A vehicle bill of sale records the sale of a car, truck or other motor vehicle between a seller and a buyer — the VIN, the price, the odometer reading, and each party’s identification. Download the ready-to-fill template below, or read the field-by-field checklist first, including what’s federally required and what varies by state.
A complete, ready-to-fill PDF — 10 clauses, blanks for every detail, and a signature block for both parties. Free, no email, no account. Read it and adapt it before you use it; the cover page explains what it can and cannot do for you.
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This document is a general-purpose template provided for information only. It is not legal advice, it does not create a lawyer–client relationship, and nobody has reviewed it against your situation.
Laws differ by country, state and province, and they change. A clause that is standard in one place can be unenforceable — or illegal — in another. Terms that are ordinary between two businesses can be void in a consumer or employment context.
Read every clause before you use it, fill in every blank, and delete anything that does not apply. For anything high-value, unusual, or that you could not afford to lose a dispute over, have a qualified lawyer in your jurisdiction review it before it is signed.
This kind of document is regulated differently almost everywhere. Many places require specific notices, disclosures or statutory wording, and some make clauses like these unenforceable outright. Treat this template as a starting point to take to a local lawyer, not as a document to sign as-is.
Seller & buyer names and addresses
Full legal names and addresses for both parties — the same names that will appear on the signed-over title.
Vehicle description
Year, make, model, body style, color, and the 17-character VIN. The VIN is what a DMV actually matches against the title — everything else is descriptive.
Odometer disclosure statement
Federal law requires the seller to state the mileage and certify it as actual, in excess of mechanical limits, or not actual, at the time of transfer — see below.
Purchase price & payment
The agreed price, how it’s being paid, and a written acknowledgment that the seller received it — the basis a state will use to calculate sales or use tax.
As-is condition disclosure
A sale “as is, with all faults,” plus what the seller actually knows about the vehicle’s condition, accident history and title status (clean, salvage, rebuilt, flood).
Title-transfer language
The seller’s warranty of ownership and the mechanics of signing over and delivering the certificate of title — a bill of sale supports that process, it isn’t a substitute for it.
Lien / lienholder release, if applicable
If a lender still has a lien on the vehicle, who pays it off and how the buyer gets proof it’s released before or at the same time as the sale.
Signatures & date
Both parties sign and date it. Some states also require this document, or the title itself, to be notarized — check before you rely on a plain signature.
Two rules govern a vehicle sale, and they come from different places. The odometer disclosure comes from federal law — the Truth in Mileage Act (49 U.S.C. § 32705 and its implementing regulations at 49 C.F.R. Part 580) requires the seller to state the mileage and certify it as accurate, in excess of the odometer’s mechanical limits, or not accurate, at the time ownership transfers. It applies the same way no matter which state the sale happens in, with a narrow set of federal exemptions (currently heavy-duty vehicles and vehicles more than 20 model years old — check the current rule before assuming a vehicle is exempt, since the exemption itself has changed before).
Everything about actually transferring the title — the form the buyer registers on, whether the bill of sale itself needs to be notarized, how sales or use tax is calculated and collected — is set by the state where the vehicle will be titled, not by federal law and not by this document. Several states require their own prescribed bill-of-sale or title-transfer form in addition to, or instead of, a generic one like this template. Treat this bill of sale as the general-purpose record of the sale, and confirm the specific registration requirements with your state’s DMV or equivalent titling agency before you rely on it alone.
The template above keeps the two separate on purpose: a dedicated odometer disclosure clause that stands on its own regardless of state, and a dedicated clause pointing you to check your state’s title-transfer and notarization requirements rather than guessing at them.
Fill in the template above and send it to the other party for signature with a free Evenseal account — 3 documents a month, no card required. Only need your own copy signed? Self-sign for free with no account at /sign-pdf.
Not legal advice — title-transfer, notarization and tax requirements vary by state; check your state DMV or equivalent titling agency before relying on this template alone.