Colorado car bill of sale Do you need one? And what else does Colorado require?

Do you need a separate bill of sale?

Conditional — required if the price is not on the title

Read this one carefully, because it is the trap. If everything is completed correctly on the title, no bill of sale is needed. But a bill of sale IS required if the sale price is not listed on the title. Colorado calls it best practice either way, on form DR 2173 or a written equivalent carrying the purchase price, date, VIN, year, make, model and both parties' names and signatures. DR 2173 is a secure form, so it can also carry the federal odometer disclosure.

Source: Colorado DMV, Private Sale: Buying or Selling a Vehicle; form DR 2173

Does the title need a notary or witnesses?

Neither

No notary. Colorado asks for a properly endorsed Certificate of Title, and where more than one owner is named on the front, ALL owners must print and sign as the seller. Enter the purchase price and date on the title, and complete the federally required odometer disclosure while you are there.

Source: Colorado DMV, Private Sale: Buying or Selling a Vehicle, checked Oct 12 2026

What happens to the plates?

You keep them — never let the buyer drive off with them

Colorado's wording is a warning: never let the buyer drive away with your plates. In Colorado plates belong to the owner, not the vehicle, and you could be liable for future fines or tolls if you do not keep them. The buyer has 60 days to title and register, so a plate left on the car is exposed for that whole window.

Source: Colorado DMV, Private Sale: Buying or Selling a Vehicle

Do you have to tell the state you sold it?

Not required, but worth doing. Within 5 days

Colorado does not require you to report the sale, but you may. The DMV says to do it within 5 days, online with Report Release of Liability on myDMV or at your county motor vehicle office. The law says five business days.

Source: Colorado DMV, Private Sale: Buying or Selling a Vehicle

Where does the odometer reading go?

On the title — and tick the right box

Colorado spells out the seller's three choices: certify the actual mileage as shown and tick “actual mileage”; tick “not actual mileage” if you know the reading is wrong or unknown; or tick “mileage in excess of mechanical limits” if it has rolled past what the odometer can record. Then print your name exactly as it appears on the title in the Seller's Printed Name area and sign. Required for 2011-and-newer vehicles for their first 20 years; exempt are vehicles 20 years or older, anything rated over 16,000 lbs, and trailers.

Source: Colorado DMV, Private Sale: Buying or Selling a Vehicle; 49 CFR 580.5(c)

The forms Colorado publishes

• Report Release of Liability — Optional, but it removes you from liability for the buyer's actions after the sale. File within 5 days on myDMV or at a county office. Nothing in the kit replaces it. Where: myDMV at dmv.colorado.gov. Revision: online service.
• Secure Motor Vehicle Bill of Sale (DR 2173) — Required if the sale price is not on the title. Secure form — it can carry the odometer disclosure. Where: Bought from a DMV-listed vendor, not downloadable. Revision: not published (secure form).

Selling here, registering somewhere else

These are the rules where you are selling, not where the buyer is taking it. The title is signed under Colorado’s rules, and the plate and the notice are yours to handle here.

Registering it and paying tax falls under the buyer’s own state’s rules.

How Colorado compares

Counted from the same answers, for all fifty states.

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