Tennessee: titling an imported car

Tennessee's Department of Revenue lists an MSO/MCO, bill of sale, HS-7 and a photo of the FMVSS label for imports, and its clerk guide lets mini trucks use medium-speed or Class I registration.

Sources checked 2026-10-17. Not legal advice; rules change.

At a glance

• Import ease (where verified): Process documented; 25-year treatment not stated in the sources read. Tennessee asks for a photo of the vehicle's FMVSS label; the sources read do not say what is accepted for a 25-year-old exempt vehicle, which has none.
• Kei / mini-truck: Official source describes a kei / mini-truck title or registration path. The county clerk guide says mini trucks can get a medium-speed registration (top speed over 30 and up to 35 mph, 49 CFR 571.500) or a Class I plate; it does not say how a faster or imported kei is treated.

What the official sources say

1. Tennessee Department of Revenue, Imported Vehicles: to obtain a Tennessee title and/or registration for a vehicle imported into the U.S., submit to the county clerk the Manufacturer's Statement of Origin or Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin, a bill of sale, Form HS-7, and 'a clear and legible photograph of the vehicle's Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards Label.'
   Source: Tennessee Dept. of Revenue: Imported Vehicles
2. Tennessee County Clerk Guide, Imported Vehicles (authority cited: Public Law 100-562, 49 USC Ch. 301): the same four items (bill of sale 'if applicable'); the applicant must provide English translations of all documents written exclusively in a foreign language; military members who transferred a vehicle because of deployment are exempt from customs.
   Source: Tennessee County Clerk Guide: Imported Vehicles
3. Tennessee County Clerk Guide, Bill of Sale: for a foreign vehicle registered in a jurisdiction that does not have a certificate of title law, the department accepts only a notarized bill of sale and the proper foreign registration as evidence of title; if the foreign registration is dated less than 90 days before the application, the next past bill of sale is also required.
   Source: Tennessee County Clerk Guide: Bill of Sale
4. Tennessee County Clerk Guide, Mini Trucks: mini trucks can receive a medium speed registration or a Class I registration. 'Medium Speed Vehicle' means a four-wheeled electric or gasoline vehicle, excluding golf carts, whose top speed is greater than 30 mph but not greater than 35 mph, including neighborhood electric vehicles and minitrucks; medium speed vehicles must meet or exceed 49 CFR 571.500, and the low or medium speed affidavit is submitted. Mini Trucks are also permitted to receive a Class I license plate.
   Source: Tennessee County Clerk Guide: Off-Highway Vehicles + Class I/II Vehicles

Not verified (do not rely on ImportClock for these)

• Neither the Department page nor the clerk guide says whether a vehicle imported under the 25-year exemption (which has no FMVSS label) can be titled without the label photo, or what substitute the clerk accepts. A Tennessee county clerk should be asked in writing.
• The guide does not say how a kei vehicle whose top speed exceeds 35 mph is registered, whether 'mini truck' covers imported kei vehicles, or what the Class I plate involves.
• Emissions and tax details were not verified.
• Retry note: the old tn.gov titling URLs returned 404 because the site was migrated; the current Imported Vehicles page loaded on retry. The clerk-guide pages return HTTP 403 to plain curl but were read through the search/fetch tools.

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