How to start a used car dealership in Missouri
Last verified: November 9, 2026. Every rule links to its official source.
To start a used car dealership in Missouri you need a used motor vehicle dealer license from the Department of Revenue (DOR). Plan on a permanent, Highway Patrol-certified building and display lot, a pre-licensing seminar, a $50,000 bond and a license fee of $150 or less. Financing your own customers needs no separate license unless a finance company you set up buys the contracts or you collect under another name.
Missouri at a glance
| What | The number | Source |
|---|---|---|
| License | Used motor vehicle dealer license from DOR; $150 or less for the first year | DOR manual |
| Selling without one | Illegal at 6 or more a calendar year; DOR’s manual uses 8; stay under 6 | RSMo 301.570 |
| Bond | $50,000, or $100,000 to deliver a car before its title | RSMo 301.560 and 301.210 |
| Seminar | Within the 12 months before you apply; at least 4 hours on DOR’s provider form | Form 5110 |
| Decision | Within 8 working hours of a complete application | RSMo 301.560 |
| Financing your own sales | No license to hold and collect your own contracts | Division of Finance |
| Sales tax | Today most buyers pay at the license office: 4.225 percent state tax plus local | DOR: buying a vehicle |
| Sundays | Licensed dealers may not open for sales | RSMo 578.120 |
| Renewal | Expires December 31; at least 8 sales a year to renew | RSMo 301.550 |
Who will you deal with to open a Missouri dealership?
DOR licenses you, the Highway Patrol certifies your site, and your city and county handle zoning and local licenses. The other offices matter for parts of the business.
| Office | What it grants, collects or enforces |
|---|---|
| DOR Motor Vehicle Bureau, Dealer Licensing Section | The dealer license, dealer plates, renewals and monthly sales reports (Form 4682). Its newsletters call it the Dealer Services Group. DOR also issues the sales tax number cities and counties ask for. |
| Missouri State Highway Patrol | The Form 5748 site certification, or city police in a first-class county (RSMo 301.560), and name-based criminal records through MACHS. |
| Approved seminar providers | The pre-licensing seminar. DOR lists three. |
| City planning and licensing offices | Zoning clearance or approval, occupancy permits and the city business license. |
| County collector | The merchant’s license required under RSMo 150.100. |
| DOR license offices | Where most buyers title the car and pay sales tax today. |
| Division of Finance | A Motor Vehicle Time Sales license, only if a finance company you set up buys your contracts or you collect under another name. |
| Attorney General | The Merchandising Practices Act, with civil penalties of up to $1,000 per violation. |
How will you sell: cash, a lender, your own financing or wholesale?
The used dealer license covers all three retail options. Financing your own sales adds contract rules, not a second license.
- Cash. The buyer pays in full. Today most buyers then title the car and pay sales tax at the license office within 30 days of purchase.
- Outside lender financing. A bank, credit union or finance company buys the contract. Missouri’s motor vehicle retail installment contracts fall under Chapter 365, so its contract rules still shape what you sign with the buyer.
- Financing your own customers. This is buy here pay here. You may charge any time price differential the buyer agrees to, stated as a yearly percentage, with a $25 minimum. A late charge after 15 days is capped at 5 percent of the installment or $25, whichever is less. After a 10-day payment default, you may not repossess until 20 days after you give the buyer a written notice of the right to cure. See Financing your own sales in Missouri.
- Wholesale only. A wholesale dealer sells only to franchise or used dealers, or through dealer-only auctions (RSMo 301.550). It skips the seminar but still needs the $50,000 bond and a garage policy.
What are the steps to start a used car dealership in Missouri?
There are 9 steps. Each is covered in full in How to get a Missouri dealer license, step by step, and the one-page Missouri checklist puts them in order.
- Set up the business. Get your Secretary of State registration number if your ownership type requires one, and a DOR sales tax number. Use one business name everywhere, because the seminar certificate and the bond carry it.
- Find a location that meets the place-of-business rules. You need a permanent enclosed building, a display lot visible from the street, a sign with 6-inch letters, and at least 20 posted hours a week on at least four days from Monday to Saturday. An enclosed garage is not display space, and a banner is not a permanent sign.
- Clear the city and the county. The state form asks for no zoning or local license, so check zoning, the city business license and the county merchant’s license yourself. Kansas City’s zoning clearance is free; Columbia charges a $45 application fee plus a gross receipts fee.
- Take the pre-licensing seminar. First-time used dealers need an approved seminar within the 12 months before applying. DOR’s provider form sets at least 4 hours.
