California title transfer cost and calculator

How much does it cost to transfer a title in California?

California charges $15 for the title. That is the figure most people mean by a title transfer. If you are plating the car at the same time, the title, registration and plate fees add up to about $321 on a used $20,000 car, not counting tax.

The tax is the number that matters. A $20,000 purchase in California carries roughly $1,800 in sales or use tax, several times the title fee.

Work out your own figure on the California registration fee calculator, which itemizes every line and links to the source for each one.

How to transfer a car title in California

1. Get the paperwork right. The California Certificate of Title signed by both sides. If the title is lost, form REG 227, the Application for Replacement or Transfer of Title. For a family, gift, estate or inheritance transfer, add form REG 256, the Statement of Facts. source 3
2. Where you go. The DMV, by post, at a field office, or through the DMV Virtual Office. source 3
3. Pay. The title fee of $15, plus the tax on the purchase unless the transfer is exempt.
4. Do it in time. Treat the deadline as short and go in the first week, before the sale date turns into a late fee.

Do both of you need to be there, and can you do it online?

CA DMV does not say whether both of you have to be there. As a rule the seller has to sign the title over and the buyer signs the application, and where a state wants both signatures notarized a notary can stand in for one party being present. Confirm it with the CA DMV before you both take time off.

Can you transfer a title online in California?

Partly. California takes title transfer requests through the DMV Virtual Office as well as in person. source 3

Transferring a title to a family member, or as a gift

A family, gift or inheritance transfer uses the same title plus a Statement of Facts, form REG 256, and the transfer fee still applies. source 3

Do not write $1 on the form to dodge the tax. California taxes what you actually paid, which is exactly why an understated price is treated as fraud rather than a smart move. If it truly is a gift, claim it as one on the proper form at the time of the transfer.

How long you have, and what late costs

The seller has a separate and strict duty: the Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability has to be filed within 5 days of handing the car over. Miss it and the car is still legally yours as far as tickets and tolls are concerned. source 3

What being late costs in California: Register between 1 and 10 days late and the DMV adds 10% of the vehicle license fee for that year, a $10 registration late fee and a $10 CHP late fee.

The countdown runs from when the title was signed, not from your first free afternoon, so do not sit on it. A transfer you never finish leaves the car in the seller's name, and tickets, tolls and abandoned-vehicle notices all follow the registered owner.

When something is missing

A lot of these searches start with "what if I do not have". The honest general answer, worth confirming with CA DMV for your own case:

• No title. The seller applies for a duplicate before selling. A car sold without its title is not a car you can register, and a seller who cannot produce one is a seller to walk away from.
• There is still a loan on it. The lender holds the title or the lien is recorded against it, and it only moves cleanly once the loan is cleared. Never hand over money for a financed car before you have seen the lien released in writing.
• No bill of sale. Some states require one and some do not, but write one anyway. It is the only record of what you paid, and in California what you paid is what any tax is worked out on.
• The owner has died. This goes through the estate rather than a normal transfer, and what is needed depends on whether there is a will and whether the estate goes to probate. It is the one case here where it is worth ringing CA DMV before you turn up.
• The other person cannot come. Where California wants both people, a notarized power of attorney is usually the way round it.

Questions about California title transfers

Once the title is in your name

The title is half of it. The plate and the registration are the other half, and the tax lands with them. The California registration fee calculator works out the whole bill line by line, including what a dealer means when they quote a single tax, title and license number.

Nearby states

Or see car title transfer by state for all 51.

Where these numbers come from