What to Do With License Plate After Selling Car: Keep, Transfer or Surrender

Do plates go with the car or the owner?

This is the first thing to find out, because everything else follows from it.

• Plates stay with the owner in most states, including Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, New York and Texas. The seller removes them, and the buyer gets new plates or transfers their own.
• Plates stay with the car in a few states, California the best known. The buyer keeps the plates, and the seller files a notice of sale.

Specialty and personalized plates often follow the owner even in states where standard plates stay with the car. If you have a vanity plate, assume you'll want to keep it and check how to move it.

Your three options when plates stay with you

Never sell or give your plates to the buyer, and never leave them on the car "until the buyer gets new ones." Anything the car does with your plates on it, from tolls to crashes, can come back to you.

License plate transfer in Illinois

Illinois plates belong to the owner. When you sell, remove them. To use them on another vehicle you own, apply for a license plate transfer in Illinois with the Application for Vehicle Transaction (form VSD 190), at a Secretary of State facility or by mail, and pay the transfer fee listed on the state's fee schedule. Plates can only move between vehicles of the same type; a car plate can't go on a motorcycle. If you won't use them again, follow the Secretary of State's instructions for returning or disposing of them, and keep proof of the sale date in case a ticket or toll arrives later.

Michigan plate transfer

Michigan plates are issued in the owner's name, and you can transfer a plate issued in your name at any Secretary of State office. The state's own fee list is clear:

• $15 to transfer a plate and registration to a car you bought in a private sale.
• $10 if you bought the car from an immediate family member.
• $10 to $15 to move a plate between vehicles you already own, depending on the receiving vehicle's registration fee.

Don't wait: under Michigan's vehicle code, a transfer needs to be made and paid within 15 days, or the vehicle is treated as unregistered. A Michigan plate transfer also carries over the time left on your registration, which saves money compared with new plates.

Transfer license plate to new car in Ohio

Ohio plates also follow the owner. To transfer a license plate to a new car in Ohio, title the new vehicle in your name first at a county Clerk of Courts title office, then go to a deputy registrar with the new title, your ID, proof of insurance and your old registration. The registrar moves the plates and the remaining registration time to the new car for a small transfer fee. Ohio law also lets you move special plates to another vehicle you own or lease. If you don't want the old plates, the deputy registrar can cancel them and issue new ones.

New York: surrender before you cancel insurance

New York is the state where getting the order wrong costs the most. The DMV says you must surrender your plates and registration before you cancel the car's liability insurance. If you cancel insurance first, the DMV can suspend your registration and even your driver license. You can transfer plates to another car you're registering, or surrender them at a DMV office and keep the receipt, form FS-6T, as proof for your insurer. The DMV also warns not to hand your plates to anyone else unless that person will surrender them for you.

Texas

In Texas, the seller has the option to remove the plates and the registration sticker. The plates can go on another vehicle of the same classification that you buy, or you can keep them for a future transfer; the sticker doesn't transfer. If the buyer can't reach the county tax office right away, Texas offers a Vehicle Transit Permit so they can drive the car legally without your plates. Our Texas bill of sale page covers the rest of a Texas sale.

California: plates usually stay with the car

California works the other way. Standard plates stay with the vehicle, and the buyer drives away with them. The seller's job is to file a release of liability with the DMV within five days, which records the date the car stopped being yours. Personalized and special interest plates are the exception: you can keep those and reassign them to another car. Our California title transfer guide covers the release of liability.

Everywhere else

If your state isn't listed, ask three questions on its agency's site or by phone:

1. Do plates stay with the car or the owner?
2. If they stay with me, how long can I keep them before transferring or surrendering?
3. Do I need to surrender plates before canceling insurance, and is any registration fee refundable?

Our registration renewal finder links to each state's motor vehicle agency, where these answers usually sit on the plates page.

Trading in at a dealer

When you trade a car in, the dealer usually asks what you want to do with the plates. In owner-plate states, the dealer can often move them straight onto the car you're buying, as part of the paperwork it files for you. Tell the salesperson before the deal is written up, and take the plates off the trade-in yourself if the dealer doesn't. If you're not buying another car from that dealer, take the plates with you and handle them as you would after a private sale. Our guide on whether the dealership registers your car covers what the dealer files.

Selling before a move out of state

If you sell your car because you're moving, the old state's plates are of no use to you in the new one. Check whether your state wants them surrendered or cancelled, and do it before you leave. In states that refund unused registration fees, surrendering the plates may get you some money back. If you keep driving another car registered in the old state until you register it in the new one, keep those plates on that car until the new state issues its own, then follow the old state's instructions for returning them.

Personalized and specialty plates

Personalized plates are almost always yours to keep, even in states where standard plates stay with the car. You usually have to ask to keep them, and you may need to transfer them to a new vehicle or put them on hold for a fee. If you don't, the state may release the combination after a set time, and someone else can claim it. Take the plates off before the sale, and ask your state's agency how long it will reserve the characters.

If the buyer drove off with your plates

It happens, especially in a rushed sale. Contact the buyer and ask for the plates back, or for proof they've been surrendered. If you can't reach the buyer, file your notice of sale or release of liability immediately, report the plates to your state agency, and in some states report them to police. Keep the bill of sale showing the time of the sale; it's your best defense against tolls and tickets that follow.

What the buyer does without your plates

If you take your plates, the buyer needs a legal way to drive the car home. Options include a temporary permit or tag from the state, transferring their own plates, or trailering the car. Talk about it before the sale so the buyer comes prepared. A buyer driving away with no plates, or with yours, is a problem for both of you.

Protect yourself after the sale

• File a notice of sale or release of liability where your state has one, as soon as the car is sold.
• Keep a copy of the signed title and the bill of sale, showing the date and time of sale.
• Remove toll transponders and close or update toll accounts linked to the plate.
• Cancel insurance last, after the plates are transferred or surrendered.
• Ask about a refund of unused registration fees, which some states give when you surrender plates.

Old, expired or damaged plates

If plates are expired, damaged or no longer valid, your state may want them back, may let you recycle them, or may let you keep them as a souvenir once they're cancelled. Don't toss valid plates in the trash, where someone could pick them up. If you've replaced plates rather than sold a car, our guide on getting a new license plate covers what to do with the old ones, and our guide on how to put on a license plate helps when they go on your next car.

Plates after a sale FAQ