How to Sell a Car in California: Smog, Title and Release of Liability

Selling a car privately in California comes down to three jobs for most sellers: give the buyer a valid smog certificate unless the car is exempt, sign over the title, and tell the DMV about the sale within 5 calendar days with a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability. The smog step is the one that varies, because it depends on the car and on who is buying it, so check it before you list the car.

This guide takes the steps in order: preparing the car and the paperwork, the smog rules and their exemptions, the title, the release of liability, license plates and getting paid. The last two sections cover a buyer who lives in another state and the hand over to a carrier. The rules come from the California DMV, the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) and the California Vehicle Code.

What Should You Do Before You Sell a Car in California?

Start with the title. You need the California Certificate of Title, the pink slip, in hand before you agree a sale. If it is missing, the DMV's checklist says the seller completes an Application for Replacement or Transfer of Title (REG 227) first. If a lender is shown on the title, the lienholder has to sign it too, so settle the loan and get the release before you set a hand over date. The DMV's title forms include a Lien Satisfied/Title Holder Release (REG 166) for that step.

Then get the car ready. Gather the service records, every key and remote and the owner's manual, and clear out personal items, including garage door openers and toll transponders. If the car wears personalized or special interest plates you want to keep, plan to take them off before the buyer takes possession, as the plates section below explains.

Time the smog check last. A smog certificate stays valid for 90 days, so an inspection close to the sale keeps it current through the hand over. Once you have a buyer, a typical California private sale runs in four steps:

Does the Seller Need a Smog Check in California?

Usually, yes. The DMV's smog inspection guidance tells sellers to give the new owner a valid smog certification when they sell the car. Vehicle Code section 24007 puts that duty on the seller, prior to or at the time of delivery, and it makes no exception for a buyer who will register the car outside California.

A licensed smog check station runs the inspection, sends the certificate to the DMV electronically and gives you an inspection report to keep. The certificate is valid for 90 days. If the car fails, the DMV points owners to BAR's Referee Program, and some owners may qualify for help with emissions repair costs through BAR's Consumer Assistance Program.

Not every sale needs a new inspection. Section 4000.1 of the Vehicle Code and the DMV's guidance set out the main cases where a transfer needs no smog certificate:

• A recent certificate. The buyer's transfer application reaches the DMV within the 90-day validity of an existing smog certificate.
• Close family. The seller is the buyer's parent, grandparent, sibling, child, grandchild or spouse, and the DMV's list of family members also includes a domestic partner. A car that a relative bought for you without first titling it in their own name still needs an inspection.
• Newer models. A car four or fewer model years old, unless it is a diesel. The buyer pays an $8 smog transfer fee instead, the amount set in section 4000.1.
• Pre-1976 models. Vehicles made before the 1976 model year.
• Vehicles outside the program. The DMV lists electric vehicles, diesels from the 1997 model year or older or over 14,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, and natural gas vehicles over 14,000 pounds.
• A few business transfers. A car moving from a sole proprietorship to its owner, and certain lease transfers set out in the statute.

The DMV also notes that there is no military exemption, so active duty service members and veterans follow the same rules. Because the answer turns on the car and the people involved, confirm where your sale falls before you list it, and tell buyers up front whether a smog certificate comes with the car.

How Do You Sign Over a California Title?

The DMV's title transfer guidance starts with the California Certificate of Title. You sign it as the seller, the buyer signs it too, and any lienholder shown on it must also sign. Record the odometer reading where the title asks for it. If the title has no space for the odometer disclosure, the DMV uses the Vehicle/Vessel Transfer and Reassignment form (REG 262), which you request by mail or in person rather than download.

A bill of sale on the DMV's REG 135 form records the price and the date of the sale. The DMV's standard title transfer checklist includes one, and it gives you and the buyer a signed record of the deal. Family transfers and gifts add a Statement of Facts (REG 256) to the title.

From there the paperwork belongs to the buyer. The buyer submits the signed title and forms to the DMV, by mail or in person, and pays the transfer fees, and California expects a change of ownership to be reported within 10 days. Your part ends with the release of liability.

What Is the Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability?

The Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability, often called the NRL or the release of liability, is how a seller tells the DMV the car is sold. Once the DMV receives it, liability for parking violations, traffic violations or civil litigation after the date of sale becomes the buyer's responsibility under Vehicle Code section 5602, and the DMV stops mailing you renewal notices for that car.

You have 5 calendar days to file it, counted from when you sell the car and deliver possession of it to the new owner, under Vehicle Code section 5900. The DMV's online form gives you a confirmation to print and keep, and the DMV says the record updates within 1 business day. You can also mail the paper version, form REG 138, and keep a photocopy.

The online form asks for the new owner's name and address, the license plate number, the last five digits of the vehicle identification number (VIN) and the odometer reading at the sale, so note them before the car leaves. Someone else can file it for you, but the DMV says you stay responsible if information is missing, and filing it yourself is the surest way to get it right.

The NRL does not transfer ownership. Your name comes off the vehicle record only when the buyer applies for the transfer with the title you signed, which is one more reason to keep copies of the paperwork.

What Happens to Your License Plates When You Sell?

Standard California plates generally stay with the car, so you leave them on for the buyer.

Personalized and special interest plates work differently, as the DMV's personalized plate guidance explains. If you want to keep them, remove them before the new owner takes possession, and the buyer receives regular plates for free when the transfer goes through. You then file a Special Interest License Plate Application (REG 17) to reassign the plates to another vehicle, hold them for future use or release your interest in them. Most plates held for future use carry an annual retention fee, and plates whose fee goes unpaid are canceled.

If you would rather leave them on the car, most can stay only if you release your priority on a REG 17 that goes in with the buyer's transfer application, and the buyer then files a REG 17 of their own and pays the plate fee. Without your release, the plates must be surrendered to the DMV, unless the car is passing between spouses, parents, children or grandparents.

How Do You Get Paid Safely?

Get paid in full, in funds you have confirmed, before you sign the title or hand over the keys. Once the buyer holds a signed title and the car, a payment problem is much harder to put right.

Meet in a safe, public place for the payment and the paperwork, or at your bank. If the buyer pays by cashier's check, confirm it with the issuing bank through a phone number you look up yourself, not one printed on the check. Keep copies or photos of everything both of you sign, including the title, the bill of sale and the smog paperwork, and write down the date and the odometer reading at the hand over, since the release of liability asks for both.

What Changes When the Buyer Lives in Another State?

Less than many sellers expect. The California steps stay the same: the smog certificate is still the seller's job, since section 24007 makes no exception for a car headed to another state, the title is signed over the same way, and the release of liability is still due within 5 calendar days. The buyer then titles and registers the car in their home state and deals with that state's registration and tax rules.

For a buyer in New York, for example, a car bought from anyone other than a New York registered dealer gets an inspection extension of 10 days from its New York registration date. Our page on shipping a car from California to New York covers that lane, and our guide to selling a car to an out-of-state buyer covers the general steps that apply in any state.

The car then has to reach the buyer, either on a carrier or under its own power. In place of California registration, the DMV's One Trip Permit lets an unladen vehicle make one continuous trip by the most direct route from a place in California to a place outside it, for a fee. The permit does not change California tax requirements.

How Does Carrier Pickup Work for a Car You Sold?

When the buyer is far away, the hand over usually happens at pickup rather than face to face. Agree with the buyer beforehand who meets the driver, which keys and papers travel with the car and which stay with you. Keep the signed title out of the car unless the buyer has agreed to that, and send it the way the two of you have arranged.

At pickup, the driver inspects the car and notes its condition on the bill of lading. Walk around the car with the driver, check what is written before you sign, and take your own dated photos.

Keep the release of liability on schedule even when pickup comes days after payment. The DMV counts the 5 calendar days from when you sell the car and deliver possession of it, so file as soon as both have happened and keep the confirmation.

Rivalane coordinates door to door transport from California with licensed, insured carriers, booked by the buyer or the seller. A carrier is typically assigned within one to three working days of booking, and pickup and delivery dates are estimates, not guarantees, so build some room into the hand over plan. Our page on car shipping in California covers pickups across the state, and the car shipping calculator gives an estimate for the move.

Frequently Asked Questions