VIN inspection · Maine

Getting your VIN inspected in Maine

Check this first: Maine may not need you to do this.

Maine doesn't issue titles for vehicles 26 model years old or older. If yours is that old, you don't need one to own or register it in Maine. The rule changed in October 2023, so older advice you find online may be wrong.

A Montana title still makes sense if a buyer in another state, an agreed-value insurer, or a lender wants to see one. If that is you, carry on. If not, keep your money.

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

Who Maine allows

  • Law enforcement
  • Licensed dealer
  • Notary public

Start hereLicensed 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 Maine will recognize the job. Maine's own version is MVT-10, useful to name on the phone, though the form they complete is Montana's MV20.

AMBIGUOUS - the statute lists a notary but MVT-10 itself says law enforcement. Confirm before relying on the notary route. Maine also exempts vehicles 26+ model years from needing a title at all.

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 Maine'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.

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$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.