How selling a car in New York City works, offer to check
- Get the offer onlineDescribe the car, faults included. The partner buyer returns a free, no-obligation offer.
- Take a week to decide, then book the truckAccept inside seven days and pick a window. The buyer arranges and pays for the tow, running or not.
- Hand over the title, take the checkThe buyer's driver checks the car against your description, completes the buyer's title-transfer paperwork and hands you a check.
Source: The buyer: offer, free pickup and payment; The buyer: a week to accept.
The online figure is the amount paid at pickup, provided the car matches your description, and the buyer says the sale usually takes a few days. More in how the offer works.
What to have ready when the truck pulls up
- The New York title. You complete the Transfer by Owner section on the back, and only at the moment of transfer, the New York DMV says. No title? Start with title problems.
- Form MV-912, the bill of sale. The DMV asks the seller to sign one even for a gift: year, make, VIN, date, price and both signatures.
- Form DTF-802. The sales tax statement both of you complete; the buyer takes it to the DMV, which collects the tax.
- Registration and a driver's license or ID. Both are on the buyer's own document list.
- Proof the loan is gone. The partner buyer requires every lien and loan paid in full before it buys.
- A screwdriver. In New York the plates leave with you, not with the car.
Source: The buyer: documents to gather; The buyer: liens and loans; NYS DMV: buy, sell or transfer; NYS DMV: certificate of title; NYS DMV: sales tax.
Three New York rules that trip up New York City sellers
- Plates and sticker off first; insurance on until they are surrendered. The New York DMV's instruction: "Before you complete the sale, take your license plates off the vehicle and remove your registration sticker from the windshield." Transfer the plates to another car or turn them in, at a DMV office or by mail with form PD-7, and keep the FS-6T receipt. On coverage, the DMV's surrender page says the plates and registration are surrendered before the liability insurance is cancelled. Cancel early and a penalty runs by the day. Steps are in plates and insurance.
- One correction kills the title. The DMV accepts no title with a cross-out, an alteration or an erasure of any kind. Sign the Transfer by Owner block in one clean pass. For a car of model year 2011 or later that is 20 model years old or newer, the seller also completes the odometer statement on the back; the damage disclosure is completed for every vehicle, whatever its age. See seller paperwork.
- The bill of sale is not optional, and the tax is the buyer's. The DMV wants a signed MV-912 from the seller even for a gift, plus a DTF-802 from both parties. The new owner registers and titles the car at the DMV and pays the sales tax there, plus the title certificate fee, $50.00 as of November 7, 2026; the DMV mails the new title rather than handing it over the counter. Comparing a private sale? See where to sell.
Source: NYS DMV: certificate of title; NYS DMV: surrender plates; NYS DMV: insurance lapses; NYS DMV: buy, sell or transfer; NYS DMV: sales tax.
Cancel the insurance before the plates go back and the DMV's penalty runs by the day
The New York DMV counts every day a registered car has no liability insurance. As of November 7, 2026, days 1 to 30 cost $8 per day, so a 25-day gap is a $200 civil penalty, or a 25-day registration suspension if you would rather surrender the plates and wait.
See the plate and insurance steps →Pickup day on a New York City block, in a garage or after snow
The buyer arranges and pays for the pickup "at a time that's convenient for you," so choose a window when a tow truck can reach the car; if your account offers no window, the assigned carrier contacts you to set one.
Check street cleaning first. Alternate side parking rules exist so the Department of Sanitation can clean the street; the city suspends them on listed holidays and for weather and emergencies, sometimes late in the day, and 311 has the status. After a snowfall the city restores the rules so plows can clear the curb lanes. Our advice: book a day when your side is not due for cleaning, park where the truck can stop beside the car, dig it out after snow, and warn the carrier about a low garage entrance.
Cannot be there? The buyer's help page says to confirm an unattended pickup with the carrier in advance and arrange payment by mail with support. Take your E-ZPass tag with you and update the plates on the account: the Thruway Authority says to keep the plates on the account current to avoid toll bills. The Department of Finance can boot a car owing $350 or more in parking or camera tickets in judgment, so settle that first. More in after you sell and tickets and boots.
