Motor Vehicles Selling Your Vehicle

Always remove your license plates for possible refund or cancellation when selling or junking your vehicle.

Please visit the Iowa Department of Transportation website for the latest information on selling your vehicle in a private sale or trading/selling to a dealer.

Selling Your Vehicle In Iowa

If the vehicle is currently registered, the buyer can operate the vehicle for thirty (30) days without license plates if they carry one of the following in the vehicle: 

• Bill of Sale with sufficient detail
• Vehicle title with the assignment of title completed
• Photocopy of both sides of the completed title

Small Trailers

Trailers weighing less than 2,000 pounds empty are not issued a title when they are registered in the State of Iowa.  If the registration says "Small Regular Trailer," the registration is the ownership document. To sell a small regular trailer, you must sign and date the bottom of the registration where it says "Sellers Signature" and provide a signed Bill of Sale with the VIN, Date of Sale and Name of Seller to the buyer.

Registration Credit

Before transferring possession of your vehicle, trailer, or travel trailer, remove and keep your license plates. You may be entitled to a refund or credit of the unused portion of registration fees.

If you are purchasing another vehicle within 30 days and wish to receive a credit toward the registration fees, fill out the bottom of your registration receipt for the sold vehicle and submit it with the title and application for your replacement vehicle.  Do not transfer the plates on the new vehicle until you have completed the transfer with the treasurer's office.

If you are not replacing the sold vehicle and wish to receive a refund, complete the bottom of your registration receipt with the date of sale and submit both the plates and registration to the County Treasurers Office. Note:  To receive a refund, this must be done within six (6) months from the date of sale of the vehicle.  Credit of less than $10.00 will not be refunded.

Correcting Common Title Errors

If you make an error:

• DO NOT CHANGE
• DO NOT WRITE OVER
• DO NOT CROSS OFF
• DO NOT USE WHITE OUT
• DO NOT ERASE

These are the errors and will void a title.

Affidavit of Correction (Form 411219)  should be completed for the following common title errors:

• Incorrect sale date
• Seller/Buyer name or signature was put on the incorrect space
• Seller/Buyer name misspelled
• An error was made upon the damage disclosure statement

• Do not cross through the error.
• Notarizied signatures from both the seller and buyer are required on the affidavit.
• If the seller signed the title on the incorrect line, they will need to resign the title on the correct line for the seller/transferer signature.

Incorrect Odometer recorded on Iowa title:

• Upon review by Treasurer's office, you may be instructed to contact the DOT investigator to certify your mileage or to have the previous owner apply for a replacement title and start over.
• Do not try to rewrite odometer.

Incorrect Odometer recorded on Out-of-State title:

• The title will need to be corrected in the state it was issued.