VIN inspection · Alabama

Getting your VIN inspected in Alabama

Check this first: Alabama may not need you to do this at all.

Alabama doesn't require a title for a vehicle 35 model years old or older. If yours is that old, the county license office will register it on a bill of sale, and there is nothing for us to get you that Alabama would ask for.

If it is between 30 and 34 model years old (1992 to 1996 this year), Alabama was titling vehicles by then. If it was last titled in Alabama and you can reach the person it was titled to, a replacement title from the county costs about $15 and beats anything we can do for $299. Ask the county license office whether there is an Alabama title on record before you spend money with us.

A Montana title still makes sense if you want a title document in hand for a buyer in another state, for agreed-value insurance, or for a lender, or if the Alabama record turns out to be a dead end. If that is you, carry on. The process is the same.

Alabama lets a private inspector do this, so you can hire somebody instead of asking the police for a favor.

Who Alabama allows

  • Licensed Alabama dealer
  • County license-plate official
  • Alabama bank or credit union

Start hereLicensed Alabama dealer

When you book

Tell them the form is Montana's and that they'll be completing Section 2 of it. A dealer or mechanic who does VIN verifications for Alabama will recognize the job. Alabama's own version is MVT 5-1, useful to name on the phone, though the form they complete is Montana's MV20.

Credential we need back: Designated Agent identification.

Alabama's 'Designated Agent' list is the broadest found. Unconfirmed whether an agent will inspect with no ownership document.

What happens at the inspection

Whoever does it fills in Section 2 of Montana form MV20 by hand, in ink, standing at the vehicle, and signs it. You collect one document showing their name and department or license, take four photos, and mail the original back to us with the return label from your packet and one Forever stamp.

Read the step-by-step, including what not to let them write on.

Checked against Alabama's own form or titling page on 2026-08-26. If the rules have moved since, tell us and we'll correct it the same week.

All 50 states

$20 opens your case and buys the prepared form. The $279 balance is charged only once your Montana title has been issued and is in our hands.