Wheel ScoutWhat a Louisiana plate lookup shows
A license plate points to one car. We turn the Louisiana 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 Louisiana plate looks like
A Louisiana car carries one plate, on the rear. State law (R.S. 32:53) says the plate goes on the back, fastened so it can't swing, at least 12 inches off the ground, clean and readable. Only trucks over 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight and dump trucks may put it on the front instead. Type the plate without spaces; we find the car.
Louisiana passenger plates are issued for two years and are not transferable between owners. When a car changes hands, the new owner gets a new metal plate from the OMV or a Public Tag Agent. That means:
- The seller keeps the plate. The OMV's advice is to cancel the plate before canceling the car's liability insurance. Cancel it online and you don't have to turn it in, but it must be removed from the car and destroyed. It can also be turned in at any OMV office or by mail.
- Temporary tags are a dealer thing. The OMV sells temporary tags to licensed dealers, who record each one in the state's Temporary Tag Database. Buying from an individual, plan to title and plate the car at the OMV or a Public Tag Agent.
- The seller can report the sale. Through the OMV's Notice of Vehicle Transfer service the seller flags their record with the buyer's name, the date and the price. Ownership still does not legally change until the new owner applies for title.
The plate fee is based on the car's value, so a new plate on an expensive car costs more. The numbers are in the cost table below.
Louisiana title brands: what the lookup can show
Louisiana has more title brands than most states, and most of them come from water. Our $5 report reads the car's NMVTIS record, the national title database that every state's titling agency reports to, so a brand from Louisiana or any other state shows up.
| Salvage | A total loss: damage equal to 75% or more of the car's market value in the current NADA guide, declared in an insurance settlement. The salvage title must be applied for within 30 days of the settlement. |
|---|---|
| Reconstructed | A total loss that was rebuilt. It cannot be plated or driven until a title branded "Reconstructed" is issued. A reconstructed vehicle can never be plated as a passenger carrier or public carrier. |
| Water Damaged | Any amount of water damage to the power train, computer or electrical system requires this brand when the car doesn't meet the salvage or destruction rules. It applies to dealers and individuals alike. |
| Salvage / Water Damaged | A car totaled by water from an event that was not a declared disaster. |
| Certificate of Destruction | A car whose power train, computer or electrical system was flooded in a gubernatorially declared disaster or emergency and that is a total loss. The certificate can be reassigned at most twice before the car is dismantled or destroyed, and the OMV will not accept another state's certificate of destruction for any kind of Louisiana title. |
| Hail-Damaged | Cosmetic hail damage (glass, paint, dents) worth 75% or more of the car's value does not make it a total loss in Louisiana. It gets a Hail-Damaged brand instead. |
How a reconstructed title is earned. The owner files the Vehicle Application (DPSMV1799), the salvage title and every notarized bill of sale in the chain, an Affidavit of Physical Inspection signed by a POST-certified officer whom State Police certified to inspect vehicles, the Application for a Salvage-Reconstructed Motor Vehicle (DPSMV1637) with a statement of repairs, and the Reconstructed Parts List (DPSMV1635), which names every major part replaced, the VIN of the donor car and who sold it. Some cars are picked for a closer look at the replaced parts. A Texas nonrepairable title issued after September 1, 2003 can never be rebuilt here.
The disclosure rules protect the buyer. Anyone selling a car with a salvage or reconstructed title must tell the buyer in writing. If they don't, the buyer can undo the sale and recover the price plus the fees and taxes paid. Sellers must also disclose flood water damage in writing on the Disclosure of Water Damage statement, signed by both sides; if they skip it, the buyer has one year to sue to rescind the sale. A water-damage brand from another state carries onto the Louisiana title.
What a Louisiana title transfer costs
The buyer pays the OMV or a Public Tag Agent when titling the car. Amounts below are from the OMV's fee page and policy manual; sales tax depends on where you live.
| Title fee | $68.50. |
|---|---|
| Handling fee | $8. |
| Lien | $15 to record a UCC-1 financing statement, or $10 for another type of security agreement. |
| Sales tax | The state rate is 5%, the Louisiana Department of Revenue's rate since January 1, 2025. Parish and city tax is added on top, based on where the car is domiciled, which for most buyers is their home address. It is charged on the sales price minus any qualifying trade-in and rebate, and paid to the OMV when the car is titled. The OMV's Parish Tax Table shows the combined rate for your address. |
| License plate | 0.1% of the car's value per year, on a minimum base of $10,000, sold in two-year terms, so the smallest passenger plate is $20. The fee rises $2 for each $1,000 of value. The value is the higher of the bill of sale price (trade-ins are not subtracted here) or the NADA full loan value. If the car is damaged, a seller's affidavit and a mechanic's written repair estimate can lower it. |
| Late tax: penalty | Sales tax is due by the 40th day after the sale. After that, a penalty of 5% of the tax for each 30 days late, up to 25%. Only the penalty can be waived, for reasonable cause, on a written request. |
| Late tax: interest | For sales since January 1, 2023, 1.25% a month on the state tax and 1% a month on parish and city tax, until it is paid. |
| Gift | A car given rather than sold is transferred with a notarized Act of Donation. |
Louisiana forms and deadlines
| Vehicle Application (DPSMV 1799) | The OMV's title and registration application. Mail it to OMV headquarters in Baton Rouge or bring it to an OMV office or a Public Tag Agent. |
|---|---|
| The title | A current Louisiana title assigned by the seller to the buyer before a notary, with any lien released. If a lender is recording a new lien at the sale, an authorized officer of a federally insured lender can witness instead. |
| Bill of sale | An original notarized bill of sale showing the actual price and a full description of the car. Not needed if the price is written on the title assignment. |
| Odometer | If the back of the title has no odometer statement and the car isn't exempt, add a separate odometer statement. |
| ID and insurance | A copy of each new owner's current photo driver's license or state ID, and proof of liability insurance. |
| Buyer's deadline | Sales tax is due by the 40th day after the sale. If the due date falls on a weekend or holiday, the last business day before it counts. If the OMV rejects your application, you get one 30-day extension from the day you receive it back. |
| Branded cars | Form DPSMV1637, signed by both seller and buyer, carries the salvage, reconstructed, water-damage or hail-damage disclosure. |
The 40 days run from the sale, not from when you get around to the paperwork. A notary is involved at the title assignment, so plan the sale at a notary's office or a Public Tag Agent and finish everything in one visit.
