Does an Oklahoma car sale need a notary?

Yes. The seller's assignment with warranty of title must be sworn before a notary. With an electronic title, Form 718 gets notarized instead.

Is Form 773 required when I sell?

Form 773 is optional and costs $10. Pre-registration is mandatory: one of the two parties, seller or buyer, completes it within 2 business days of the sale.

Can a junk car be sold in Oklahoma without the title?

In two cases. Oklahoma lets a Service Oklahoma certificate of ownership replace a missing title when a car that won't run falls outside the last 10 model years, or when a scrap metal dealer is buying it.

What if my dead car's registration has lapsed?

A car has to be registered every year, driven or not. Falling behind brings fees and penalties for this year plus the year before, along with a $1.00 daily penalty that stops at $100.

State guide

Oklahoma junk and dead car sales: the state rules

Selling a car in Oklahoma means signing before a notary and keeping your tag, and the buyer or seller pre-registers the sale within 2 business days. We buy whole non-running and junk cars, with free pickup anywhere in the US.

Updated October 11, 2026 · 9 sources

Photo: Greater Oklahoma City Chamber and Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau (uploaded by Chamber employee Lillie-Beth Brinkman lbrinkman@okcchamber.com) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Oklahoma rules at a glance

Titles: Service Oklahoma and licensed tag agencies
Notary: Required on the title assignment or Form 718
Pre-registration: Seller or buyer, within 2 business days of the sale
Plates: Stay with the seller; not transferable between owners
Buyer's deadline: 30 days, with the $11 title fee
No-title scrap route: Certificate of ownership for older dead cars or scrap dealer sales
Duplicate title: $11 on Form 701-7, notarized
Emissions test: None

Service Oklahoma and the tag agencies

Service Oklahoma, once a division of the Oklahoma Tax Commission, handles titles and tags, both at its own offices and through licensed operators most people call tag agencies. It began issuing electronic titles on July 1, 2025. Paper titles already out there remain valid until the car's next sale, transfer or lien.

What the seller does:

Fill in the back of the paper title: the assignment, your warranty of title, and any liens.
Swear to it before a notary.
Give it to the buyer at delivery.

No paper title? Print Form 718 from Service Oklahoma's site; its full name is the Electronic Title Bill of Sale. Complete it, have a notary stamp it, and hand it over in place of the title. Cars from the 2011 model year onward also need an odometer disclosure, normally on the title itself or on Form 729.

From delivery, the buyer has 30 days to present the assigned title, insurance verification, the $11 title fee and any excise tax.

The tag stays yours

The statute, 47 O.S. 1112.2, keeps the plate in your name and says plates are "not transferable between motor vehicle owners." Keep it. Get another car in the same registration class and Service Oklahoma can move the plate over for the remaining period.

If the buyer finds an unexpired plate left behind, the law tells them to take it off and destroy it. A buyer with no plate can drive 5 calendar days carrying a dated, notarized bill of sale.

Pre-registration and Form 773

Pre-registration is a recent addition. Seller or buyer, one of you completes it within 2 business days, online or in person at Service Oklahoma or a tag agency. It records the vehicle, who bought it and which plate is involved.

Form 773 is something else: an optional $10.00 Notice of Transfer of Ownership, filed through OkCARS or at a tag agency. Titles printed from January 2006 on have a tear-off tab that works the same way. Neither one transfers ownership, and neither lets the buyer skip titling on time.

When the title is missing

Replace a lost title with Form 701-7, signed by the record owner or lienholder in front of a notary. It costs $11, a $1.66 mail fee may be added, and the new title comes by mail only. Out-of-state owners whose Oklahoma registration lapsed must first pay the back fees and penalties and show insurance.

There's a shortcut for junk. Service Oklahoma's certificate of ownership replaces a title that is lost, cancelled or otherwise unavailable when:

the car is older than the latest 10 model years, isn't roadworthy and can't be fixed, or
the buyer is a scrap metal dealer.

It's filled out in triplicate with each party's name and address, the seller's driver license or Social Security number, and the car's make, model and VIN. The seller mails or brings one copy, with $4.00, to Service Oklahoma or a tag agency inside 30 days.

When nobody else with a claim or lien turns up, Service Oklahoma will also issue a title on an affidavit of ownership. Our no-title guide covers the general picture.

Salvage, junked and flood titles

The salvage and total-loss definitions cover only cars from the last 10 model years.

