An ordinary sale
On an ordinary California sale, standard plates stay with the vehicle. Personalized and special-interest plates belong to you, so take those off before pickup and you can retain or transfer them through the DMV.
California paperwork
California salvage titles, REG 138 and REG 227
Three forms do three different jobs and people mix them up constantly. One tells the DMV you no longer own the car, one replaces a missing title, and one is what a total loss gets instead of a pink slip.
We are not attorneys and we are not the DMV. What is here is the general rule with the DMV's own page one click away. Where your situation decides the answer, we will say so rather than guess for you.
The one with a deadline
REG 138, and the five days that protect you
File the Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability, form REG 138, with the DMV within five calendar days of the sale. It is free and it takes about two minutes online.
Once the DMV has it, you are not responsible for parking violations, traffic violations or civil litigation arising after the date of sale. It is not a blanket release. If it ever comes to a complaint, a court decides whether you filed properly, which is the whole reason to file it on time and keep what the DMV sends back.
It does not transfer ownership. That is a separate step the buyer completes, and the release of liability is what protects you in the meantime.
The form asks for the plate number, the last five digits of the VIN, the odometer reading, the date of sale and the buyer's name and address. Those have to be right and complete, and the confirmation is worth keeping.
Signing the title
No notary, and the one procedure where that changes
Signing over an ordinary California title needs no notary. You sign where indicated and that is the whole of it, which is one step fewer than Arizona or Nevada.
One procedure is different. If a vehicle is going onto a Nonrepairable Vehicle Certificate and you do not have the California title, the DMV asks for a notarized Application for Replacement or Transfer of Title, form REG 227, as the proof of ownership. That requirement belongs to that certificate. It is not a general rule for selling a car without a title, and it does not apply to an ordinary signed title at all.
Total loss
What a salvage certificate replaces, and who files for it
REG 488C is the Application for Salvage Certificate or Nonrepairable Vehicle Certificate. It is the form that gets filed. What comes back from the DMV is the Salvage Certificate itself, and that is the document that takes the place of your pink slip.
When an insurer settles a total loss, filing the REG 488C within ten days of the settlement is the insurer's job, not yours. If you are self-insured, or you kept the car and no claim was settled, it falls to you.
If the claim has already been settled, you should be holding a Salvage Certificate rather than the title. If nothing has been filed yet, tell us where the claim stands and we will tell you which form applies.
Total Loss Salvage and Non-Repairable Vehicles · Application for Salvage Certificate or Nonrepairable Vehicle Certificate (REG 488C)
Plates
Where the plates go depends on whether it is a total loss
A total loss
A total loss is different. The REG 488C has a section for the plates, and they are normally surrendered with the application. If you have personalized plates you want to keep, that same section is where you say you are retaining them for reassignment.
California title and DMV questions
Does a California title have to be notarized?
Signing over an ordinary California title needs no notary. You sign where indicated and that is the whole of it, which is one step fewer than Arizona or Nevada.
What is REG 138 and when do I have to file it?
File the Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability, form REG 138, with the DMV within five calendar days of the sale. It is free and it takes about two minutes online. Once the DMV has it, you are not responsible for parking violations, traffic violations or civil litigation arising after the date of sale. It is not a blanket release. If it ever comes to a complaint, a court decides whether you filed properly, which is the whole reason to file it on time and keep what the DMV sends back.
Does the release of liability transfer ownership?
It does not transfer ownership. That is a separate step the buyer completes, and the release of liability is what protects you in the meantime.
What is REG 488C?
REG 488C is the Application for Salvage Certificate or Nonrepairable Vehicle Certificate. It is the form that gets filed. What comes back from the DMV is the Salvage Certificate itself, and that is the document that takes the place of your pink slip. When an insurer settles a total loss, filing the REG 488C within ten days of the settlement is the insurer's job, not yours. If you are self-insured, or you kept the car and no claim was settled, it falls to you.
What if I cannot find the title?
One procedure is different. If a vehicle is going onto a Nonrepairable Vehicle Certificate and you do not have the California title, the DMV asks for a notarized Application for Replacement or Transfer of Title, form REG 227, as the proof of ownership. That requirement belongs to that certificate. It is not a general rule for selling a car without a title, and it does not apply to an ordinary signed title at all.
Do my license plates stay with the car in California?
On an ordinary California sale, standard plates stay with the vehicle. Personalized and special-interest plates belong to you, so take those off before pickup and you can retain or transfer them through the DMV. A total loss is different. The REG 488C has a section for the plates, and they are normally surrendered with the application. If you have personalized plates you want to keep, that same section is where you say you are retaining them for reassignment.
The clock nobody mentions
The paperwork is not the reason to wait
Four things are happening to your car and your claim right now. None of them is a sales tactic. All of them you can check yourself in about ten minutes.
The car is worth less every month it sits
A wrecked car does not hold still. The battery discharges and sulfates, seals and gaskets dry out, brake rotors and lines corrode, tires flat-spot and perish, and anything that was holding fluid starts not to. None of that touches the damage from the collision. All of it comes off what the car is worth.
Check it: If the car has been parked since the accident, work out how many months that is. That is roughly how much of the drivetrain value has been quietly spending itself.
A tow yard charges by the day, and it does not stop
If the car went to a tow yard or an impound lot after the collision, there is a daily storage charge accruing against it right now. Bay Area yards commonly run into the high tens of dollars a day once the free period ends, and the lien attaches to the vehicle. A car can sit long enough that the storage bill exceeds what anybody will pay for it, at which point the yard keeps it and the owner gets nothing.
Check it: Call the yard and ask for the current total and the daily rate. If the car is in storage, this is the most expensive clock running against you and the only one with a hard ending.
Claim decisions have deadlines, and they are not yours to extend
If an insurer has declared a total loss, the decision about whether you keep the vehicle, and what the carrier deducts if you do, runs on the carrier's timetable. Owner-retained salvage is a choice with a window on it. So is disputing a valuation. The windows differ by carrier and by policy, which is exactly why they catch people out: there is no single deadline to remember and no reminder coming.
Check it: Ask your adjuster, in writing, what your deadline is for the retention decision and for disputing the valuation. Get it before you decide anything, not after.
Our written offer stands for 14 days
The number we put in writing is good for 14 days. That is not a pressure tactic and there is no timer on this page. It is how long we can hold a price against a market that moves, and it is stated so you know what you are holding rather than finding out when you call back.
Check it: The date is on the offer itself. If it lapses, call and we will price it again. The number may be different, because the car will be.
Paperwork handled, offer in writing, paid at pickup
We file the REG 138 the same day and walk you through whatever else your situation needs. The offer stands for 14 days.