Transferring a vehicle title in Delaware

1. Before you pay, physically match the VIN on the vehicle to the VIN on the front of the title, read the front of the title for a "flood", "salvage", "rebuilt", "reconstructed" or "restored salvage" brand, and check whether a lienholder is named. Insist on a properly signed title at the time the vehicle is handed over — DMV says not to accept a bill of sale or a registration in its place.
2. Check how the owners are named on the front of the title. If they are joined by "AND", make sure every owner has signed and printed their name in Section 1; if by "AND/OR", one signature is enough. If someone other than the named owner is signing as seller, take an original notarised Power of Attorney (MV386) or a court order from them — a photocopy is not accepted.

• Before you pay, physically match the VIN on the vehicle to the VIN on the front of the title, read the front of the title for a "flood", "salvage", "rebuilt", "reconstructed" or "restored salvage" brand, and check whether a lienholder is named. Insist on a properly signed title at the time the vehicle is handed over — DMV says not to accept a bill of sale or a registration in its place.Official page
• Check how the owners are named on the front of the title. If they are joined by "AND", make sure every owner has signed and printed their name in Section 1; if by "AND/OR", one signature is enough. If someone other than the named owner is signing as seller, take an original notarised Power of Attorney (MV386) or a court order from them — a photocopy is not accepted.MV386Official page
• Complete the Purchaser's Application in Section 4 on the back of the title exactly as you want the information printed on the new title, giving your driver license number and date of birth. Every buyer named must sign it.Official page
• If you are financing the vehicle, complete the Lien Section — Section 3 — on the back of the title with the secured party's name and address. DMV will mail the finished title to the lienholder once the vehicle is titled.Applies when: You are buying the vehicle on payments or with a loan secured against it.Official page
• Take the assigned title to one of the four DMV offices — Wilmington, Delaware City, Dover or Georgetown — with proof of valid Delaware liability insurance and your Delaware driver license or two accepted proofs of residency, and apply for the new title within 30 days of the purchase date. You do not need an MV212: DMV states that in-state title transfers do not require it.Official page
• Pay $35 for a title with no lien or $55 for a title with a lien, plus the 5.25% document fee calculated on the sale price or the current NADA average trade-in value, whichever is higher, plus $40 a year passenger registration. If the price is not written on the back of the title and you have no bill of sale, the document fee is calculated on NADA average trade-in value instead — though you may offer an appraisal from a licensed Delaware dealer.Official page
• Do not drive the vehicle until the new title has been issued in your name. Delaware expires the registration the moment the title is assigned, and DMV states that it is unlawful for a buyer to drive the vehicle before the title and registration have been transferred at a DMV location.Official page
• Expect to put the vehicle through a DMV inspection lane and take a new plate: 21 Del. C. § 2503(a) requires the buyer, before operating the vehicle, to register it as on an original registration, submit it to inspection and obtain new plates. The exception is where the seller left the plates on and has not assigned them elsewhere — then you pay the $35 transfer fee and the Department issues the new title and registration card "without additional fee or inspection" for the rest of the seller's registration period.Official page
• If you sold a Delaware-titled vehicle of your own privately within 60 days before or after titling this one, file the Document Fee Credit/Refund Application (MV347) to claim the credit against the document fee. Submit it with the new title work for an immediate credit, or post-mark it within 30 days of the sale if the sale came afterwards.Applies when: You sold your previous Delaware-titled vehicle privately rather than trading it to a Delaware dealer.MV347Official page

