Classic Car Dealers in Idaho

In Idaho the Idaho Transportation Department issues the title, but you apply for it at your county assessor's motor vehicle office, and the sales tax is collected there when you do. The plate choice matters before you buy: Idaho has several plate programs for old cars, and the two main ones carry real use limits.

Titling the car

The title application is due within 30 days of the sale; after that a $20 late-filing penalty applies. The title fee is $14 plus a county administration fee, so the total runs from $14 to $32.75 depending on the county. Buying from a licensed Idaho dealer, the dealer prepares the title application and files it. Buying from a private seller, you take the title signed over by the seller, a bill of sale showing the price, and the fees to the county office. A canceled check does not count as proof of the price.

A car coming from another state needs a VIN inspection before Idaho will title it, and the 30 days run from the day it enters Idaho. The inspection is done by a peace officer, a DMV employee, a military police officer or an Idaho licensed dealer, and the ITD fact sheet puts the fee at $5. Under Idaho Code, a buyer acquires no right in a vehicle until a title is issued to them, so a bill of sale alone does not make you the owner.

A car with a lost title is not necessarily a dead end. For a 2010 or older model year, the seller can hand you a completed duplicate-title application with the assignment, and you pay the title fee. For a car at least 10 years old with no usable paperwork, ITD offers a conditional title: a VIN inspection, record searches in the states where it was titled, certified-mail attempts to reach prior owners and a signed statement of facts. The conditional brand expires after three years, and other states may not accept it.

Old Timer, Classic and other collector plates

• Old Timer plates are for vehicles built before January 1, 1943, kept in original likeness without major modifications. Classic plates are for vehicles at least 30 years old that are not Old Timers, with the same originality rule. Both cost a $25 program fee plus the plate fee, and a $3 ownership verification every third year.
• The use limit: exhibits, parades, tours, club activities and occasional use for operation and maintenance. Not business use and not customary transportation. These plates are not a registration, so a car driven on public roads still needs standard registration.
• Street Rod, Custom and Year of Manufacture plates are separate programs with a $25 start-up fee and $15 a year after that. Street Rod is for vehicles built before December 31, 1948, or made to resemble one. Custom is for replica-titled vehicles over 30 years old. Year of Manufacture lets a 1974 or older car display an authentic Idaho plate from its model year (1969 and 1971 to 1973 are excluded); you supply the plate.
• Plates stay with the seller. On a sale the seller may keep an Old Timer or Classic plate for another qualifying vehicle, so the new owner applies for their own.

Emissions

Idaho has no emissions testing. The Treasure Valley programs in Ada and Canyon counties ended when the legislature repealed the requirement on July 1, 2023, so a classic is not tested in any county. No official periodic safety inspection for passenger cars turned up in the research, only the VIN inspection above.

Sales tax

• The state sales and use tax rate is 6%, paid on the total price when you title the car at the county.
• Private sales are taxed too, and there is no trade-in allowance in a private sale. A trade-in reduces the taxable price only when you buy from a retailer or dealer and the trade happens at the same time as the sale.
• A car bought from a parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, brother or sister is tax free if that relative paid tax on it, with form ST-133.
• Buy out of state and title the car in Idaho, and sales tax properly paid to the other state offsets the Idaho tax. A vehicle you owned for more than 90 days before moving to Idaho is not taxed.

Dealers, private sellers and salvage

Idaho treats anyone who sells five or more vehicles in a calendar year, or who has an established place of business for selling them, as a dealer who needs a license from ITD. A private seller who makes more than two retail sales in a year, or presents themselves as in business, must collect sales tax too. The state lemon law covers only vehicles still under a manufacturer's written warranty, up to 24,000 miles or two years, so it does not help with a classic. A salvage vehicle gets a salvage certificate that cannot be registered, and once rebuilt the title carries a Rebuilt Salvage brand for the life of the car. An owner who keeps a totaled car and sells it without saying so commits a misdemeanor. Liability insurance of at least $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident and $15,000 for property damage is required. When you sell, file a release of liability with the county within five days.

Sources: Idaho Transportation Department (vehicle titles, license plates, salvage vehicles, conditional titles fact sheet, form ITD 3675), Idaho State Tax Commission (motor vehicle sales and use tax guides), Idaho DEQ (vehicle emissions), Idaho Attorney General (lemon law pamphlet) and the Idaho Code (title 49, chapters 4, 5 and 16). Rules and fees change; confirm with your county assessor's motor vehicle office before you buy.