California Dealer Bond

The California DMV insurance does not require proof of insurance to get or keep your used car dealer license. Even though it is not mandatory, getting insurance can save you quite a lot of trouble in your day-to-day operations.

All states have a specific division created to deal with overseeing the licensed vehicle dealers doing business legally. In states like Arizona, this division is called the Motor Vehicle Department (MVD) and in states like California, dealers will recognize the name Department of Motor Vehicles [...]

This is the #1 most common question we receive even though it's actually a DMV pre-licensing test question. The answer is a little complicated but hopefully, this makes sense. There is a carve-out in the law that allows a $10,000 bond for motorcycle-only retail dealers. [...]

Your Auto Dealer Bond should be active by the time you plan to see your DMV inspector to get licensed. For instance, if you place to the see the inspector on the 3rd Thursday of the month, your bond should be active on that [...]

The California DMV has a very specific carve-out in the law for wholesale-only auto dealers. The exception is meant to offer low-volume, wholesale-only dealers the opportunity to get lower limit auto dealer bonds. As a result, wholesale dealers save themselves some money. This is [...]

The protection that a surety bond provides is for your customers and partners, not for your business. It’s meant to safeguard the interests of the general public, other car dealers, and the lenders that provide financing for inventory.

No. The DMV is tracking the number of sales transactions to determine your car dealer bond limit. The number of cars you purchase is not factored in. That said, if you are buying too many cars and not selling them, eventually the California Department [...]

An auto broker endorsement used to be the way to do that in California. However, the DMV is trying to eliminate this specific license type. That said, the auto broker business model is still alive and well! They still need to obtain a $50K [...]

The California DMV has a very specific carve-out in the law for wholesale-only auto dealers. The exception is meant to offer low-volume wholesale dealers the opportunity to get lower-limit auto dealer bonds. Wholesale dealers who sell less than 25 cars or trucks per year [...]

Since the only carve-out in the California DMV law is for motorcycle-only dealers, you will need a $50K auto dealer bond if you are getting a license to sell vehicles directly to the public. Retail truck, trailer, RV, and boat dealers all need a [...]