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Every state licenses motor vehicle dealers, and the requirements — an established place of business, usually a surety bond, insurance, pre-licensing education in some states, and the fees — are set by that state’s motor vehicle agency. Each guide below walks through the application in the order the agency expects it, with the bond amount, fees and forms sourced to the agency.
Pick your state
How to Get a Dealer License — guides for 30 states so far
Guides are live for 30 states; the remaining states are being built in the same format and will appear here as they publish.
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
- Washington
- Wisconsin
What every state guide covers
- Whether the state requires a general business license — and what your city or county requires instead (see the 51-state table).
- Entity registration with the Secretary of State, and the filing fee.
- The auto dealership’s own licenses and permits — which agency issues them, in what order, and what they cost.
- Insurance the state actually mandates, separated from what is merely advisable.
- Sources — every fee and rule is linked to the agency page or statute it came from.
Related
- Business license requirements by state — which states require a general license and what the rest require instead.
- Workers’ comp requirements by state — the employee threshold that triggers coverage in each state.
Step one in every state above: the entity
The license, the permits and the insurance all attach to a registered business. ZenBusiness files your LLC for $0 plus the state fee, in any state.
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