South Carolina Title Transfer in a Private Sale: Form 400, $500 IMF Cap

To transfer a South Carolina title in a private sale, the seller fills in the back of the title (your name and address, odometer, price, date, both signatures), you complete SCDMV Form 400, and you pay a $15 title fee plus the infrastructure maintenance fee, which is 5 percent of the price but never more than $500. To put plates on it you first pay the county property tax bill, then register within 45 days of the sale. The seller keeps the plate, so you are not driving off on theirs.

I went through the SCDMV pages on October 16, 2026, and one small thing first: the old scdmvonline.com address now forwards to dmv.sc.gov, so bookmarks from a few years ago still land in the right place. The rules below come from the agency's Buying or Selling a Car page, its fee schedule and the current Form 400. Where two SCDMV pages say slightly different things, I say so.

What goes on the back of the title

The seller's job is the first assignment on the title. SCDMV lists the buyer's name and address, lienholder information if you are financing, the odometer reading, the sales price, the date of sale, the seller's signature and the buyer's signature. If the title has no spot for a price, a bill of sale has to travel with the paperwork. Neither SCDMV page asks for a notary, which is a relief if you have dealt with states that make you find one on a Saturday.

The two SCDMV pages disagree on the bill of sale. The buying page says you need one only when the price is missing from the title. The separate Titles page says a signed bill of sale or buyer's order showing the total price minus any trade-in is required for all title transactions, signed by the buyer. Honestly, write one and have both of you sign it. It costs nothing and it settles the argument at the counter.

If two owners are on the title joined by "and," both have to sign. If it says "or," either one can. A title with a lien on it is a stop sign until the lender's release is in hand.

Form 400 and the fees

Form 400, the Title and/or Registration Application (the copy I pulled is marked Rev. 12/2025), is the one form every buyer fills out. It warns that strikeovers or erasures on the VIN or odometer, correction tape and correction fluid are not accepted, so print a clean copy instead of fixing a mistake. If you do not hold an SC license or ID, add Form TI-006C, the Statement of Vehicle Operation in South Carolina.

The SCDMV fee page lists the title at $15, or $35 for an expedited title done in person. The infrastructure maintenance fee (IMF) is 5 percent of the purchase price, capped at $500, and SCDMV says most vehicles owe IMF instead of sales tax. Registration for most passenger cars is $40, paid every two years; it is $38 if you are 64 and $36 at 65 or older. Hybrids add $60 and electric vehicles add $120 on top of that.

Here is how the cap plays out. On a $9,000 car the IMF is $450, plus $15 for the title and $40 for registration, so $505 before the county bill. On a $14,000 car, 5 percent would be $700, but the cap holds it at $500, so you pay $555 plus property tax. Anything over $10,000 hits the cap. Our used car sales tax post shows how other states tax a private sale if you want to compare.

County property tax comes before plates

South Carolina does registration in an order that confuses newcomers. You contact your county office to have a property tax bill generated, pay it, and bring the paid receipt in your name to SCDMV. The amount depends on your county and the car, so I cannot give you one number. Budget for it, though, because it can be bigger than the IMF on a newer car.

The 45-day clock runs from the purchase date. Miss it and the fee page lists late registration penalties of $10 at 46 to 60 days, $25 at 61 to 75, $50 at 76 to 135 and $75 after that. You can do title and registration together at a branch, or mail the packet by certified mail only to SCDMV Titles and Registration, PO Box 1498, Blythewood, SC 29016-0024.

What the seller still has to do

Plates do not pass from one person to another, so the seller either moves the plate to another car or surrenders it if it is still active. The seller also files a Notice of Vehicle Sold, Form 416. SCDMV is clear that this form does not transfer ownership; it protects the last registered owner until you finish the transfer. If you are paying the seller in installments, the seller fills in Section 2 of your Form 400 as lienholder and gets the title by mail until you pay it off.

Check the car and the paper before you pay

SCDMV itself tells buyers to check the title history and open recalls before handing over money. Match the dash and door VIN to the title using our VIN verification for title transfer steps, then search NMVTIS for brands. If the title says salvage or rebuilt, read our South Carolina salvage and rebuilt title rules before you make an offer. A flood car from the coast can show up with a clean-looking out-of-state title, and that is exactly the case where a history report earns its keep.

Our CARFAX for private-party sales post covers the seller who offers a printed report from who knows when. Run your own. CarVins resells CARFAX and AutoCheck reports under license and is not affiliated with CARFAX, AutoCheck or Experian; in mid October 2026 a single report has been running about $5.50 as a guest, about $4.50 for members and about $6.75 for both, while retail sits around $39.99 to $44.99. Prices move, so check the total at checkout. CARFAX's own overview shows what sections to expect.

Sources

• SCDMV: Buying or Selling a Car
• SCDMV: Titles
• SCDMV fee schedule
• SCDMV Form 400 (Rev. 12/2025)
• NMVTIS (U.S. Department of Justice)
• CARFAX vehicle history reports