- Have the Highway Patrol certify the site. A Patrol member, or city police in a first-class county, completes Form 5748. The certification repeats yearly for three years, then every other year.
- Run the criminal record checks. Each owner, partner or principal officer needs a record issued within six months. A Missouri name search costs $16 plus a small convenience fee; run it shortly before you file and save a PDF.
- Buy the bond and the garage policy. The bond is $50,000, or $100,000 if you will deliver cars on a 30-day title agreement. The garage policy is required; neither the statute nor Form 4682 sets minimum limits.
- File Form 4682 with DOR. DOR’s rule requires its online licensing portal. The first-year fee is $150 in January and $12.50 less each later month, plus $50 for the first dealer plate.
- Wait for approval before you buy or sell. DOR must decide within eight working hours of a complete application. Until then you may not buy or sell any motor vehicle.
What does it cost to open a used car lot in Missouri?
The state’s fees are small: $150 or less for the license and $50 for the first dealer plate. Private companies price the bond, the garage policy and the seminar, and your city and county add their own fees.
| Item | Cost | Who sets it |
|---|---|---|
| Dealer license, one year | $150 in January, $12.50 less each later month | DOR manual |
| Two-year license, after 3 years | $300 in January, down to $162.50 in December | DOR manual |
| Dealer plates | $50 for the first; $10.50 for the second and third | State law |
| MACHS criminal record | $16 per name plus a small convenience fee | Highway Patrol |
| Seminar | Not published by DOR | The provider |
| Bond and garage policy | Quoted privately | The surety and the insurer |
| Kansas City | Business license $35 to $10,000 by gross receipts (2023 tables); zoning clearance free | The city |
| St. Louis City | Business license $200 or $100, plus $2.50 per City Auto Dealer Tag | The city |
| Columbia and Boone County | $45 plus $0.25 per $1,000 of gross receipts, $75 minimum; county merchant license $25 a year | City and county |
| Finance license for your own contracts | None; $2,000 for the first location if a finance company you set up needs one | Division of Finance |
No total appears here, because premiums, rent and inventory vary.
How long does it take to get a Missouri dealer license?
DOR must decide within eight working hours after it receives a complete application. Everything before filing sets the real timeline, and we found no official estimate for the whole process.
- The seminar. It must be within the 12 months before you apply.
- The criminal record. It must be issued within six months of the license.
- Local review. Kansas City’s zoning clearance takes 1 to 2 business days online, and its business license takes 7 to 10 business days by form. Springfield requires its business license at least 2 weeks before you open.
Start with zoning, since a site that fails it stops everything else.
What do you have to do in your first 90 days as a licensed dealer?
Seven things need to be right from your first sale. Each is covered in After the sale in Missouri, and who can inspect you.
- Temporary permits. A permit is valid for 30 days, or up to 60 on a delayed-title sale; you may charge no more than $5 (RSMo 301.140), and the rule allows one per vehicle. Keep a record of each permit and void cancelled ones online.
- The title. Pass the assigned title at delivery. Otherwise the sale is presumed fraudulent and void, unless you use a written 30-day agreement backed by the $100,000 bond (RSMo 301.210).
- Sales tax. Today most buyers pay at the license office within 30 days: 4.225 percent state tax plus local tax, less any trade-in. A buyer who is late pays a $25 penalty that grows to as much as $200.
- The monthly sales report. DOR must receive it by the 15th of the next month, even with no sales (RSMo 301.280). DOR’s manual sets a $300 penalty for a late or incomplete report.
- The administrative fee. It is optional, capped at $620.79 for 2026, and must be the same for every retail customer, itemized, with a notice that begins “AN ADMINISTRATIVE FEE IS NOT AN OFFICIAL FEE” (RSMo 301.558). Ten percent of each fee goes to the state by ACH.
- Records and inspections. Keep deal files at the licensed location for at least five years. DOR and law enforcement may inspect titles and inventory records during normal business hours (RSMo 301.564).
- The 8-sale minimum. To renew you must document at least 8 sales in the last year licensed, prorated in your first year.
Buyers who live in St. Louis City or St. Louis, St. Charles or Jefferson counties also need an emissions inspection to register.
What trips people up
- Counting to eight. The statute bars six or more sales a year without a license, even though DOR’s manual uses eight.
- Planning a home lot. We found no state ban, but the building, street-visible display lot and 20-hour rules apply, and a home generally cannot meet them.
- Opening on Sunday. It is a class C misdemeanor for a licensed dealer.
- Delivering a car without its title. Without the written 30-day agreement and the $100,000 bond, the sale is presumed fraudulent and void.
