Adams sellers keep the license plates

Coloradans coming from states where the plate stays bolted to the car are often surprised the first time they sell here. The rule runs the other way: the seller always keeps their license plates. Plates belong to the person, not the vehicle, so they come off before the buyer drives away.

That leaves the new owner responsible for sorting out their own plates or a temporary registration. None of that is the seller’s problem to solve, but it is the seller’s problem if the plates ride off on the old car. As long as those plates are registered to you, you can end up tangled in questions about how the vehicle is used afterward, from a parking ticket to something worse.

The trouble is that a private sale is a busy few minutes. Everyone is watching the cash, the title signatures, and the handoff of the keys, and a pair of plates is the easiest thing in the world to forget. Two screws and a screwdriver, done at the curb before money changes hands, settle it.

So unbolt the plates and keep them, and make sure the buyer leaves with a real plan, either a temporary registration or new plates, rather than a borrowed set of yours. The Adams County selling-a-vehicle page walks through the rest of the handoff if you want the full checklist before you meet up.