North Carolina title transfer cost and calculator

How much does it cost to transfer a title in North Carolina?

Putting the title in your name runs $66.75 in North Carolina. That is the figure most people mean by a title transfer. Doing the title and the registration in the same trip costs about $113 in fees on a used $20,000 car, before any tax and before the county and regional transport tax, which depends on where you live.

On a $20,000 car the North Carolina highway use tax in North Carolina comes to about $600, so that, not the $66.75 title fee, is what a transfer really costs unless it is exempt.

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

How to transfer a car title in North Carolina

1. Get the paperwork right. The seller signs the title over to you and you fill in an application to put it in your name. NCDMV lists the exact forms on its own site.
2. Signatures. North Carolina notarizes vehicle titles, and the license plate agencies charge for it: $9.00 for one signature and more for additional ones. source 1
3. Where you go. An NCDMV license plate agency or a DMV office. source 1
4. Pay. The title fee of $66.75, plus the tax on the purchase unless the transfer is exempt.
5. Do it in time. File within 28 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?

North Carolina notarizes vehicle titles, and the license plate agencies charge for it: $9.00 for one signature and more for additional ones. source 1

Can you transfer a title online in North Carolina?

Partly. Some of the North Carolina process is online and some is done in person, and which applies depends on the transaction. Check the NCDMV page before you plan a trip.

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

North Carolina's 3% highway use tax is not charged on a gift between spouses, a parent and child, or a stepparent and stepchild. Claim it on form MVR-613, the Highway Use Tax Exemption Certification; it only applies when a North Carolina title goes to a North Carolina resident. If you paid the tax by mistake, form MVR-609B gets it back. source 12 source 13

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

Twenty eight days from the date of delivery or the notary date, whichever is later. Miss it and there is a $20.00 late penalty on top of everything else. source 1

What being late costs in North Carolina: a $20.00 late penalty if the buyer does not apply for the title transfer within 28 days of delivery or the notary date, whichever is later.

Late fees here come from waiting for a payday or a day off, not from anything complicated, so the fix is simply to go early. 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 28-day window is worth keeping to.

When something is missing

The common thread in these questions is something missing from the deal. The honest general answer, worth confirming with NCDMV 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 North Carolina 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 NCDMV before you turn up.
• The other person cannot come. Where North Carolina wants both people, a notarized power of attorney is usually the way round it.

Questions about North Carolina 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 North Carolina 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