Hawaii title transfer cost and calculator

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

The title itself costs $10 in Hawaii. That is the figure most people mean by a title transfer. Title and registration together, the way most people do it in one visit, come to about $371.50 on a used $20,000 car, before tax.

The fee is the small part. On a $20,000 car Hawaii also collects about $900 in general excise tax on the purchase, which is far more than the title fee.

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

How to transfer a car title in Hawaii

1. Get the paperwork right. The Certificate of Title signed by the seller (Section A) and by you (Section D), the last Certificate of Registration, and a current Hawaii safety inspection certificate. A new car not registered by the dealer uses the Application for Registration, Form CS-L (MVR) 1. source 6
2. Signatures. Notarizing the seller's signature is optional in Honolulu, but it stops the transfer being rejected over a signature that does not match the one on file. source 6
3. Where you go. Your county motor vehicle office (Honolulu, Hawaii, Maui or Kauai). Hawaii runs vehicle registration at the county level. New residents register within 30 days of bringing a vehicle into the state. source 1
4. Pay. The title fee of $10, plus the tax on the purchase unless the transfer is exempt.
5. Do it in time. File within 30 days of the sale; what being late costs is under the deadline section below.

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

Notarizing the seller's signature is optional in Honolulu, but it stops the transfer being rejected over a signature that does not match the one on file. source 6

Can you transfer a title online in Hawaii?

Partly. Renewals can be done online, at a DMV Now kiosk in some Safeway and Foodland stores, by mail or in person. A transfer of ownership needs an appointment at a satellite city hall on Oahu. source 5

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

Hawaii charges no use tax on a gift if the giver bought the car and you pay nothing and take on no debt for it. File form G-27A, the gift affidavit, with a copy of the title transfer, and get the title to your county director of finance within 30 days. A car you bought with money someone gave you is not a gifted car and is taxed. source 9

Do not write $1 on the form to dodge the tax. Hawaii 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

Thirty days from the date the seller signed the title over. After that the $10 transfer fee picks up a $50 penalty. source 6

What being late costs in Hawaii: a vehicle you buy has to be transferred into your name within 30 days of the date on the title, or a $50 penalty is added to the $10 transfer fee.

The clock starts on the sale date, not the day you get round to it, so a signed title left in a drawer is already running down. 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, so the 30-day window is worth keeping to.

When something is missing

Most of what people search here is a version of "can I still do this without". The honest general answer, worth confirming with Hawaii 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 Hawaii 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 Hawaii DMV before you turn up.
• The other person cannot come. Where Hawaii wants both people, a notarized power of attorney is usually the way round it.

Questions about Hawaii 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 Hawaii 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.

Other states

See car title transfer by state for all 51 we cover.

Where these numbers come from