What paperwork is required to sell a car in Texas?

The signed Texas title, a bill of sale showing price and date, and an odometer disclosure for most vehicles. The buyer files the title application; the seller should file a free Vehicle Transfer Notification with TxDMV.

What is the 30-day rule when selling a car in Texas?

Texas requires the buyer to title the vehicle in their name within 30 days of the sale date. Until the title transfers, tolls and violations can trace back to the seller — which is why sellers file the Vehicle Transfer Notification.

Does the seller keep the plates in Texas?

In Texas, license plates generally stay with the seller, not the vehicle. Remove your plates at sale and let the buyer arrange their own registration.

How to Sell a Car in Texas (2026) Title Transfer, Bill of Sale & the 30-Day Rule

Texas Makes It Simple — If You Do It in Order

Selling a car in Texas is a clean process with one trap: the gap between handing over the keys and the buyer actually titling the car. Everything below exists to keep that gap from costing you.

Before You List: Get the Title Ready

You need the physical Texas title, in your name, with any lien released. Lost it? Order a certified copy from TxDMV before listing — buyers with cash don't wait two weeks for paperwork.

Selling It: The Sign, the Meet, the Money

Price it against local comps, photograph it clean, and put a real sign in the window — the for-sale sign guide covers the layout, including the $5 talking QR that pitches the car in English or Spanish while it's parked — which, in the Valley, is not a small feature. Meet buyers in public, take cash or a cashier's check you verify at the issuing bank.

The Paperwork, Step by Step

Sign the title correctly. Seller section only, name exactly as printed. A scribbled-over title means a trip to the county tax office.

Bill of sale. Price, date, VIN, mileage, both names and addresses, both signatures. Two copies.

Plates come off. Texas plates belong to you, not the car.

The buyer titles within 30 days. That's their legal clock — but their tolls become your mail if you skip the next step.

The Step That Protects You: Vehicle Transfer Notification

File the free Vehicle Transfer Notification with TxDMV (online, minutes) as soon as the car leaves. It records the sale date so red-light cameras, tolls, and tickets after that date point at the buyer, not you. This is the single most-skipped step in Texas private sales and the only one with real consequences.

After the Sale

Keep your copies for a year. Cancel insurance only after the notification is filed. Done — the whole thing is a Saturday morning.

The Short Version

Title signed right, bill of sale, plates off, Transfer Notification filed. Do those four and Texas is one of the easiest states in the country to sell a car in. (Fees and county details vary — TxDMV.gov has the current numbers.)