Classic Car Dealers in Colorado

In Colorado the title comes from your county motor vehicle office, and sales tax is collected there when you register the car. What sets the state apart for classics is the plate class: Colorado has several for old cars, each with its own age rule, use rule and emissions treatment, and a car's plates do not transfer to the new owner in the usual way.

Titling the car

The buyer has 60 days from the purchase date to title and register the car. After that the late fee is $25 for each month or part of a month, up to $100. The title transfer fee is $7.20, with registration costs on top. Buying from a private seller, the seller signs the back of the original Colorado title with their name exactly as printed on the front (every owner named on the front must sign), and the price and date go on the title. A bill of sale is recommended and is required if the price is not on the title. You take the signed title, bill of sale, the application (form DR 2395), your ID, proof of Colorado insurance, and payment to your county office. Odometer disclosure is not required on vehicles 20 years or older.

Colorado does not let you skip a title. If the seller cannot produce a proper one, the route is bonding for title at the county office: a certified VIN inspection by a P.O.S.T.-certified inspector, a title record search, notice to earlier owners and lienholders, and normally a surety bond of twice the vehicle's value. For a vehicle over 25 years old the bond is replaced by a separate checklist (form DR 2462). The car must be in Colorado. A car that is not roadworthy, at least 25 years old and has at least a rolling chassis may qualify for a rebuilder's title, which later needs a bond or deposit to convert. A bill of sale marked "parts only" or "junk" cannot be titled.

A car bought in another state is titled and registered here within 60 days of purchase, even if the out-of-state temporary tag lasts longer. Bring the endorsed out-of-state title, a bill of sale and a VIN verification (form DR 2698), which a Colorado law enforcement officer, a licensed Colorado dealer, an Air Care Colorado station or, at its discretion, a county clerk can complete. New residents have 90 days to register a vehicle they bring with them.

Collector, horseless carriage and other old-car plates

• Collector's item registration is available for model year 1975 or earlier, and for any car at least 32 years old. It runs for five years, and the taxes and fees for the period are five times the annual amount. A car from 1975 or earlier carries no mileage limit. For a car that is 32 years old but newer than 1975, the owner signs an affidavit to drive no more than 4,500 miles a year, and in the emissions area it needs a passing test first. A later-model car that was grandfathered as a collector's item before September 2009 loses that status when it is sold.
• Horseless carriage plates are for vehicles 50 years or older. Use is limited to assemblies, parades, tours and occasional leisure drives. These plates stay with the vehicle when it is sold, and applications go to the state rather than the county.
• Street rod plates are for body designs from 1948 or earlier that have been modified for road use.
• Year of manufacture plates: a car already registered as a horseless carriage, collector or street rod can display an original Colorado plate from its model year. You supply a legible plate at least 30 years old, there is no fee, and the application is form DR 2818 at a state office.
• Regular plates do not stay with a car. They expire on transfer, so the seller removes them and the buyer gets a temporary permit and new plates at the county office.

Emissions

Emissions testing for gasoline cars applies in Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties and parts of Adams, Arapahoe, Larimer and Weld. In those areas a car from 1975 or earlier registered as a collector's item is exempt. The same car without collector registration needs a test every year. Cars from 1976 through 1994 with collector registration are tested every five years, and without it every year (1976 to 1981) or every two years (1982 to 1994). Horseless carriages, street rods and kit cars need no test. When a car that needs a test changes hands, the seller provides a passing test to a buyer in a testing county. Outside those areas gasoline cars are not tested.

Sales tax

• The state rate is 2.9%. County, city and special district taxes are added, so the total depends on where you register the car. The state's sales tax lookup shows the rate for an address.
• Tax is due on the full price before the car can be titled. On a private sale the buyer pays it to the county office, and a dealer collects it at the sale.
• The value of a trade-in is excluded from the taxed price when the traded vehicle is licensed or registered.
• Buy out of state and register in Colorado, and sales tax legally paid to the other state is credited against Colorado use tax. A new resident owes no use tax on a vehicle brought in when establishing residency.
• Annual registration tax is based on the car's original price and age, and it falls to a flat $3 by the tenth year for most passenger cars.

Salvage titles, dealers and insurance

Colorado requires a seller to disclose any title brand (salvage, rebuilt, flood damaged, odometer tampered, lemon buyback and others) on form DR 2710 before the sale. The DMV states that classic vehicles, meaning collector's items, horseless carriages and street rods, are not treated as salvage vehicles. Selling used cars as a business requires a dealer license from the Colorado Motor Vehicle Dealer Board, and selling three or more used vehicles from one address in a year is treated as evidence of being in the business. A dealer must display the federal Buyers Guide, which says whether the car is sold as is or with a warranty. Colorado's lemon law covers new vehicles, not used ones. The Attorney General takes consumer complaints at StopFraudColorado.gov. Registration needs liability insurance of at least $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident and $15,000 for property damage.

Sources: Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles (title, registration, buying and selling, license plates, emissions, VIN inspections, taxes and fees), Colorado Department of Revenue (motor vehicle sales tax guidance, sales tax guide, Auto Industry Division), Colorado Attorney General, the Federal Trade Commission and the Colorado Revised Statutes (title 42, article 12). Rules and fees change; confirm with your county motor vehicle office before you buy.