Classic Car Dealers in Indiana

In Indiana the Bureau of Motor Vehicles issues the title and the registration at its branches, the title application is due within 45 days of the purchase, and the state sales tax is a flat 7%. For an old car, the choices to settle before you buy are the registration type, historic or collector, and in Lake and Porter counties the emissions test.

Titling the car

Apply for the title within 45 days of the date you acquire the car. After that the BMV adds a $30 administrative penalty to the $15 title fee. Buying from a private seller, check that the seller has filled in both the seller and purchaser sections of the title before you go to a branch. Indiana law requires the seller to sign the title over with a warranty of title and hand it to you at the time of sale once you have paid what was agreed. The seller keeps the plates, which do not transfer to you, so getting the title, registration and plates is your job.

A bill of sale does not transfer ownership of a car that requires a title, and the exemptions in the title law cover items such as special machinery and snowmobiles, not old cars. If the seller cannot produce a title, the BMV describes an affidavit of ownership for a vehicle valued at $5,000 or less by NADA clean or average retail value, and a court order when ownership cannot be established any other way. A car with a missing or altered VIN needs a special identification number first.

A car titled in another state needs a vehicle inspection that confirms the VIN. A BMV branch or certified service provider does it at no charge, and a law enforcement officer may charge up to $5 and must give you State Form 39530. If a lender holds the other state's title, the branch mails a Request for Title (State Form 1014) to the lienholder. New residents have 60 days to title and register the vehicles they bring.

Historic and collector registration

• Historic registration is open to vehicles at least 25 years old and carries a historic plate. It is charged the standard registration fee, vehicle excise tax and any county and municipal excise tax. The BMV page lists no use restriction for it.
• Collector registration is a reduced fee ($16.35 against $21.35 for a passenger car on the BMV fee chart) for a vehicle at least 25 years old that is kept as a collector's item, a leisure pursuit or an investment and is not used primarily for transportation. You file a Collector Vehicle Affidavit (State Form 56166) at first registration and again at every annual renewal.
• Authentic model year plates: a collector-registered car can display an Indiana plate issued in the same year as the car's model year, for an additional annual fee ($37 on the fee chart). The BMV inspects the plate first: metal, legible, only minor rust, not bent, no extra holes. The historic plate and the registration must stay in the car.
• Renewal is annual for all three, at a branch, on myBMV or by mail.

Emissions

The BMV emissions program covers vehicles registered in Lake and Porter counties that were built after 1975, with a gross vehicle weight rating of 9,000 pounds or less. They are tested every two years. Antique vehicles are exempt. The state's testing contractor, Clean Air Car Check, grants the antique exemption to a car at least 25 years old that is either insured under a collectible or classic policy or passes an inspection showing its original pollution control equipment is in place, with a limit of 3,000 miles a year. A car kept in Lake or Porter county that does not qualify is tested.

Sales tax

• The state rate is 7%. An Indiana dealer collects it and gives you an ST-108 certificate; on a private purchase you pay it at a BMV branch when you apply for the title.
• If you buy in another state, tax you paid there is credited against Indiana's, and you pay the difference if Indiana's would have been higher. New residents moving a title from their old state are not charged sales tax.
• At an Indiana dealer, a trade-in lowers the taxable price only when it is a like-kind exchange: a vehicle you own, titled in your name, traded for another vehicle in the same transaction.
• Out-of-state buyers who will title the car in another state within 30 days may be charged that state's rate instead of 7%, collected by the dealer.

Dealers, private sellers and protections

Selling 12 or more used vehicles in 12 months requires a used motor vehicle dealer license from the Secretary of State's Auto Dealer Services Division. Dealers selling more than five used cars a year must post the federal Buyers Guide, which says whether the car is sold as is or with a warranty. Indiana's lemon law covers new vehicles bought from an Indiana dealer within 18 months and 18,000 miles, so a classic is outside it. Indiana's salvage title law applies only to vehicles up to seven model years old, so an old car may carry no salvage brand even after serious damage, and a vehicle history report is the better check. The Attorney General's consumer guidance says a dealer that cannot hand over the title at sale must give a 31-day affidavit, and that a buyer who does not get the title by day 31 can send a written demand, wait 10 more days and then return the car for a refund.

Sources: Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles (titles, registration, historic and collector plates, emissions program, fee chart), Indiana Department of Revenue (sales tax and Sales Tax Information Bulletin 28S), Indiana Secretary of State Auto Dealer Services Division, Indiana Attorney General consumer fact sheets, Clean Air Car Check, the Federal Trade Commission's Used Car Rule and the Indiana Code (title 9). Rules and fees change; confirm with the BMV before you buy.