- Title fee
- $20base title fee
- Deadline
- 30 daysfrom the date of the sale
- Documents
- 4incl. VP 104
- Where
- State officein person
Nevada handles the title change as part of registering the vehicle, so there is one visit, not two. The seller signs the Nevada Certificate of Title over to the buyer, enters the odometer reading if the vehicle is a 2011 model or newer, and keeps the license plates; the buyer takes that title to a DMV office and registers within 30 days of the purchase date. The title charge on a complete change of ownership is $20 plus an $8.25 processing fee - $28.25 - and Nevada charges no sales tax at all on a private party sale. Nothing on the title itself needs a notary. You may drive the vehicle for three days after purchase on proof of ownership and Nevada insurance; after that you need a $1 movement permit.
6 things this answer does not settle
- The Nevada DMV publishes two different figures for the same charge. Its Vehicle Title and Ownership page lists "Complete change of ownership on any vehicle $28.50", while the April 2025 Registration and Title Guide, the vehicle registration fees page, the loan-payoff page, the transfer-on-death page and the VP 012 form itself all give $20.00 plus an $8.25 title-processing fee, which is $28.25. This record uses $28.25 because five sources agree on it and the arithmetic is published; expect a counter to charge $28.25.
- The DMV publishes two different plate deadlines for a seller. The private-party page says plates must be reused or turned in "within 60 days of the sale for standard issue plates or within 30 days for special plates", which matches NRS 482.399(7); the Register a Vehicle page says "Special/Standard Plates: Turn in or reuse within 18 months. Discontinued Special Plates: Turn in or reuse within 30 days." This record follows the statute and the 60-day figure.
- Nevada lets an authorised DMV representative witness a signature in place of a notary on every form that carries a notary block, which is a real saving. This record still lists those signatures as notarised, because that is the outcome the counter or the notary produces - but you do not have to pay a notary if you are signing at a DMV office anyway.
- Nevada has no periodic safety inspection, so nothing in this record covers one. The only inspection is the VIN check on Form VP 015 for vehicles never registered or titled in Nevada.
- The vehicle registration fee and the governmental services taxes are the largest part of the bill and neither can be stated as a flat figure - they turn on the vehicle's class, weight and original MSRP. Use the DMV's own fee estimator before you budget.
- "Plates stay with the vehicle" appears above only because a seller may release their plates to the buyer on Form SP 67; Nevada's default, and its statutory rule, is that the seller keeps the plates.
Do this first
- Before you hand over money, match the seller's photo ID against the name printed on the front of the title, check the lienholder box is empty, and walk away from any deal that does not include the physical title - the DMV's rule is blunt: "Do not purchase a vehicle from a private party unless the seller can provide a title in their name. A Bill of Sale by itself is not an acceptable proof of ownership for registration."
- Print your full legal name in the buyer section of the title exactly as it appears on your Nevada driver's license or ID card, and enter your Nevada driver's license or ID number - the DMV uses that number to confirm the full legal name that goes on the registration and the new title. If you have neither, print "No Nevada DL or ID".
Your checklist
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The seller's checklist
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Both of you, together
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Documents and official forms
- The Nevada Certificate of Title, signed by every seller shown on it and by the buyer, with the buyer's address and Nevada driver's license or ID numberNot notarised. Any alteration or erasure voids it. For a 2011-or-newer vehicle the seller must produce the actual paper title - a bill of sale plus a duplicate-title application will not be accepted.
- Nevada Evidence of Insurance in the exact names that will appear on the title and registrationFrom a Nevada-licensed carrier only; the effective date must be equal to or before the registration date. Not needed if you are changing the title only on a vehicle that is not registered or not operational.
- The current odometer readingMotorcycles, mopeds and RVs are exempt from this item on the DMV's registration document list.
- The buyer's Nevada driver's license or identification cardState law requires residents to list and sign their full legal name on vehicle titles and to record their Nevada driver's license number.
Also required in some cases
The vehicle will be based in the urban part of Clark or Washoe county and is not on the exemption list.
- Nevada Emissions Vehicle Inspection Report
Always sensible as the seller's record; required alongside VP 012 in the duplicate-title route for a 2010-or-older Nevada-titled vehicle with no lien.
- VP 104Bill of Sale
The vehicle was last titled in Nevada, is model year 2010 or older, and has no lien or the owner of record holds a lien release - the only route the DMV allows for transferring ownership without the original title.
- VP 012Application for Duplicate Nevada Certificate of Title
The seller is releasing the plates to the buyer instead of keeping them.
- SP 67License Plate Release
The vehicle being sold is titled to a family trust.
- VP 188Trustee Appointment and Powers Affidavit
A third party is registering the vehicle for the owner.
- VP 222Application for Vehicle Registration
Someone other than the owner will sign the title or register the vehicle and no VP 222 is being used.
- VP 136Power of Attorney
The buyer is moving plates and registration credit from a vehicle they already own.
- The buyer's current registration for another vehicle
Deadlines
- Deadline30 calendar days from the date of the sale — Buyer: Register the vehicle at a DMV office within 30 days of the purchase.The seller's registration expired the instant ownership transferred, so the vehicle is unregistered from day one and NRS 482.400(4) says the transferee "shall immediately apply for registration". Nevada publishes no grace period; registering late means paying the pro-rated registration fee and governmental services taxes for the period the vehicle was unregistered, plus penalties.
- Deadline3 calendar days from the date of purchase — Buyer: Three days to drive without a movement permit.After the third day you must hold a movement permit to drive the vehicle at all. During the three days you must carry proof of ownership or purchase and proof of Nevada liability insurance in the vehicle, and you should be driving it home or to the DMV rather than casually.
- Deadline60 calendar days from the transfer of ownership of or interest in the vehicle — Seller: Reuse or surrender your license plates on or before the 60th day after the sale.NRS 482.399(7) requires that if an application to transfer the registration is not made within 60 days, the plates must be surrendered to the DMV on or before the 60th day for cancellation of the registration. The DMV's Register a Vehicle page states 18 months for the same act, which does not match the statute or its own private-party page.
- Deadline5 calendar days from the transfer of the title to, or the interest of an owner in, the vehicle — Seller: Optional: file the electronic notice of transfer within 5 days of the sale.This one is permissive, not compulsory - NRS 482.400(2) says the transferor "may" submit the notice. Filing it is still worth five minutes: the DMV passes the resale information to wreckers and tow car operators if the vehicle is later abandoned, and filing it during an online registration cancellation is what releases your fee credit.
Fees and taxes
| Charge | Amount | Paid by |
|---|---|---|
| Base title fee | $20The Nevada certificate of title fee for a first-time, change-of-ownership or duplicate title (NRS 482.429). A complete change of ownership adds an $8.25 title-processing fee, making $28.25; a vehicle not physically present in or registered in Nevada is charged $35.00 instead. It excludes the registration fee, governmental services taxes, license plate fees, any emissions test and any movement permit. | Buyer |
| Certificate of title - complete change of ownership | $28.25The $20.00 title fee plus the $8.25 title-processing fee the DMV charges on every complete change of ownership. It excludes the registration fee, the governmental services taxes, plate fees, emissions testing and any movement permit. A vehicle not physically present in or registered in Nevada is charged $35.00 for the title instead.The DMV's title page lists $28.50 for this same transaction; the fee page, the April 2025 Registration and Title Guide, the loan-payoff page and the VP 012 form all give $28.25. | Buyer |
| Vehicle registration fee | From $12Varies by the vehicle's class and weight - $33 for a passenger car, motorcycles $33 plus a $6 safety fee, travel trailers $27, trailers up to 1,000 lb unladen $12, and per-1,000-lb rates for trucks and buses over 10,000 lb.Set by NRS 482.480 and 482.482. This is separate from the title fee and from the governmental services taxes.Official calculator | Buyer |
| Governmental Services Tax | 4%Varies by 35% of the vehicle's original manufacturer's suggested retail price, depreciated 5% after the first year and 10% each year after that down to a floor of 15%.An annual tax charged at every registration, not a sales tax - it is owed whoever you bought from. The minimum is $16.00. County Assessors, not the DMV, grant exemptions for qualifying veterans, disabled veterans, surviving spouses and the blind, and you must claim any exemption at the moment you register because the DMV does not apply them retroactively.Official calculator | Buyer |
| Supplemental Governmental Services Tax | 1%Varies by the same depreciated valuation as the Governmental Services Tax, at $0.01 per $1 - charged only in Clark and Churchill counties.A voter-approved highway construction tax. Residents of Nevada's other fifteen counties do not pay it.Official calculator | Buyer |
| Sales tax on a private party sale | $0Nevada charges none. The DMV states in terms that "Sales taxes are not charged on private party vehicle sales, family sales or gifts" - this is a genuine zero, not a figure we could not find. | Buyer |
| License plates | $7A set of two standard large plates. A single small plate is $3.50. Personalised and specialty plates carry additional fees on top. | Buyer |
| Movement permit for a vehicle not yet registered in Nevada | $1A 30-day permit bought through MyDMV, or in person at a DMV office or a partnered AAA office. Only needed once the three-day drive-away allowance has run out. | Buyer |
| Emissions test | $71.50–$90The DMV's 2026 maximum totals, inspection plus certificate: $71.50 for a light-duty petrol vehicle in Washoe county up to $90 for a diesel in Clark county. Stations may charge less; discounts are at each station's discretion. A station that also handles your registration renewal may add up to $10 for that service.Only in the urban parts of Clark and Washoe counties. | Buyer |
| Fee to apply a registration credit to another vehicle | $6Charged when a seller uses the credit from a cancelled registration on another vehicle registered in their own name. The credit expires on the cancelled registration's original expiration date and can never be transferred to the buyer. | Seller |
Nevada charges no sales tax at all on private party vehicle sales, family sales or gifts - the DMV says so in those words. Tax is only in play when a dealer is involved.