Salvage: making it safe for the road would cost over 60% of fair market value. Only real damage to structural parts counts: suspension, motor, transmission, and the frame or unibody.
Junked: unable to run on the highway, worth something only as parts or scrap, and down 80% in fair market value.
Flood damaged: a salvage or rebuilt car hit by flooding, or one that sat in water up to or above the dashboard and drew an insurance payment. Its title gets stamped "Flood Damaged."

Insurers paying out a total loss have 30 days to send Service Oklahoma the title and the plate. A salvage title follows; a junked car's title is cancelled and never reissued. With a visual inspection, a salvage car can earn a rebuilt title, though its past stays printed on it for good. More in the salvage title guide.

Junking a car under Oklahoma law

Own a car that won't run and has value only as scrap or parts? You may surrender its title to Service Oklahoma for cancellation at no cost, and that car is never titled or registered again.

Junk dealers, and anyone else taking a car apart for good, must get the owner's title, remove the plate, and turn in the pair within 30 days.

Abandoning a car on a highway or other public land is against state law. After 48 hours with no owner showing intent to move it, officers may treat it as abandoned. Junk cars in yards fall under city ordinances, and most of our Oklahoma town pages quote that city's code.

Towing and impound

47 O.S. 954A lets a property owner or legal possessor call in a licensed Class AA wrecker when they reasonably believe a car was abandoned there 48 hours or longer, or parked without permission. They sign a Tow Request and Authorization Form.

Notice rules:

When officers impound a car, DPS hears about it within 72 hours, then mails the owner and lienholder by regular mail within 3 days.
A Class AA wrecker towing off private property has 3 business days to request owner records and 7 days to send certified notice of where the car is. Skip that, and the owner owes nothing for storage.

Anyone lawfully holding an abandoned car gets a special lien for expenses, which can be foreclosed by sale. Before that sale, notice goes up in three public places in the county and out by registered mail to the owner, at least 10 days ahead. To challenge a removal by a public agency, the owner has 10 days from notice to request a hearing in writing, and it must be held within 72 hours of that request. See towed or impounded.

No emissions test

There is no emissions testing in Oklahoma. Service Oklahoma's title page mentions just one check: a $4 VIN inspection for records flagged with a serial-inspection hold.

The cost to watch is registration, which is due yearly even for a car that never moves. If it lapses you owe this year's fees and penalties plus last year's, and a $1.00-per-day penalty that begins after the grace month and tops out at $100.

Oklahoma sale checklist

Locate the title, or check whether the certificate of ownership fits your car.
Describe the car to us: running or not, missing parts, where it sits.
Sign before a notary, on the title or on Form 718.
Pull the tag and keep it.
Pre-register the transfer within 2 business days, if the buyer won't.

The largest Oklahoma cities

City	Population
Oklahoma City	719,849
Tulsa	416,209
Norman	130,943
Broken Arrow	124,991
Edmond	100,479
Lawton	90,503

All Oklahoma town pages

Free pickup reaches every one of these towns.

You can sell the whole car as it sits. Call (877) 421-6008 to talk about yours.

Cities and towns in Oklahoma

Questions people ask

Does an Oklahoma car sale need a notary?: Yes. The seller's assignment with warranty of title must be sworn before a notary. With an electronic title, Form 718 gets notarized instead.
Is Form 773 required when I sell?: Form 773 is optional and costs $10. Pre-registration is mandatory: one of the two parties, seller or buyer, completes it within 2 business days of the sale.
Can a junk car be sold in Oklahoma without the title?: In two cases. Oklahoma lets a Service Oklahoma certificate of ownership replace a missing title when a car that won't run falls outside the last 10 model years, or when a scrap metal dealer is buying it.
What if my dead car's registration has lapsed?: A car has to be registered every year, driven or not. Falling behind brings fees and penalties for this year plus the year before, along with a $1.00 daily penalty that stops at $100.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from one of these. Checked October 11, 2026.

Oklahoma Statutes Title 47, Motor Vehicles (notary, plates, pre-registration, scrap, salvage, towing) oklegislature.gov
Service Oklahoma: Vehicle titles oklahoma.gov
Service Oklahoma: Electronic titles (Form 718) oklahoma.gov
Service Oklahoma Form 773, Notice of Transfer of Ownership of a Vehicle Oklahoma.gov
OAC 260:135-7-84, plates not transferable law.cornell.edu
OAC 260:135-7-204, Notice of Transfer law.cornell.edu
Service Oklahoma help: copy of a title (duplicate fee) intercom.help
Oklahoma Tax Commission motor vehicle policy, Chapter 60 (registration, auction buyers) oklahoma.gov
Colorado DMV: emissions (states without emissions testing) dmv.colorado.gov