Classic Car Dealers in Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania the title comes from PennDOT, but you cannot file it yourself: used-car paperwork has to go through an authorized PennDOT agent, tag service or dealer. Antique and classic plates are the other thing to settle before you buy, because they come with real limits on how often you can drive the car.

Titling the car

The Vehicle Code gives you 20 days from the sale to apply for the title, and the safe habit is to do it the same day. Buying from a private seller, the two of you go to a notary, tag service or dealership agent. The seller signs the back of the title, prints their name and records the odometer reading in front of the agent, and you complete Section D on the front. The seller keeps the plate, which never goes to the buyer. The PennDOT title fee is $72, and the agent may add a service fee. If you have no plate to transfer, the agent can issue a temporary plate valid 90 days, and you need proof of insurance and a Pennsylvania photo license or ID in your name. Buying from a licensed dealer, the dealer submits the title application within 20 days of the sale.

A car from another state needs its out-of-state title surrendered with Form MV-1, so a lienholder holding the title has to release it first. Pennsylvania also requires VIN verification on any car previously titled elsewhere. That is either a tracing of the VIN plate or a visual check by a certified inspection mechanic or a notary employed by a dealer or full agent. It is not a mechanical inspection.

Pennsylvania does not exempt old cars from titling, and registration cannot be issued without a title or a delivered title application. If a classic comes without a title, PennDOT describes one route: a court proceeding in which you notify everyone with an interest in the car and obtain an order declaring you the owner, which PennDOT accepts in place of a title. It is slow and PennDOT gives no legal advice about it. PennDOT does not describe a bonded title process.

Antique, classic and vintage plates

• Antique plates are for cars manufactured more than 25 years before the current year. Classic plates are for cars at least 15 years old. Both require an unaltered car in a condition substantially in line with the manufacturer's specifications; reproductions do not qualify.
• Cost: $102 in addition to the $72 title fee, and the plate is permanent for as long as the same owner keeps the car. The application is Form MV-11 with four color photos of the car.
• Use: Pennsylvania law bars general daily transportation on these plates. Permitted use is club activities, exhibits, tours, parades and occasional transportation, which PennDOT defines as no more than one day a week.
• Vintage plates: a period-issued Pennsylvania plate from 1906 to 1976 matching the car's model year can be displayed on an antique or classic for an additional $102. You supply the plate; PennDOT does not issue one.
• Plates do not pass to the buyer. The plate stays with the seller, so you apply for your own. A seller can release a plate configuration to PennDOT by letter so the buyer can request it, but the buyer still pays the full registration fee.
• Collectible plates are a separate category for heavily modified cars kept in show condition, applied for on Form MV-426B.

Inspections and emissions

Pennsylvania has an annual safety inspection, and a used car without a valid sticker must be inspected within 10 days of the sale, which is the buyer's job. Antique-plated cars are not subject to the annual safety inspection, but classic and collectible cars are. Antique, classic and collectible vehicles are exempt from emissions testing everywhere in the state. The emissions program otherwise covers 25 counties around Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Reading, Scranton and other cities, and applies to model year 1975 and newer gasoline vehicles.

Sales tax

• The tax is 6%, 7% for Allegheny County residents and 8% for City of Philadelphia residents. You pay it to the agent when you title the car, and private sales are taxed too.
• Tax is based on the purchase price or the vehicle's fair market value. If the price you report is well below market, the Department of Revenue can review the sale and bill the difference with penalties and interest, so a gift price or a family price does not avoid it.
• A trade-in lowers the taxable price only when it is part of the same purchase, with the seller taking your car. Selling your old car separately does not count.
• Tax you legally paid to another state is credited against the Pennsylvania tax only if that state gives a similar credit, and the credit is capped at the Pennsylvania rate. A few states, such as Delaware and the District of Columbia, give little or no credit.

Salvage, dealers and private sellers

A car that was branded salvage and restored is titled in Pennsylvania as reconstructed, after an enhanced safety inspection, and the title carries that brand. A vehicle that would qualify as an antique or classic except for its lack of restoration is not treated as salvage. Pennsylvania dealers must have a certified mechanic inspect a used car for a bent frame, cracked engine block or head, transmission or differential damage and flood damage, and they must disclose those conditions in writing before sale, even in an "as is" sale. A dealer can use "as is" only with the exact notice set out in the Attorney General's regulation on the contract and in the car window. The Pennsylvania Lemon Law covers new vehicles, not used classics. A private seller has none of these dealer obligations, so a pre-purchase inspection is your protection.

Sources: Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (buying or selling a vehicle, antique and classic vehicle, collectible vehicle, out-of-state title, reconstructed vehicle and court order fact sheets, schedule of fees MV-70S, safety inspection FAQs), Pennsylvania Department of Revenue (Motor Vehicle Understated Value Program, sales and use tax credit chart REV-227), the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code (75 Pa.C.S. chapters 11 and 13), 61 Pa. Code 31.44, 67 Pa. Code chapter 177 and 37 Pa. Code chapter 301. Rules and fees change; confirm with an authorized PennDOT agent before you buy.