- Late titles. Automotive was the second-largest consumer complaint category at the Attorney General’s office in 2025, with more than 2,400 complaints that often involve titles not delivered on time.
- Skipping a no-sales month. The sales report is still due by the 15th, and DOR will not renew while a penalty is unpaid.
- Missing the 8-sale minimum. You cannot renew for one year.
What changed recently
- February 2027 (announced). FUSION, DOR’s new titling system, is announced for February 2027. Dealers will then complete title, registration and tax in a MyDMV Business Account, keep 2 percent of the tax and have it pulled by ACH 10 business days after the sale. DOR’s October 20, 2026 guidance says no interface is available between that account and dealer management systems, and its transactions will not support e-signatures.
- November 2026. DOR’s November newsletter calls this year’s renewal the last in DMV Connect, and renewals now bring expiration tabs instead of new dealer plates. File by November 2 to avoid the $25 fee.
- November 9, 2026. DOR announced that its FUSION sandbox, a test environment, would open to all remaining licensed entities.
- August 28, 2026. HB 2423 changed the Motor Vehicle Time Sales license fees (RSMo 365.030); the Division of Finance now charges $2,000 for the first location.
- August 28, 2025. Under SB 28, the administrative-fee share sent to the state falls from 10 percent to 3.5 percent once the new system is implemented. DOR has not announced when.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a license to sell used cars in Missouri?
Yes, if you will sell six or more vehicles in a calendar year. Missouri law makes that illegal without a dealer license (vehicles titled in your own name are treated differently). DOR’s manual uses eight as its licensing benchmark. Stay under six unless licensed. See How many cars can you sell in Missouri without a dealer license?
How much does it cost to start a used car dealership in Missouri?
DOR charges $150 or less for a first-year license, depending on the month you start, plus $50 for the first dealer plate and $10.50 for a second. A MACHS criminal record is $16 per name plus a convenience fee. The bond premium, garage policy, seminar and local licenses are priced separately.
Do I need a separate license for buy here pay here in Missouri?
No, if you hold and collect your own contracts; the Division of Finance says a dealer may do that without a license. A finance company you set up to buy your contracts, or collecting under a name other than the dealership’s, needs a Motor Vehicle Time Sales license, $2,000 for the first location.
Do Missouri dealers collect sales tax on cars?
Today most buyers pay at the license office when they title the car, within 30 days: 4.225 percent state tax plus local tax, less any trade-in. Under FUSION, announced for February 2027, dealers will collect it, keep 2 percent and have the rest pulled by ACH 10 business days after the sale.
Can a buyer cancel a used car purchase within 3 days in Missouri?
Missouri has no general three-day cancellation right for car purchases that we found. Two narrower rights exist. On a retail installment contract, a buyer who has not received the car may rescind until you give or mail a copy you signed. And a buyer may void a sale if a delayed title is not delivered within 30 days.
Does Missouri tax a dealer’s inventory?
Missouri levies a merchants’ tax on goods a merchant holds on January 1, at the real estate rate, and requires a county merchant’s license. We could not confirm whether county assessors apply it to vehicle inventory, so ask your county assessor before your first January 1.
Your next step
Get the one-page Missouri new dealer checklist: every form, fee and office on this page, in the order you will need them, sent to your email.
When your application is filed, you can set up your lot in LeftLane or book a LeftLane demo while you wait for DOR. LeftLane is a dealer management system for independent and buy-here-pay-here dealers, it runs in any browser, and real people answer the phone at 512-222-9549.
Sources
- Missouri DOR: Form 4682, Form 5110, Dealer and Business Operating Manual, seminar requirements, buying a vehicle and Dealers and Lienholders
- Missouri DOR FUSION: October 2026 newsletter and Dealer Title and Registration Information; Dealer Newsletter, November 2026
- 12 CSR 10-26: motor vehicle dealer rules
- RSMo 301.550, 301.560, 301.570, 301.140, 301.210, 301.280, 301.558 and 301.564
- RSMo 365.030, 365.070, 365.100, 365.120 and 408.554
- RSMo 578.120, 150.040, 150.100 and 407.100
- Highway Patrol: criminal record check
- Division of Finance: Motor Vehicle Time Sales and application packet
- Missouri Attorney General: top consumer complaints, 2025
- Local: Kansas City BizCare and RD-105 fee tables; St. Louis fees and dealer tags; Springfield business license; Columbia licenses and gross receipts; Boone County Collector
This guide is general information for dealers, not legal advice. Rules and fees change. Confirm with the agency or a licensed attorney in your state before you act.