Inspections in Louisiana: the 2026 change
Until now every vehicle registered in Louisiana needed a valid safety inspection sticker in the lower left corner of the windshield, sold for one or two years at licensed inspection stations. In the five ozone parishes, East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Ascension, Livingston and Iberville, cars also needed emissions testing and could only get a one-year sticker.
Act 701 of 2026 (House Bill 1085), signed by the governor on June 2, 2026, changes that:
- Who still gets inspected. Commercial vehicles, covered farm vehicles over 26,000 pounds, and student transportation vehicles. Ordinary personal cars will no longer need a safety inspection sticker once the law takes effect.
- A new sticker instead. Every registered vehicle will carry a Louisiana Vehicle Identification Program sticker showing its VIN, for a fee capped at $6 a year, which may be collected every two years. The OMV must have rules in place by December 31, 2026.
- No tickets in the meantime. From June 30, 2026 to January 1, 2027, officers may not cite any vehicle for failing to show an inspection certificate.
- When it starts. January 1, 2027 for most parishes. In the five emissions parishes it takes effect only if and when the U.S. EPA approves the state's plan amendments, so emissions testing continues there until then.
- Windshields. The law adds crack and chip limits for the windshields of noncommercial cars.
For a buyer this means the sticker on the glass tells you less than it used to. Pay a mechanic for a pre-purchase inspection, and on any Louisiana car look for flood signs: silt or a water line under the carpet and seats, rust on seat rails and under the dash, fogged lights, and a musty smell.
Before you meet a Louisiana seller
- Run the plate or the VIN here first, before any deposit. Then match the year, make, model and trim to the car in front of you.
- Match the VIN on the dashboard, the driver's door sticker and the title.
- Match the name on the title to the seller's ID. The assignment has to be notarized, so the notary will check too.
- Ask in writing about water damage. Louisiana requires the seller to disclose flood damage on a signed statement. A seller who won't sign it is telling you something.
- Check for a lender. The lien must be released before the title will transfer.
- Write the real price on the title assignment or a notarized bill of sale. It sets both your sales tax and your plate fee.
- Count 40 days from the sale to have the tax paid, and let the seller keep their plate.
Where these Louisiana 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.
- Louisiana OMV: Used title and registration
- Louisiana OMV: Vehicle registration, title and plate fees
- Louisiana OMV Policy 55.00: Penalty and interest
- Louisiana OMV Policy 42.01: Rebuilt salvaged vehicles
- Louisiana OMV Policy 38.00: Automobile license plates
- Louisiana Legislature: R.S. 32:702, definitions (total loss, water damage, hail)
- Louisiana Legislature: Act 701 of 2026 (HB 1085), vehicle inspection stickers
- Louisiana OMV: Cancel plate
- Louisiana Legislature: R.S. 32:53, display of plate
- Louisiana OMV Policy 76.00: Water damaged vehicle
- Louisiana OMV: Notice of vehicle transfer
- Louisiana Department of Revenue: State sales tax rate
Look up a plate from another state
The reports
Works for Louisiana 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
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
Louisiana license plate lookup questions
How do I look up a Louisiana license plate?
Type the plate above with Louisiana 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 Louisiana?
The title fee is $68.50, plus an $8 handling fee, the 5% state sales tax plus parish and city tax, and a two-year plate fee of 0.1% of the car's value per year (at least $20). Recording a lien adds $10 or $15.
When is sales tax due on a car bought in Louisiana?
By the 40th day after the sale. After that the OMV adds a 5% penalty for each 30 days late, up to 25%, plus monthly interest of 1.25% on the state tax and 1% on parish and city tax.
Does Louisiana still require an inspection sticker?
Act 701 of 2026 ends the safety sticker for ordinary personal cars starting January 1, 2027, and no one can be ticketed for a missing sticker from June 30, 2026 to January 1, 2027. Commercial and student transport vehicles still get inspected, and emissions testing continues in five Baton Rouge-area parishes until the EPA signs off.
What is a reconstructed title in Louisiana?
It is the brand a salvage car gets after it is rebuilt, inspected by a State Police-certified officer and documented with bills of sale and a parts list. It cannot be plated or driven until that title is issued, and the seller must disclose it in writing.
Can a flood car be titled again in Louisiana?
A car totaled by flooding in a declared disaster gets a Certificate of Destruction and cannot be titled for the road again. Lesser water damage to the power train, computer or electrical system earns a Water Damaged brand, and the seller must disclose it in writing.
Can I find the owner of a Louisiana plate?
No. The federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act keeps owners' names and addresses in state motor vehicle records private, and no legitimate plate lookup shows them. You see the car, not the person.
Who runs vehicle titles in Louisiana?
The Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV), part of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, issues titles and plates. You can title at an OMV office or a licensed Public Tag Agent.
More ways to check a car
Find the deal, then check it.
Wheel Scout alerts you the moment an underpriced car posts on Marketplace, OfferUp or Craigslist near you, and runs the history right in the app.
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 Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections, Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV).