Florida License Plate Lookup: VIN, Title Brands & Costs

What a Florida plate lookup shows

A license plate points to one car. We turn the Florida plate into the car's 17-character VIN, show you the year, make and model, then read its history: salvage, flood and rebuilt brands, title history by state, odometer readings and theft records. You also see the factory specs and the safety recalls for that model year before you pay. What it never shows is the owner: the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act keeps names and addresses in DMV records private, and we don't sell them.

What a Florida plate looks like

Florida issues one plate per car, and state law puts it on the rear, readable from 100 feet (s. 316.605). The word Florida runs across the top. The bottom line is your choice at the tax collector: the county name (not offered in every county), "Sunshine State" or "In God We Trust." Under s. 320.06 every plate is issued for 10 years and replaced at the renewal after that, so a faded or peeling plate on a car for sale is a small clue about how long the owner has had it. Type the plate without spaces; we find the car.

Plates belong to the state, but in a sale they stay with the seller, not the car. FLHSMV's own words: in a sale, license plates stay with the seller, not the vehicle. The seller takes the plate off and can move it to a new or replacement car, and must surrender it at a service center if they move out of state or cancel the insurance. FLHSMV warns that failing to surrender a valid plate when the insurance is canceled or expires leads to a driver license suspension, which is why Florida sellers are careful about this.

Temporary tags come in 10, 30 and 90 day versions. A 10-day tag covers a weighing or a VIN verification; a 30-day tag covers a dealer sale, a sale between two people, a car sold to a resident of another state, and a few other cases. Knowingly misusing a temporary tag to avoid registering is a first-degree misdemeanor, and issuing one to a fictitious person to hide the real owner is a third-degree felony (s. 320.131). A used car wearing a stack of temporary tags is a car whose paperwork you want to see before you pay.

Most owners renew their registration in the 90 days before their birthday. If you have no Florida plate to transfer onto the car you are buying, you pay the $225 Initial Registration Fee on top of everything else; the receipt from a plate you surrendered can be credited against it, if the initial registration fee was paid for the car that plate was on.

Florida title brands: what the lookup can show

Florida brands a title when a car has been declared a total loss, flooded or rebuilt. Our $5 report reads the NMVTIS record, the same national title database FLHSMV points buyers to in its flood advisory, so the brands below show up alongside the odometer history and theft check. FLHSMV also runs a Motor Vehicle Information Check for Florida-titled cars; it needs the VIN or title number, which is why the plate-to-VIN step comes first.

Salvage Rebuildable	Florida's salvage title. Under s. 319.30 a car is a total loss when an insurer pays out on it, or, for an uninsured car, when the cost of repairing it is 80 percent or more of the cost of replacing it with a like car. A Salvage Rebuildable title can be repaired and retitled.
Certificate of Destruction	Issued instead of a salvage title when a late-model car (seven model years or newer) worth at least $7,500 is damaged to 90 percent or more of its retail cost. FLHSMV may not issue a certificate of title for that vehicle again; the paper can be reassigned at most twice before the car must be dismantled or destroyed. Parts only, no matter who fixes it.
Rebuilt	A salvage car that passed a rebuilt inspection at an FLHSMV Bureau of Dealer Services regional office or a Private Rebuilt Vehicle Inspection Program facility (the private program runs in Bay, Broward, Duval, Escambia, Hillsborough, Leon, Manatee, Marion, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach and Volusia counties since October 1, 2022). The owner brings the salvage title, form HSMV 82040, the Statement of Builder (form HSMV 84490) and original paid receipts for every major component part, with the part's own serial number where it has one. The inspection fee is $40, plus $20 for each re-inspection after a fail. The new title is stamped "rebuilt and may have previously been declared a total loss vehicle due to damage," and a rebuilt decal goes on the car. Removing that decal to hide the history is a third-degree felony (s. 319.14).
Flood	Section 319.14(1)(b) requires FLHSMV to mark flood damage in a conspicuous place on the title. FLHSMV's disaster guidance is blunt: a flooded car whose repairs cost 80 percent or more of its value is totaled, and it may not be offered for sale, sold or exchanged until an application for a salvage title or certificate of destruction is filed and the title is branded as flooded. The catch FLHSMV itself points out: not every state brands flood cars, so a flooded car from somewhere else can arrive in Florida with a clean title. That is why the report and your nose both matter.
Total Loss Vehicle	A newer brand under s. 319.30(3)(a)2. If the owner and insurer agree to repair rather than replace a car and the repair cost tops 100 percent of replacement cost, the owner must ask for this brand within 72 hours, and it becomes part of the title history.

