- What is a bill of sale, and do I actually need one?
- A bill of sale is a signed receipt for a private sale. It records who sold what to whom, for how much, on what date, and in what condition. For a couch or a laptop it's optional but cheap insurance: if the buyer later says the item was stolen, or the seller says they were never paid, the signed page settles it. For a vehicle it matters more. The title is what the state uses to record ownership, but many DMVs ask for a bill of sale too, and it's the seller's proof of the date the car stopped being their problem, which counts when a parking ticket or toll bill shows up a month later.
- Is a bill of sale the same as a car title?
- No. The title is the state's record of who owns the vehicle. A bill of sale is the record of the deal between two people: the price, the date, the as-is terms, the odometer reading. When you sell a car, the seller signs the title over to the buyer and both sign the bill of sale. The buyer then takes both to the DMV to register the car in their name. A bill of sale alone doesn't transfer a titled vehicle, and a signed title alone doesn't show what was agreed.
- Does a bill of sale need to be notarized?
- Usually not, but some states do require a notarized bill of sale or their own DMV form for vehicle sales, and the rules change. That's why this tool doesn't try to tell you what your state wants. Check your state DMV's website before the sale. If you need a notary, turn on the notary block: it adds a standard acknowledgment section the notary completes and stamps. Both people sign in front of the notary, not before.
- What does selling "as-is" mean?
- As-is means the buyer takes the item in its current condition, faults included, and the seller makes no promises about how long it will keep working. It's the normal term for private sales, and it's the default here. It doesn't protect a seller who lies: if you say the transmission was rebuilt and it wasn't, as-is language won't cover that. If you do want to promise something, like "engine and transmission for 30 days", pick With a warranty and write exactly what you're promising, so both of you know where it ends.
- Why does a vehicle bill of sale include an odometer statement?
- Federal law requires the seller to disclose the mileage when ownership of a vehicle changes, so buyers can't be sold a car with a rolled-back odometer. The statement says whether the reading is the actual mileage, exceeds the odometer's mechanical limits (an old five-digit odometer that has rolled past 99,999), or is not the actual mileage. Write whole miles and drop the tenths. Older vehicles are exempt from the federal requirement, and the official disclosure is often made on the title itself, so fill in the title's odometer section too if it has one.
- What does the VIN warning mean?
- Vehicles built for North America since the 1981 model year carry a 17-character VIN, and the 9th character is a check digit calculated from the other 16. If one character is mistyped, the math usually stops adding up and the tool tells you. VINs also never use the letters I, O or Q, because they look too much like 1 and 0. These are warnings, not errors: vehicles from before 1981 have shorter VINs, and some imported vehicles don't use the check digit. Compare the VIN with the title and the plate on the dashboard before you sign.
- Why is the price written out in words?
- For the same reason checks have a words line. "$5,000.00" can become "$50,000.00" with one stroke of a pen. "Five Thousand and 00/100 Dollars" can't. Writing both makes the amount hard to alter and easy to read. The price here is rounded to the cent, and the document leaves the price as a blank line instead of printing a negative or impossible amount.
- Why do some names show a warning about the PDF?
- The PDF uses a built-in font that covers English and Western European letters, so names like José Müller or Zoë print fine. Polish, Cyrillic, Arabic and other scripts aren't in that font, and those characters would come out as garbage. When that happens you'll see a warning. Use Print instead: your browser prints the preview with its own fonts, so every character shows up, and most browsers can save the print as a PDF.
- Can I use this for a boat, a gun, a house or a business?
- Not the gun, the house or the business. Firearm sales, real estate and business sales come with licensing, deed or regulatory requirements a one-page template can't meet responsibly. For a boat or trailer, General item mode makes a plain bill of sale, but many states want the hull ID or trailer VIN on their own registration paperwork, so check with your state first.
- Is what I type stored or sent anywhere?
- No. The form saves a draft in your own browser's local storage, so a reload doesn't wipe it, and Clear form removes it. Nothing is uploaded, and the PDF is built on your device. On a shared or public computer, click Clear form when you're done.
