Classic Car Dealers in Illinois

In Illinois the Secretary of State issues titles and plates, and a private purchase is taxed at a flat amount set by the price or the car's age, not a percentage of what you paid. Plates are the other thing to settle before you buy: Illinois has antique and expanded-use antique plates, and they differ on when you may drive the car.

Titling the car

You have 20 days after the car and its signed title are delivered to you to apply for the title. The title fee is $165 and a standard passenger registration is $151. Buying from a private seller, the seller signs the assignment on the title and hands it to you when you take the car; the signature does not have to be notarized. You take the title, the sales tax form and the fees to a Secretary of State facility, and the Secretary of State checks the vehicle against the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System before issuing a title. A private-party buyer may drive the car for 24 hours with the title to reach an office, which issues a temporary registration permit good for 90 days. Buying from a licensed dealer, the dealer must send the title paperwork to the Secretary of State within 20 days of the sale and normally files the tax form for you.

Illinois has no age exemption: an old car needs an Illinois title like any other. A car from another state needs its out-of-state title submitted with the application (with an out-of-state lienholder, a copy of the title and the loan agreement is accepted), and a new resident has 30 days to title and register. The Secretary of State asks for the seller's signed title, so a bill of sale alone is not enough. The routes the statute names for a car without a standard title are limited, such as a court order awarding ownership, a sheriff's sale or a lien-sale affidavit, so if a seller cannot produce the title, ask the owner of record to apply for a duplicate before you pay.

Antique and expanded-use plates

• Antique plates are for a vehicle more than 25 years old. The owner affirms that it will be driven only to and from antique auto shows or exhibitions, for servicing or for demonstration, and that its mechanical and physical condition is as safe as originally equipped. The registration fee is capped at $6 per registration year, and the Secretary of State's fee schedule lists $30 for the plate.
• Expanded-use antique plates also require a vehicle more than 25 years old and the same affirmation, but the show-and-servicing limit applies only from January through February and in December. From March through November the car can be driven without that restriction. The fee is $45 per year in addition to the registration fee.
• Model year plates: on either type you may display a historical Illinois plate from the car's model year, which you supply yourself, as long as the current plates and the registration card are carried in the car.

Emissions

Emissions testing applies only in the Chicago and Metro-East St. Louis areas: Cook, DuPage and Lake counties and parts of Kane, Kendall, McHenry, Will, Madison, Monroe and St. Clair. The test covers 1996 and newer gasoline vehicles, so a model year 1995 or earlier car is not subject to it, and the law also exempts antique and expanded-use antique vehicles, custom vehicles, street rods and any vehicle of model year 1967 or before.

Sales and use tax

• Private sales are taxed on Form RUT-50, due within 30 days and paid to the Department of Revenue with the title application. Under $15,000 the 2026 amount depends on the car's age: $100 for a car 11 model years old or more, rising to $465 for a new one. At $15,000 or more it depends on the price: $850 from $15,000 to $19,999, $1,100 from $20,000 to $24,999, $1,350 from $25,000 to $29,999, $1,600 from $30,000 to $49,999, $2,600 from $50,000 to $99,999, $5,100 from $100,000 to $999,999 and $10,100 at $1,000,000 or more.
• The amount is $15 when the seller is your spouse, parent, brother, sister or child. A trade-in does not reduce it, and fair market value is used if there is no price. Chicago and Cook County add a local amount based on age: for a car 15 years or older Chicago adds nothing, and Cook County adds $90 once the car is 9 years or older.
• Dealer sales: a registered Illinois dealer collects the 6.25% state tax plus any local tax and files the paperwork, and a trade-in of like kind reduces the taxable price.
• Out-of-state dealers: if you buy from a dealer in another state and title the car in Illinois, you file Form RUT-25 within 30 days. The rate follows your titling address and is higher in Cook and the collar counties, and tax legally paid to the other state is credited.

Salvage and rebuilt titles

When a vehicle that had a salvage certificate is titled again, Illinois brands the new title "REBUILT." A sale of a rebuilt-title car must come with a signed Disclosure of Rebuilt Vehicle Status form, and a salvage vehicle may not be driven on public roads. The Secretary of State inspects rebuilt vehicles 8 model years old or newer, for a $94 fee.

Dealers, private sellers and insurance

Selling five or more used cars in a year requires a dealer license, so a frequent seller who presents as a private owner may be unlicensed. Illinois requires licensed dealers to cover many used cars with a 15-day or 500-mile powertrain warranty, but the law excludes cars with more than 150,000 miles, rebuilt or flood titles, a gross vehicle weight rating of 8,000 pounds or more, and antique vehicles as the Vehicle Code defines them or collector motor vehicles. Where an exclusion applies, an "as is" sale removes the implied warranties, the lemon law covers new vehicles only, and the Attorney General notes there is no three-day right to cancel unless the dealer grants one. A dealer's documentary fee is capped by law ($300 as of 2020, adjusted each year for inflation). In a private sale the seller must hand over the properly signed title when you take the car. Registration requires liability insurance of at least $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident and $20,000 for property damage.

Sources: Illinois Secretary of State (vehicle FAQ, title brochure, fee schedule, antique vehicle form), Illinois Department of Revenue (private party vehicle use tax, RUT-5, RUT-50 and RUT-25 instructions, Chicago and Cook County rates), Illinois EPA and Air Team (emissions testing), Illinois Attorney General (used car guide, lemon law, dealer warranty FAQ) and the Illinois Compiled Statutes (625 ILCS 5, 815 ILCS 505/2L, 35 ILCS 120). Rules and fees change; confirm with the Secretary of State before you buy.