Source: The buyer: free pickup; The buyer: scheduling; The buyer: unattended pickup; NYC DOT: alternate side parking; NYS Thruway: E-ZPass; NYC Finance: booting.
Questions New York City sellers ask first
Do my license plates stay with the car in New York?
No. The New York DMV says to take the plates and windshield sticker off before you complete the sale, then transfer or surrender them; plates left on can bring you tickets that are not yours. See NYS DMV: certificate of title and plates and insurance.
Can I cancel my insurance the day the car is picked up?
Not until the plates are surrendered. As of November 7, 2026, a lapse costs $8 a day for days 1 to 30, $10 for days 31 to 60 and $12 for days 61 to 90, or a registration suspension instead. See NYS DMV: surrender plates and NYS DMV: lapse civil penalty.
Does New York require a bill of sale for a private sale?
The DMV asks the seller to sign form MV-912 even for a gift. The DMV also accepts it as proof of sale if an insurance-lapse letter arrives later. See NYS DMV: buy, sell or transfer and NYS DMV: insurance lapses.
Who pays the New York sales tax when I sell?
The buyer, at the DMV, when the car is registered, on the DTF-802 you both complete. See NYS DMV: sales tax and seller paperwork.
Does my inspection sticker carry over to the buyer?
No. The DMV says an inspection issued to the previous registrant is not valid and gives the new registrant a 10-day extension. See NYS DMV: register and title and the inspection guide.
Pick the page that matches your car
Read how the offer works for the buyer's process in order, or the junk car guide if the car has not moved in months. Questions about a New York City sale? Call (332) 456-9629 and a person answers.
Everything else about a car in New York City
Each one answers a single question for New York City sellers, from official sources.
- PaperworkThe Transfer by Owner block, the MV-912 bill of sale, the DTF-802 tax form, the odometer and damage boxes, and the twelve state DMV offices in the five boroughs.
- Plates & insuranceWhy the plates come off before a New York City sale, how to surrender them by mail or at a borough DMV office, the FS-6T receipt, and the per-day penalty if the insurance ends first.
- InspectionWhether a New York City seller needs an inspection before a sale (no), the buyer's 10-day extension, the OBD II test and fees in the five boroughs, and selling a car that failed.
- Title problemsA lost New York title, a lender on it, a late parent's car, mismatched names or no proof at all: the DMV form and fee for each, and what the buyer accepts.
- Any conditionSelling a New York City car that will not start, was flooded or lost its catalytic converter: what the buyer takes, who pays the tow, and the title disclosure the DMV requires.
- Junk carWhat to do with a junk car in New York City: the partner buyer's free pickup, a DMV-licensed dismantler and form MV-907A, or a 311 derelict report, with plates off first.
- Where to sellPrivate sale, dealer trade-in or instant offer in New York City: the 8.875% tax and $50 title fee a buyer pays the DMV, the trade-in tax rule, and repair-or-sell arithmetic.
- Selling privatelySelling privately in New York City: where to meet, how to run a test drive, how to verify a cashier's check, and the New York handover order from title to plates.
- How the offer worksWhat happens between the online form and the check in New York City: the free offer, the week to accept, the truck on your block, and the plates and paperwork that stay with you.
- After you sellAfter a New York City sale: surrender the plates, cancel insurance only after, claim the registration refund, fix E-ZPass, and beat tickets dated after the sale.
- Salvage & rebuiltHow New York declares a car salvage, what the MV-83SAL examination costs at the Bronx and Queens Village sites, and the disclosure a New York City seller owes the buyer.
- Towed or impoundedWhere NYPD and Sheriff tows go in New York City, the pound fees as published, what to bring, the auction clock, and selling the car once it is released.
- Tickets & bootsWhat unpaid New York City parking and camera tickets do to a sale: judgment after about 100 days, boots and tows at $350, the fees to clear, and the defense for tickets dated after you sold.