Missouri license plate lookup

What a Missouri plate lookup gives you

We match the plate to the car’s VIN and decode it: year, make, model, engine and open safety recalls. The plate data comes from a commercial vehicle-data provider. If the car is a candidate, you can order a history report on the VIN next.

The search leaves out the owner. The Missouri Department of Revenue treats motor vehicle records with personal information as closed records, protected by the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (18 U.S.C. § 2721), and they can’t be obtained through a Sunshine Law request.

Who issues plates and titles in Missouri

Titles and plates come from the Missouri Department of Revenue through its Motor Vehicle Bureau. Most cars must carry plates on both the front and the rear; trailers, motorcycles and similar vehicles carry one at the rear (RSMo 301.130).

In a private sale the seller removes the plates, valid or expired, before you take the car. The seller must also give you a properly assigned title, a safety inspection certificate less than 60 days old, a notarized lien release if there was a loan, and, if the seller lives in St. Louis City or Jefferson, St. Charles or St. Louis County, an emissions inspection no more than 60 days old. Both of you print your names and sign the back of the title (selling a vehicle).

Requesting Missouri motor vehicle records

The Department of Revenue uses separate forms depending on whose record you want (motor vehicle records):

Each form goes to the Motor Vehicle Bureau as its instructions say. The department doesn’t list fees on that page, so check the form itself.

Missouri title designations that stay for good

Missouri law tells the Director of Revenue to print designations such as Reconstructed Motor Vehicle, Motor Change Vehicle, Specially Constructed Motor Vehicle and Non-USA-Std Motor Vehicle on the current title and every later one (RSMo 301.190). A salvage car brought back to the road gets a title with the designation prior salvage. A designation, once placed, must appear on the face of every later title for that vehicle (RSMo 301.573).

Before a reconstructed or similar vehicle gets its first Missouri title, the Missouri State Highway Patrol or another authorized agency examines it, checking the VIN and the vehicle’s classification. If another state designated the car reconstructed, prior salvage or similar, the Missouri title names that state and the earlier designation. A Missouri title also records whether the last odometer statement said the true mileage differs from the odometer or is unknown.

Before you buy a car with Missouri plates

• Check that the VIN from the plate lookup matches the dashboard, the door label and the Missouri title.
• Read the face of the title for prior salvage, Reconstructed Motor Vehicle or another state’s designation.
• Look at the odometer section of the title for a mileage warning, and compare it with a history report. See odometer rollback check.
• Ask for the safety inspection certificate, and the emissions inspection in the St. Louis area, dated within 60 days.
• Run a history report for total losses and brands from other states. See salvage title check.

Our own Smart VIN Check report, with NMVTIS title records, costs $15.99. CARFAX and AutoCheck are on pricing.