Odometer disclosure

What it means

Federal law requires the transferor to disclose the mileage and to state whether it is the actual mileage, exceeds the odometer's limit, or is not the actual mileage.

The disclosure is usually printed on the title itself. Many states now record it electronically.

There are exemptions, generally for older vehicles and for certain heavy vehicles.

Why it matters

A transfer after a death still needs one, and the person signing is the executor, administrator or heir rather than the person who drove it.

It is also a sworn statement: a knowingly false disclosure is a federal offense, which is why a genuinely unknown mileage should be declared as such rather than guessed.

When you are likely to meet it

• When completing a title transfer.
• When the title has no space left for another disclosure.
• When the mileage is not known because the vehicle has been sitting.

How this varies by state

The federal rule is uniform; the form it is made on, and who keeps it, belong to each state's motor vehicle agency.

Related terms

• Bill of saleA written record that ownership of something passed from one person to another, with the date, the parties and the price.
• Certificate of titleThe state-issued document that proves who owns a vehicle — and whose issuing state decides the procedure after a death.
• Motor vehicle agencyThe state office that issues titles and registrations. It goes by a different name and a different set of initials in almost every state.
• RetitlePutting an asset into a new owner's name on the official record.
• Title applicationThe form that asks a state to issue a certificate of title in a new name. It is the central document in almost every vehicle transfer.
• Title jumpingSelling a vehicle on a title signed by somebody else without ever putting it in your own name. It is illegal everywhere.
• Vehicle identification numberThe unique code identifying a specific vehicle. Every title, registration and transfer form is matched against it.

Official sources

The authority this page describes, at the agency that publishes it. Sahvelo does not restate a rule from a secondary source.

• 49 CFR Part 580 — odometer disclosure requirements, as published (opens in a new tab)

Sahvelo guidance that uses this

• Vehicle title transfer