How to Transfer a Car Title in Texas

How to transfer a car title in Texas step by step

1. Check the original title. The seller should properly assign it to the buyer and provide any applicable odometer or sale information required on the document.
2. Complete Form 130-U. This is the Application for Texas Title and/or Registration used for the title and registration transaction.
3. Resolve any recorded lien. Obtain a lien release when a recorded lien has been satisfied.
4. Prepare buyer documents. Bring accepted identification, proof of insurance and applicable inspection or emissions documentation.
5. Submit the transaction on time. In the ordinary case, complete the title and tax process within 30 days.

County offices can confirm transaction-specific requirements. Gifts, inheritances, even exchanges, new-resident vehicles and some military situations follow different rules from the standard transfer described here.

Texas title transfer paperwork checklist

This checklist is general information, not legal advice. Do not rely on a photograph or fabricated replacement for an official document.

Texas title transfer fees and registration paths

The title application fee is $33 for purchaser-residence counties on the official TxDMV list and $28 in every other Texas county. The purchaser or owner's county of residence controls the amount—not the county that happens to process the paperwork.

If eligible current Texas registration transfers with the vehicle, the registration-transfer fee is $2.50. When registration is not current or will not transfer, full registration may be required instead. The transfer and full-registration paths are alternatives; they are not added together.

If current registration cannot transfer, the result changes to the applicable full-registration charges. For a normal non-commercial passenger vehicle using annual registration, known statewide registration charges can total $64 before a variable local fee or qualifying emissions or EV charge; adding a $28 Bell County title fee produces $92 in this limited example.

Title transfer cost is not the total purchase cost

The title and registration-transfer result does not include the vehicle purchase price or Texas motor vehicle sales or use tax. A private-party used-vehicle purchase may also require the Standard Presumptive Value comparison when calculating tax.

Use the Texas title transfer fee calculator when you only need the title and registration path. Use the Texas private-party car purchase calculator when you also want the estimated tax and total government cost.