our list of online junk car buyers.
Article Update History
Every rule on this page checked against the Connecticut DMV and state statutes, with co-owner signing and junk-car offers added.
DMV rules, fees and forms checked against the official CT DMV portal.
Originally posted and shared with our readers.
Sources
"yes (more than 20 model years old exempt)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"Form H-31" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"not required" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
What to Do With License Plates
"transfer your plates to another vehicle you own, or cancel your registration and return them to the DMV" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Buyer Registration Deadline After Sale
"none published; the car may not be driven on a public road until it is registered" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Emissions Testing Required to Sell?
"not required (buyer needs a passing test to register statewide, for most vehicles four model years and older)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Duplicate Title Application Form
"Form H-6B" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"$25" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"any one joint owner named on the title and registration may sign the transfer alone" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Conditions to Sell Without Title
"the vehicle is older than 20 model years (no title required), or the original Connecticut title is lost and the vehicle is titled in the seller's name and the buyer will register the vehicle in Connecticut" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"required" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Safety Inspection Required to Sell?
"not required" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"a DMV hub or branch office, by appointment" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Release of Liability Form Name
"Form E-159 (Marker plate notice) by mail or at a DMV office; none for the online cancellation" 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
"860-263-5700 (Contact Center); 860-263-5710 for title questions" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"AU-463, Motor Vehicle and Vessel Gift Declaration, for a gift. H-13B carries the immediate family exemption code" 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
Found this useful? Show Sell Car Advisor first when you search on Google.
Add us as a preferred source on Google