How to Sell a Car in Illinois: Title, Report of Sale and Plates

To sell a car in Illinois, you assign the title to the buyer, hand over the certificate, take your plates off the car and keep proof of the sale. A few sections of the Illinois Vehicle Code set those steps, and the Secretary of State has the seller report the sale on Form VSD 703. The steps are the same if the buyer lives two streets away or in another state. The difference with an out-of-state buyer is that they title and register the car at home, and the car often leaves on a carrier, not with the buyer.

This guide takes a private seller through each step, then shows how they fit together for a Chicago seller whose buyer is in Buffalo, New York. For the wider picture on getting paid and releasing a car to a carrier, see our guide to selling a car to an out-of-state buyer.

What Do You Need Before You Sell a Car in Illinois?

Start with the certificate of title. You can only assign a title that is in your name and in your hands, so check both before you list the car. If a lender is still shown as lienholder, the loan has to be paid off and the lien released before a buyer can get a clear title. If the title is lost, you need a duplicate first. Both take time, and both are covered below.

Decide how you will be paid and when the car will be released. Agree with the buyer in writing on the price, the payment method and who arranges pickup. Wait until your bank confirms the payment is final before you sign the title or let the car go.

How Do You Sign Over an Illinois Title?

The rule is in 625 ILCS 5/3-112. When an owner transfers a vehicle, the owner executes an assignment and warranty of title to the buyer in the space provided on the certificate of title. The owner then has the certificate and the assignment mailed or delivered to the buyer or to the Secretary of State.

In practice you fill in the assignment section printed on the title and sign it as the seller. Write in the buyer's name and address yourself. A title signed with the buyer's section left blank can be completed by whoever holds it. Section 3-112 does not mention a notary.

Record the mileage as well. The federal odometer rule, 49 CFR Part 580, has the seller disclose the odometer reading on the title, signed and dated. Its exemptions depend on the model year. A car from model year 2010 or earlier is exempt, and one from model year 2011 or later stays covered until it is 20 years old.

Section 3-112 also sets a deadline, and it falls on the buyer. The buyer applies for a new certificate of title promptly and within 20 days after delivery of the vehicle and the assigned title. A buyer who lives in another state follows that state's titling rules.

Do You Need a Bill of Sale in Illinois?

Section 3-112 does not mention a bill of sale. Write one anyway. It records who sold the car to whom, on what date and for what price, and the buyer's state may ask for it at titling. New York's DMV, for example, has the seller and the buyer both sign one. Include the year and make, the vehicle identification number, the date of sale, the price, and both names and signatures. Send it to the buyer to sign before pickup and keep a copy.

What If a Lender Still Holds the Title?

You cannot hand a buyer a clear title while a lien is still recorded. Pay the loan off first, or agree with the buyer and the lender on a payoff at the time of sale. Under 625 ILCS 5/3-205, a lienholder that receives payment satisfying its security interest executes a release within 21 days. The period is 10 business days when the payoff is made in cash or by cashier's check or certified check. The lienholder then mails or delivers the certificate and the release to the next lienholder named on it or, if there is none, to the owner or a person the owner authorizes.

Illinois law also sets up an electronic system for liens. 625 ILCS 5/3-100.1 directs the Secretary of State to run a mandatory electronic lien and title system that lets a lienholder perfect, assign and release a lien. The Secretary of State's Electronic Lien and Title page explains what that means for the paper title. A title held electronically stays electronic until the lien is satisfied. The lender then sends the Secretary of State confirmation and mailing instructions, and the Secretary of State produces the paper title and mails it to the location the lender specifies.

Ask the lender for a payoff letter, and ask where it will have the paper title mailed. Build the release and the mailing time into the date you give the buyer.

What If the Title Is Lost?

Get a duplicate before you sell. Under 625 ILCS 5/3-111, when a certificate of title is lost, stolen or mutilated, the owner named in the certificate applies for a duplicate. If the certificate names a lienholder, the first lienholder applies, and the duplicate is mailed to that lienholder. The duplicate says on its face that it is a duplicate and may be subject to the rights of a person under the original certificate. The Secretary of State does not issue a duplicate to a person within 15 days after issuing an original certificate of title to that person. If the original turns up later, it goes back to the Secretary of State.

