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

Do you need a separate bill of sale?

Not required by the Code

The assignment and warranty of title on the certificate is what transfers the vehicle under § 3-112(a); the Vehicle Code does not require a separate bill of sale for a private sale. Keep your own written record anyway — your statutory protection depends on proving you delivered both possession and the assigned title, and the Seller's Report of Sale, VSD 703, is what puts the date and the buyer on the state's record.

Source: 625 ILCS 5/3-112(a)

Not required. Still worth having.

The title transfers ownership — and the buyer leaves with it. A separate bill of sale gives both of you something to keep.

It records who bought and who sold, the agreed price, when the vehicle changed hands, and any other terms you write into it, such as what was included or that it was sold as-is.

It does not replace the signed title or any notice Illinois requires. You may not need one for the state. You may still want one for your own records.

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Does the title need a notary or witnesses?

Neither

625 ILCS 5/3-112(a): at the time of delivery of the vehicle the owner executes an assignment and warranty of title to the buyer in the space provided on the certificate, and causes the certificate and assignment to be mailed or delivered to the buyer or to the Secretary of State. No notary.

Source: 625 ILCS 5/3-112(a), checked Oct 12 2026

What happens to the plates?

They come off — they stay with you

625 ILCS 5/3-501: when you transfer the vehicle its registration expires, and the owner removes the plates and registration stickers. You either send them to the Secretary of State or have them moved to another vehicle you own. They do not go to the buyer, who must register the vehicle before driving it.

Source: 625 ILCS 5/3-501, 3-502

Do you have to tell the state you sold it?

Yes — mail the Seller's Report of Sale

The Secretary of State publishes a Seller's Report of Sale, form VSD 703, to complete as soon as you sell. The form says submitting it protects you from future responsibility for the vehicle, and that it does not transfer ownership. Behind it sits the statute: 625 ILCS 5/3-112(e): an owner who has delivered possession of the vehicle to the buyer AND complied with the requirements of §§ 3-112 and 3-115 is NOT LIABLE as owner for any damages thereafter resulting from operation of the vehicle. Note what that turns on — delivering possession and delivering the properly assigned title, together. Do half of it and the protection does not attach. The buyer must then apply for their new title within 20 days.

Source: Illinois SOS form VSD 703.3 (Sept 2026); 625 ILCS 5/3-112(b) and (e); § 3-115(c)

Where does the odometer reading go?

In the assignment on the title

Illinois titles carry an odometer certification, and on any transfer the seller must write the odometer reading on the title form, and tick a box if it is over the odometer's mechanical limits or is not the actual mileage. Federal law says the same for an owner selling their own vehicle.

Source: 625 ILCS 5/3-112.1; 49 CFR 580.5(c)

The forms Illinois publishes

• Assignment and warranty of title — On the certificate itself. Deliver it with possession — that is what releases you. Where: on the Illinois certificate of title. Revision: not stated on the title.
• Seller's Report of Sale (VSD 703) — Mail it to the Secretary of State as soon as you sell. It does not transfer ownership. Nothing in the kit replaces it. Where: ilsos.gov → publications → vsd703.pdf. Revision: VSD 703.3, September 2026.

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 Illinois’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 Illinois compares

Counted from the same answers, for all fifty states.

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