Texas
Texas dealer licensing
The official agencies and forms for used car dealers in Texas, and who regulates lending if you carry your own paper.
DMV / MVD
Open the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles licensing pages
Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, Motor Vehicle Division
Dealer license types
Independent (GDN)FranchiseSalvage DealerConverterDistributorIn-TransitLeasingManufacturer
A second license applies
If you finance your own customers
The agency above licenses you to sell cars. You need a separate license to finance your customers, obtained from:
Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner
- What it is called
- Motor Vehicle Sales Finance License
- Who it covers
- Motor vehicle retail sellers who sell vehicles and agree to accept the price over time
- The statute
- Texas Finance Code § 348.501
Other agencies you may deal with
Common state offices for setup, licensing, and operations.
Business setup
- Hiring staffTexas Workforce Commission, Unemployment Tax
- Registering the businessTexas Secretary of State, Business & Public Filings
- Sales taxTexas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Sales Tax Permit
Operating
- Customer complaintsTxDMV Enforcement Division, Complaints
- Temporary tagsTxDMV webDEALER | ePLATE
- Titles & platesTexas Department of Motor Vehicles, Motorists
- Vehicle inspectionTexas Department of Public Safety, Vehicle Inspection
Official Texas forms and pages
Applying
Changing something
Looking something up
Filing online
Looking for the dealer association in Texas? Texas dealer association.
Looking for auto auctions in Texas? Texas auto auctions.
Another state
Opening a new dealership?
The license is only part of what you need.
Corrections. Agencies move their pages and rename their forms constantly. If a link here is dead or wrong, tell us and we will fix it.