Inspection, emissions, notary and odometer
- Inspection
- Sometimes required
- A VIN inspection on Form VP 015 is required only for a vehicle that has never been registered or titled in Nevada, which an in-state private sale normally is not.
- Nevada has no periodic safety inspection at any point in a private sale.
- Emissions
- Sometimes required
- The vehicle will be based in the urban part of Clark or Washoe county - the Las Vegas Valley plus a five-mile buffer, or Washoe county south of the 40th degree of north latitude.
- It is a 1968-or-newer petrol vehicle of any weight, or a diesel with a GVWR up to 14,000 lb.
- No test is needed if the last one was conducted within 90 days before the transfer, or the transfer is between husband and wife, or the vehicle is on the exemption list (new vehicles for three registrations, hybrids for five model years, motorcycles, mopeds, electric vehicles, classic plates).
- Notarization
- Sometimes required
- Nothing on the title itself is notarised - the seller and buyer simply sign it.
- A Power of Attorney (VP 136) used by anyone signing or registering on your behalf must be notarised, and be an original or certified copy.
- The duplicate-title route for a 2010-or-older Nevada-titled vehicle requires the owner's signature on VP 012 to be notarised or witnessed by an authorised DMV representative.
- A Trustee Appointment and Powers Affidavit (VP 188), where the vehicle is sold out of a family trust, must be sworn before a notary or an authorised DMV representative.
- Odometer disclosure
- Required, unless you are exempt
- Required in writing on the title for vehicles of the 2011 model year or newer, until they are 20 years old.
- 2010 model year or older: you may tick the exempt box on the title.
- The mileage must still be disclosed even where the title reads "Exempt - Model year over 9 years old", a legend the DMV says no longer applies.
- Motorcycles, mopeds and RVs are exempt from the current-odometer-reading item on the registration document list.
What happens to the plates
Nevada plates belong to the person, not the vehicle: "Nevada law requires sellers to keep the plates". The seller removes them and either puts them on another vehicle or surrenders them, and the buyer gets a fresh set at registration - $7 for a set of two standard plates, $3.50 for a single small plate.
- The seller keeps the plates
- The seller may move the plates to a replacement vehicle
- The seller surrenders the plates
- The buyer gets new plates
- The plates stay with the vehicle
NRS 482.399(1) expires the registration the moment ownership transfers, and NRS 482.399(7) requires that "If application for transfer of registration is not made within 60 days after the destruction or transfer of ownership of or interest in any vehicle, the license plate or plates must be surrendered to the Department on or before the 60th day for cancellation of the registration." Cancelling produces a credit for the unused portion of the registration fee and governmental services taxes, usable on another vehicle you own for a $6 fee; credits never transfer to the buyer. A seller who wants the buyer to keep the plates - the DMV's example is a classic car - completes a License Plate Release (SP 67) instead.
How to submit
- In person at a state title office
- In person at a county office
- Online
- In person at an authorized third-party office
Nevada normally titles and registers in the same counter transaction: you hand over the signed title, Nevada Evidence of Insurance and the emissions report, and walk out registered, with the new title posted to you four to six weeks later.
Official state links
Source: Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Checked July 26, 2026. Report a correction