The Secretary of State's Duplicate Titles page has the owner request the duplicate on Form VSD 190 when the original was lost, stolen or mutilated. The same page covers a buyer who lives in another state. If an out-of-state buyer bought a vehicle from an Illinois resident without a title, the buyer has to ask the Illinois owner to apply for the duplicate. Getting it before the sale saves both of you that step.

Sort the title out before pickup day. A buyer in another state generally needs the assigned title itself to register the car. New York's DMV, for example, asks for the original proof of ownership and does not accept photocopies.

What Is the Illinois Seller's Report of Sale?

It is Secretary of State Form VSD 703, the Seller's Report of Sale. The form tells the seller to complete it and mail it immediately after selling or releasing interest in a vehicle titled or registered in Illinois. It does not replace the title steps. The seller still completes and signs the assignment on the title, and the buyer applies for a new title.

The report is separate from the title assignment. Section 3-112 has its own protection for sellers. An owner who has delivered possession of the vehicle and complied with the section's transfer steps is not liable as owner for damages that result afterward from the operation of the vehicle. Keep copies of the assigned title, the bill of sale and the report, so you can show the date the car left your hands.

What Happens to Your Plates After the Sale?

The plates do not go with the car. Under 625 ILCS 5/3-501, the registration expires when the owner transfers or assigns the title. The owner removes the plates and any registration stickers. The owner then either forwards them to the Secretary of State or has the plates and the registration number assigned to another vehicle, on payment of the required fees. The section gives no refund of the registration fee.

Take the plates off before the buyer drives away or before a carrier loads the car. Tell your insurer the date the car left, and ask when to end the policy on that vehicle.

What Changes When the Buyer Lives in Another State?

Your Illinois steps stay the same. You still assign the title, remove the plates and keep your records. What changes is the buyer's side and the handover. The buyer titles and registers the car in their own state and settles that state's tax and inspection rules there.

The handover changes because the buyer is often not there. The keys go to a carrier's driver, the title travels separately or with the car by agreement, and nobody can check a document at the curb. Settle who books the transport, who pays the carrier and when the title is sent before a pickup date is set. Our guide to the auto transport bill of lading explains the form you sign when the driver takes the car.

Rivalane coordinates door to door transport with licensed, insured carriers. We typically assign a carrier within one to three working days after you book, and pickup and delivery dates are estimates, not guarantees. The car shipping calculator prices the trip for whoever is booking, and our page on car shipping in Illinois covers pickups across the state.

Example: A Chicago Seller Shipping a Car to a Buyer in Buffalo

Here is how the steps fit together for a private seller in Chicago whose buyer lives in Buffalo, New York, and has booked the transport.

• Payment. The buyer pays the agreed price, and you wait until your bank confirms the funds are final.
• Title and mileage. You complete the assignment on the Illinois title in the buyer's name, with the odometer reading, and sign it. You and the buyer each sign a bill of sale.
• Sending the title. You agree how the title travels. New York's DMV registers the car on the original proof of ownership, so the buyer needs the assigned title itself.
• Plates. You take the Illinois plates off before the carrier loads the car, as section 3-501 has the seller do, and send them to the Secretary of State or move them to another vehicle you own.
• Pickup. You walk the car with the driver, check the condition report on the bill of lading, sign it as the person releasing the car and send the buyer a copy.
• Report the sale. Right after the sale you complete Form VSD 703, the Seller's Report of Sale, and mail it as the form instructs. You keep copies of the assigned title, the bill of sale and the bill of lading.
• The buyer's side. The buyer needs New York insurance before registering and settles New York sales tax at the DMV. Our guide for New York buyers covers what a New York buyer needs from an out-of-state seller.

Our Illinois to New York car shipping page covers the lane itself, from Chicago and downstate pickups to Buffalo, Rochester and New York City deliveries.

Frequently Asked Questions