How to Transfer Car Title in California

By Mohamed SkhiriUpdated November 8, 2026Checked against California DMV pages and procedures manuals

California calls the title a "pink slip" (see how to fill out a pink slip), and a California title transfer starts with it. The seller signs it over, the buyer takes it to the DMV, and both of them have a short deadline. What makes California different from most states is everything around that core: smog certification, a seller's release of liability, the paperwork for family gifts, and the extra checks for cars titled somewhere else.

Transferring an auto title in California after a private sale

The seller

1. Sign the title. The seller's signature goes on line 1. If the title is lost, use the Application for Replacement or Transfer of Title (REG 227).
2. Provide a smog certification, unless an exemption applies (see below). In California, giving the buyer a valid smog certificate is the seller's job.
3. Report the sale within 5 days with a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability. This can be done online. It protects you, but it doesn't transfer ownership; the buyer still has to complete the transfer.

The buyer

1. Get the signed title and a bill of sale; our California car bill of sale fills in the state for you. If the seller isn't the owner named on the title, you need a bill of sale signed by both the seller and the person on the title.
2. Make sure the odometer reading is recorded where federal rules require it.
3. Submit within 10 days of buying the car, with the transfer fee and any use tax. The DMV accepts the completed forms by mail or at a field office.

That's how to transfer title in California for a straightforward sale: title, smog, release of liability, and the buyer's application inside 10 days.

Smog rules for a California car title transfer

Smog trips up more California sales than anything else. The DMV's rules, in short:

• The seller provides the certificate. If you're selling, you need to give the new owner a valid smog certification.
• Newer cars are exempt. For a gas-powered car less than four years old, no smog inspection is needed; the new owner pays a smog transfer fee instead.
• A recent certificate counts. No new certificate is needed if the last smog certification was obtained within the last 90 days.
• Close family transfers are exempt, as described in the next section.

Check the DMV's smog page for the exact cutoff for your car, since the DMV describes it in years of age.

How to transfer a car title to a family member in California

Giving a car to a relative is one of the most searched California questions, because the rules can save real money. The DMV's Statement of Facts (REG 256) has two family exemptions:

• Use tax. Transfers between a parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, spouse or domestic partner can be exempt from use tax. Siblings qualify only if both are minors related by blood or adoption. The exemption can't be claimed if the person giving the car is in the business of selling vehicles.
• Smog. A transfer from a parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother, sister, spouse or domestic partner doesn't need a smog certification, unless a biennial smog check is due.

So the steps to transfer car title to a family member in California are: the giver signs the title, the receiver completes a REG 256 claiming the family exemptions, and the receiver submits the title, the REG 256 and the fee within 10 days. One caution from the DMV: if a family member bought a car for you without first titling it in their own name, a smog inspection is still required.

The DMV's procedures manual also notes that a transfer to certain family members or to your own trust can't be completed while unpaid parking or toll violations are on the vehicle record, so pay those first.

California out of state title transfer

Moving to California, or buying a car titled elsewhere, takes more paperwork. To transfer an out-of-state title to California:

1. Complete the Application for Title or Registration (REG 343) and submit it with fees within 20 days of the date the vehicle is first operated in California.
2. Get the VIN verified. A DMV employee, a peace officer or a California-licensed vehicle verifier completes the verification (REG 31). The DMV's checklist says to bring the vehicle to your local DMV for it.
3. Get a smog certificate. The newer-vehicle exemption doesn't apply to vehicles coming from out of state. Gasoline vehicles from 1976 on need one (motorcycles excepted), as do diesels from 1998 on under 14,001 lbs.
4. Bring the out-of-state title and registration.

One extra rule for nearly new cars: California treats a vehicle with fewer than 7,500 miles at purchase as new, and a new vehicle has to be California certified to register. Check the emissions label before buying a low-mileage car out of state.

The DMV also advises submitting your application and fees on time even if you don't yet have everything, such as the title or the smog certificate, to avoid penalties. That's good advice for any title transfer from out of state to California.

Inherited cars and loans

When the owner has died, the transfer depends on how the estate is being handled. The DMV's procedures manual covers transfers to the "estate of" the deceased owner and notes that neither use tax nor a smog certification is required for that step. After that, the estate's representative signs the title over to the heir or to a buyer. The checklist above, with "inherited" selected, lists the documents most offices ask for.

If the title shows a lender, the lender is the legal owner until the loan is paid. Once it's paid off, the lender releases its interest, usually by signing the title or sending a release, and only then can ownership move cleanly. Buyers shouldn't hand over the full price for a car with an open loan unless the payoff happens at the same time, for example at the lender's branch.