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• Complete the Assignment of Certificate of Title, Section 1, on the back of the Delaware title: the buyer's name and address, the date of sale, the purchase price and the odometer disclosure. Sign and print your name. If the front of the title joins the owners with "AND", every owner must sign and print; if it reads "AND/OR", one owner is enough. Hand the title to the buyer when you hand over the vehicle — 21 Del. C. § 2510(b) requires it at the time of delivery, together with a certified statement of all liens.Official page
• Complete the Seller's Report of Sale — the detachable strip at the bottom of a current Delaware title, or the downloadable Report of Sale (With Buyer's Info) — with the buyer's name and address, the date and hour of the sale, the selling price, the odometer reading and your signature, and mail it to P.O. Box 698, Dover, DE 19903 or email it to DMV.CorrespondenceServices@delaware.gov as soon as possible. It releases you from liability but does not transfer ownership.Report of Sale (With Buyer's Info)Official page
• Endorse the buyer's name and address and the date of transfer on the back of the registration card and send it to the Division — 21 Del. C. § 2502 requires the card to go in immediately, and DMV's own selling guidance lists the registration card alongside the report of sale.Official page
• Take the plate off the vehicle. To keep the number, bring the title to DMV before the sale closes and put the plate into retention — DMV's handout gives $35 where there is no lien and $55 where there is, and $20 to take it back out; the plate stays in retention for 365 days after its expiry date. Otherwise turn the plate in or mail it to any DMV office. DMV warns that a plate left on the car can bring red-light, toll and parking violations back to you.Official page
• To move the number straight onto another vehicle instead, bring the titles for every vehicle involved and proof of Delaware insurance for all of them, note the odometer disclosure of each in Section 1 and sign and print as buyer. DMV charges the title, service and registration fees the whole transaction attracts; its fee table lists a Switch Tag Fee of $20.00 per tag and title.Applies when: You are putting your current plate on a replacement vehicle you own.Official page
• If you are buying a replacement vehicle, file the Document Fee Credit/Refund Application (MV347) to recover document fee on the car you just sold. The sale must fall within 60 days either side of titling the replacement, and where the sale comes after the purchase the MV347 must be post-marked within 30 days of the sale date — DMV states that late or incomplete submissions will be denied.Applies when: You sold this vehicle privately and are titling a replacement vehicle in Delaware.MV347Official page
• If a lienholder is holding your title, send them the MV35 Request of Title from Lienholder to DMV naming the DMV office you want the title mailed to. DMV will email and post-card you when it arrives and will hold the title for no more than 60 days.Applies when: A bank, lienholder or leasing company is holding the Delaware certificate of title.MV35Official page

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• Enter the odometer reading in the disclosure block in Section 1 in whole miles with no tenths, and tick "the mileage stated is in excess of its mechanical limits" or "the odometer reading is not the actual mileage" if either applies. The seller signs and prints certifying the disclosure; the buyer signs and prints to acknowledge it. DMV rejects a title where the disclosed mileage is lower than the mileage on the face of the title unless one of those boxes is checked.Official page
• Go to a DMV office together if you can. DMV recommends that the seller transfer the title to the buyer at a Division facility so a Motor Vehicle Title Associate can review the paperwork and correct any errors on the spot, which also confirms the seller's name comes off the record. The seller is not obliged to attend.Official page

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• The Delaware certificate of title, with the Assignment of Certificate of Title (Section 1) completed and signed by the seller and the Purchaser's Application (Section 4) completed and signed by the buyerDMV states expressly that "Delaware titles do not require notary". It must be the original document — DMV does not accept photocopies of title-related paperwork.
• Proof of valid Delaware liability insuranceAn insurance identification card showing the coverage period and NAIC code, a valid policy, a written binder within 30 days of issuance on the insurer's letterhead, or a fax sent by the insurer directly to DMV. Photocopies, photographs and computer printouts are not accepted; an electronic card shown from the insurer's own app is.
• The buyer's Delaware driver license, or two accepted proofs of residencyEvery buyer must give their driver license number and date of birth on the Purchaser's Application and sign it.
• Report of Sale (With Buyer's Info)Seller's Report of Sale, sent to DMV by the sellerRequired by 21 Del. C. § 2502. It is the detachable strip at the bottom of a current Delaware title, or the downloadable form. Both seller and buyer sign it; there is no notary block.

• Deadline30 calendar days from the date of purchase — Buyer: Apply for a new certificate of title immediately following the purchase, and in no case more than 30 days after the purchaseA $35 penalty fee is charged when the application reaches DMV more than 30 days after the transfer date, waived only where the Director granted an extension for good cause. The vehicle may not be operated at all until the new title is issued.
• DeadlineImmediately give or send the endorsed registration card and the Seller's Report of Sale to the Division — DMV's FAQ says "as soon as possible" from transferring the vehicle to the buyer — SellerUntil it reaches DMV the seller stays on the vehicle record. The form warns that the flag it creates will not change ownership and will not stop law enforcement, DMV or parking authorities contacting the seller about the vehicle, and that an incomplete or illegible form still leaves the seller liable.
• Optional window30 calendar days from the date of sale of the vehicle being credited — Seller: Submit or post-mark the MV347 document fee credit application within 30 days of the sale, where the sale comes after the replacement vehicle was titledDMV states that late or incomplete submissions will be denied. Where the sale comes before the purchase, the MV347 must instead be submitted no later than 30 days after the new vehicle is titled.

