Oregon title transfer cost and calculator

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

Putting the title in your name runs $106 in Oregon. That is the figure most people mean by a title transfer. Doing the title and the registration in the same trip costs about $268 in fees on a used $20,000 car, before any tax and before the county registration fee and the vehicle privilege tax, which depend on where you live.

Oregon adds no statewide Vehicle privilege tax on the car, though a local rate can apply in some areas, so for many buyers the title fee is close to the whole cost of a transfer. Where a local tax does apply, it is worked out on the price.

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

How to transfer a car title in Oregon

1. Get the paperwork right. A completed title application (DMV2U prepares it for a passenger vehicle), the original title signed over to you, lien releases and bills of sale from any earlier owners, an odometer disclosure where required, and a $9.00 VIN inspection if the car has an out-of-state title. source 4
2. Where you go. An Oregon DMV office, as a drop-in where the office offers it or by appointment, or by mail to DMV Services, 1905 Lana Ave NE, Salem, OR 97314. source 4
3. Pay. The title fee of $106, plus the tax on the purchase unless the transfer is exempt.
4. 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?

Oregon 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 Oregon DMV before you both take time off.

Can you transfer a title online in Oregon?

Partly. Renewals are online. A title transfer can be prepared on DMV2U, then mailed in or taken to a DMV office. source 4

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

A car you are given in Oregon owes no tax. The state has no sales tax, and its 0.5% vehicle privilege tax only applies when a dealer sells a car with 7,500 miles or less, so a family gift never reaches it. source 2

In most states the reason to log a car as a gift is to escape the sales tax. Oregon does not charge that tax on a car in the first place, so a family transfer here is mostly about the paperwork rather than a saving. Fill in the title and the application the same way, note that it is a gift where the form asks, and the cost is the $106 title fee either way.

How long you have, and what late costs

Thirty days from the sale. File later and DMV adds $25, or $50 after 60 days. source 4

What being late costs in Oregon: A title application filed more than 30 days after the sale costs an extra $25, or $50 once it is past 60 days.

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 30-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 Oregon 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 Oregon 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 Oregon DMV before you turn up.
• The other person cannot come. Where Oregon wants both people, a notarized power of attorney is usually the way round it.

Questions about Oregon 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 Oregon 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