Can you transfer a title online in California?

Partly. The seller's Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability can be filed online. For the ownership transfer itself, the DMV's current guidance is to mail the completed forms or visit a field office. Its title transfer page notes that requests submitted through its Virtual Office before September 20, 2025 are still being processed, so check the DMV site for the current online options before you rely on one.

What to bring

• The California title signed by the seller (or a REG 227 if it's lost)
• A smog certification, unless exempt
• A bill of sale; required if the seller isn't the owner on the title
• A REG 256 for family transfers or other exemptions
• For out-of-state cars: REG 343, the VIN verification and the out-of-state title
• Payment for the transfer fee and any use tax

For a CA car title transfer in another situation, or for any other state, use the title transfer checklist. Selling the car? Start with our bill of sale template.

Duplicate title in California: replacing a lost title

California replaces a title that's lost, stolen, damaged or unreadable with a duplicate, applied for on the same form the seller uses when the title is missing at a sale: the Application for Replacement or Transfer of Title, REG 227. For a lost car title in California, the steps are:

1. Complete the REG 227, including Section 3, the missing title statement. The form warns that issuing a replacement cancels the original, so if the old one turns up later, it's no longer valid.
2. Check whether a lender is involved. If the registration shows a legal owner or lienholder, Section 5 must be notarized; if it doesn't, no notary is needed. For a vehicle two model years old or newer, the legal owner applies for the replacement, not the registered owner.
3. File it by mail or in person. If your address on the DMV's records is out of date, go in person with proof of ownership, such as the registration card or a renewal notice, and your driver's license or ID card.
4. Or start online. The DMV's virtual office takes replacement title requests and asks for the last five digits of the VIN and the plate number.

One limit to know: if the title was already replaced within the last 90 days, the DMV requires a CHP vehicle verification before issuing another. To change a car title in California for any other reason, such as adding a co-owner or a new name, start from the DMV's Title Transfers and Changes page. That's the whole process for a duplicate car title in California, whether you call it a California car title replacement, a title replacement in CA or replacing a lost car title in CA.

What a California car title looks like

The California Certificate of Title is the document people still call the pink slip, and the DMV says several versions are in circulation, all of them valid. The newer complying title has a blue border, a white opaque state seal and a blue reverse side; older noncomplying pink titles have the odometer boxes on the front. Whichever one you hold, and whichever CA car title example you compare it with, a California car title shows the same core information: the owner's name and address, the VIN, make, model and year, the odometer mileage, the lienholder if there is one, and any brand, which appears in a red box titled Vehicle History near the upper right corner.

The signature lines matter more than the design. On a sample California car title, the seller signs Line 1 to release ownership, a co-owner signs Line 1b, and a lienholder signs Line 2 to release its interest. Those lines, explained in our guide to where to sign a title, are exactly what a buyer checks before paying, and the reason a CA car title signed in the wrong place can hold up the whole transfer.

Why it's called a pink slip

The name comes from the older California certificates printed on pink paper, the noncomplying pink titles the DMV still accepts. People kept saying "pink slip" after the design changed, so today an auto pink slip just means the car's title, whatever its color. You'll hear it most in private sales and in "racing for pink slips," where the winner takes the other car. A pink title from decades ago and a blue-bordered one from last year carry the same legal weight, and an automobile pink slip from another state is simply that state's certificate of title.

Looking for a picture of a car title to compare with yours? We don't publish an image of a real car title, since a clear copy is exactly what title fraud starts with. The description above covers what a genuine California title shows, and the DMV's own pages describe the security features. When buying pink slip cars online, ask to see the title in person and check that the VIN on it matches the dashboard and door jamb before you pay.

Where is the title number on a California title?

Most people looking for a title number location on a California title don't actually need one. (If you're after the owner behind a plate instead, our California license plate lookup by owner guide explains the DMV's INF 70.) The DMV's online replacement title request asks for the plate number and the last five digits of the VIN instead, and a transfer works from the certificate of title in California itself, signed on the right lines. If a form does ask for a document number, compare it with the numbers printed on the front of your title or call the DMV before guessing.

California title transfer in five lines

• The seller signs Line 1 and files the release of liability within 5 days.
• The buyer has 10 days to complete the California car title transfer at the DMV.
• Family gifts can avoid use tax with the right forms, so read the family section first.
• A lost pink slip is replaced with REG 227; a duplicate title in California takes that form plus the fee.
• Cars from other states use REG 343 within 20 days of first being driven here.

California title transfer FAQ