can i sell a car to someone if i lost the title, and can the buyer order a new title or do i have to?
It’s easiest for YOU to go get the new title before you sell it. Duplicate titles are usually cheap, and if you’ve got a good DMV, don’t take much time at all.
If you do not have the title in hand, you will get less for your car. Fewer people will respond to your ads. A buyer doesn’t know why you don’t have a title…for all they know it could be stolen, you could be trying to hide a salvage, ownership could be otherwise in question… And while in most cases the buyer probably could get a title, no one wants to have to deal with that, and depending where you are they may be facing a runaround trying to get a title in their name without the old, signed-over title.
Get a duplicate title yourself.
You could not sell me a car without a title. I recommend you not buy one without a title.
The laws may vary in different states - you’d want to check for sure.
I’m in VA and you would have to get a replacement title first, and then sell the car. Getting a replacement title is normally not a very difficult thing to do.
Cigroller is right. Laws vary from state to state. In NH, any car older than 15 years can be sold/bought without a title. Other states vary.
This is one of those questions with 51 answers (in this country, anyways).
I would mention that in my state an option is to have both you and the buyer go to the DMV and they can transfer the title on the spot and then send a duplicate title to the buyer. This has been how I’ve done all my transactions lately-- it makes for zero chance of any problems with the title transfer.