FLHSMV's flood checklist is worth doing in person: use your nose (a musty smell or heavy air freshener), look for a waterline or mud in the glove box, under the dash and in the trunk, and check for rust or corrosion that is unusual for the car's age. Dealers must disclose a brand in writing. Buying from an individual, run the check yourself before the deposit.

What a Florida title transfer costs

Buying from an individual, the buyer pays everything at the county tax collector's office (FLHSMV calls them motor vehicle service centers). Title fees come from FLHSMV's fee schedule; the tax comes from the Florida Department of Revenue. Your county sets the surtax, so the county has the final word on that line.

Title transfer fee	$75.25 for an electronic title, plus $2.50 if you want a paper title printed. A car coming into Florida for the first time pays $85.25 (original used title). A lien recording adds $2. If you want the title the same day, Fast Title is $10 more.
Late title fee	$20 if you apply more than 30 calendar days after the sale.
Sales tax	6% of the price you paid, plus your county's discretionary sales surtax. The surtax is set by the home address of the buyer, not where the car was sold; the Department of Revenue's county list (Form DR-15DSS) shows rates from 0.5% to 2%, and on a motor vehicle the surtax applies only to the first $5,000 of the price. The tax collector collects all of it when you title the car.
Registration	The base tax is by weight: $14.50 for a car up to 2,499 pounds, $22.50 for 2,500 to 3,499 pounds, $32.50 for 3,500 pounds and up, plus the other statutory fees on the registration. A new plate is $28. If you have no plate to transfer, add the $225 Initial Registration Fee.
Insurance	You must show proof of Florida PIP and property damage liability coverage, at least $10,000 of each, before you register.

Florida forms and deadlines

Transfer of Title by Seller	The seller fills in this section on the front of the paper title: the buyer's name and address, the odometer reading, the selling price and the date. Both buyer and seller sign the odometer disclosure. No blank titles: Florida law makes it illegal to transfer a title when the buyer's name does not appear on it (s. 319.22).
Form HSMV 82040	Application for Certificate of Title With/Without Registration. The buyer files it with the signed title, proof of identity and proof of Florida insurance.
Buyer's deadline	30 calendar days from the sale, or the $20 late transfer penalty applies.
Electronic titles	Many Florida titles exist only electronically. Then the buyer and seller must both go to a service center, both with photo ID, and complete a secure title reassignment (HSMV 82994 or 82092) and the odometer disclosure. Or the owner can ask FLHSMV to convert the electronic title to paper before the sale; FLHSMV says the paper title arrives by mail in about 3 to 4 weeks.
Form HSMV 82050, Notice of Sale	Florida law requires the seller to file it. It removes the seller's registration from the car and protects them from liability for what the buyer does with it. The form itself says ownership does not change until the purchaser applies for and is issued a certificate of title, so a seller who files it is doing you no harm; they are doing the sale properly.
Liens	FLHSMV's rule: a vehicle cannot be legally sold between individuals if there is an existing lien. The lender must report the lien satisfied first, and lenders have 10 days after payoff to do it. A title showing a lienholder is not ready to transfer.
Cars never titled in Florida	Need a VIN and odometer verification (form HSMV 82042) by an FLHSMV examiner, a licensed Florida dealer, a notary or a police officer before the title is issued.

FLHSMV's buyer page says it plainly: in a sale between two people you do not have the protections of a dealer sale, and Florida has no lemon law for used cars. Check the seller's ID against the name on the title, match the VIN on the dash and the door sticker to the title, and have a mechanic look at the car.

Inspections in Florida

Florida doesn't require a safety inspection or an emissions test to title or register a personal car. What the traffic code does have is the roadside kind: under s. 316.610 a police officer with reasonable cause to believe a car is unsafe can stop it and inspect it, and, for minor defects, give written notice to repair them within 48 hours, not counting Sunday. Nothing in FLHSMV's list of what a buyer needs to title and register a car includes a mechanical inspection.

What Florida does require is identity. A car that has never been titled in Florida gets a VIN and odometer verification (HSMV 82042) before a title is issued, and a 10-day temporary tag exists for exactly that trip. A rebuilt car gets the physical rebuilt inspection described above, with the $40 fee.

So the inspection is on you. FLHSMV's advice is to have the car checked by a mechanic of your choice before you buy, and to verify the odometer reading through the Motor Vehicle Information Check; the reading at the time of purchase goes on the title application.

Before you meet a Florida seller

Run the plate or the VIN here first, before the deposit. Match the year, make, model and trim to the car in front of you.
Match the VIN on the dashboard, the door sticker, the window etching and the title. FLHSMV says the VIN on the car and the VIN on the title must match; walk away from one that doesn't.
Match the name on the title to the seller's ID. For an electronic title, confirm ownership through the Motor Vehicle Information Check before you meet.
Look for a lienholder on the title. If one is printed there, the car cannot legally change hands until the lien is satisfied.
Do the flood check from FLHSMV's list: smell, carpet, glove box, under the dash, trunk, unusual rust. Hurricane cars travel.
Plan the paperwork. Paper title: the seller completes Transfer of Title by Seller and you file within 30 days. Electronic title: you both go to the tax collector together with photo ID.
Bring your plate or $225. No plate to transfer means the Initial Registration Fee.

Where these Florida facts come from

Read on the state's own pages on October 31, 2026. Fees and rules change; the county tax office has the final word on the day you file.

Look up a plate from another state

The reports

Works for Florida plates and every other state. You see the car before you pay.

Basic history report

By VIN or license plate · official NMVTIS record · shows right away

Salvage, junk, flood and rebuilt title brands
Title history by state, with dates
Odometer readings and rollback flags
Total-loss records from insurers
Theft check
Market value for the car

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$10

Full vehicle history report

By VIN or license plate · Not instant: emailed or texted to you within two hours

Every owner, how they used it (personal, lease, rental or fleet) and where
Accidents and damage reports
Title brands: salvage, junk, rebuilt, flood, fire, hail, lemon
Odometer readings over time, checked for rollbacks
Service and maintenance history
Open recalls and common owner complaints for the model

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Florida license plate lookup questions

How do I look up a Florida license plate?

Type the plate above with Florida selected. We turn it into the car's VIN and show the year, make and model at no charge, then the $5 report shows its title brands, odometer readings, total-loss records and theft check.

How much does it cost to transfer a car title in Florida?

The title transfer fee is $75.25 (plus $2.50 for a paper title), plus 6% sales tax and your county's surtax on the first $5,000, plus registration by weight ($14.50 to $32.50 base for a car) and $28 for a plate if you need one. If you have no Florida plate to transfer you also pay the $225 Initial Registration Fee. File within 30 days to avoid the $20 late fee.

How is sales tax figured on a car bought from an individual in Florida?

6% of the price paid, plus the discretionary sales surtax of the county where you live, which the Department of Revenue says applies only to the first $5,000 of the sale. The tax collector collects it when you title the car.

Does Florida require a vehicle inspection?

No. Florida doesn't require a safety or emissions inspection to register a personal car. The only required checks are a VIN and odometer verification (form HSMV 82042) for a car never titled in Florida and the physical inspection a rebuilt salvage car must pass.

Can a car with a Florida Certificate of Destruction be titled again?

No. Under s. 319.30 FLHSMV may not issue a certificate of title for that vehicle; it can only be dismantled or scrapped. A Salvage Rebuildable title is different: it can be repaired, inspected for $40 and retitled as Rebuilt.

Why do Florida titles say Rebuilt, and what is the decal?

A salvage car that passes the rebuilt inspection gets a title stamped rebuilt and may have previously been declared a total loss, plus a rebuilt decal fixed to the car. Peeling the decal off to hide the history is a third-degree felony.

Can I find the owner of a Florida plate?

No. The federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act keeps owners' names and addresses in FLHSMV records private, and no legitimate plate lookup shows them. You see the car, not the person.

Who runs vehicle titles in Florida?

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) issues titles and plates; your county tax collector's office handles the transfer in person. The Florida Department of Revenue sets the sales tax and surtax rules.

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The basic history report uses NMVTIS data from an approved NMVTIS data provider. NMVTIS records come from states, insurers and salvage yards; not every event is reported to it. Vehicle specs and recalls come from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Wheel Scout is not affiliated with any marketplace or government agency. Wheel Scout is not affiliated with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV).

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