Delaware charges no sales tax on vehicles but imposes a motor vehicle document fee of 5.25% on the sale, transfer or registration of a vehicle, calculated on the sale price or the current NADA average trade-in value, whichever is higher, with a minimum of $8.00.

Inspection

Sometimes required

• 21 Del. C. § 2503(a) requires the buyer, before operating the vehicle, to register it as on an original registration, submit it to inspection and obtain new plates.
• No inspection is required where the seller left the registration plates on the vehicle and had not assigned them elsewhere, and the buyer pays the $35 transfer fee to take over the existing title and registration — the Department then issues both "without additional fee or inspection".
• A Delaware-titled vehicle holding antique status is exempt from further inspection, but that status expires on transfer and the new owner must pass a DMV inspection to reapply.

DMV inspects at all four of its facilities, free of charge, and says that usually every vehicle being titled in Delaware for the first time must be inspected; a vehicle already on a Delaware title is not re-inspected at transfer if the buyer takes over the seller's registration.

Emissions

Sometimes required

• The emissions test is part of the DMV inspection, so it only arises where an inspection is required.
• Vehicles in their first seven model years are excluded from emissions testing.
• Motorcycles, mopeds, vehicles powered solely by electricity generated from solar cells or stored in batteries, vehicles manufactured before 1968 and diesel vehicles manufactured before 1997 are exempt under 7 DE Admin. Code 1126 and 1131.
• Testing applies only to automobiles and trucks with a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating of 14,000 pounds or less.

Emissions testing is part of the free DMV inspection and applies statewide in all three counties to vehicles being titled or registered in Delaware for the first time, and biennially thereafter — but the first seven model years are excluded and several vehicle classes are exempt outright.

Notarization

Sometimes required

• Delaware titles are not notarised — DMV states this expressly on its title-transfer page.
• A Power of Attorney used to sign the title for an owner must be an original and notarised; photocopies are not accepted.
• DMV advises the buyer that a seller with an outstanding loan should hold a notarised paid receipt (lien release) from the lienholder.
• 30 Del. C. § 3002(b) states that the amount of the purchase price "shall be evidenced by a notarized bill of sale", which DMV's own transfer instructions do not ask for.

Delaware titles are not notarised — DMV states plainly that "Delaware titles do not require notary" — but a Power of Attorney used to sign for an owner must be an original and notarised, and the survivor's small-estate affidavit MV11 is sworn before a notary.

Odometer disclosure

Required, unless you are exempt

• Mandatory whenever ownership is transferred, and for any motor vehicle of model year 2011 or newer.
• Encouraged but not mandatory for motor vehicles of model year 2010 or older.
• Encouraged but not mandatory for commercial vehicles with a gross vehicle weight above 16,000 pounds.
• Encouraged but not mandatory for non-motorised vehicles.

Delaware requires the odometer reading to be entered on the title whenever ownership is transferred or a new title is issued for a vehicle of model year 2011 or newer; for model year 2010 and older it is encouraged but not mandatory.

Delaware plates belong to the owner, not the car: the registration expires the moment the title is transferred, and DMV tells sellers to take the plate off and either put it into retention or hand it in at any DMV office.

• The seller keeps the plates
• The seller surrenders the plates
• The seller may move the plates to a replacement vehicle
• The plates stay with the vehicle
• The buyer gets new plates

A plate can be retained for 365 days after its expiration date and moved onto a replacement vehicle, or surrendered. DMV's Motor Vehicle Fees page lists a Retain Tag Fee of $20.00 and a Switch Tag Fee of $20.00 per tag and title, while its Retaining a Delaware License Plate handout puts the fee to retain at $35 with no lien and $55 with a lien, plus $20 to take a plate back out of retention. Where a vehicle goes to an out-of-state buyer the plate must be removed and turned in or mailed to any DMV office, and DMV will sell the buyer a $20 five-day temporary tag to drive it home. An antique special plate must be surrendered to the Department on transfer of ownership.

• In person at a state title office
• By mail

Delaware titles and registers in the same counter transaction: 21 Del. C. § 2501 expires the registration the moment the owner transfers the title, so the incoming owner applies for the title and registers the vehicle together and leaves with a title, a registration card and a tag.

• Start here on the Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV), Delaware Department of Transportation site
• Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV), Delaware Department of Transportation