The definition of a wholesale vehicle dealer may vary slightly though there are many similarities. All of the definitions begin with the basic premise that a person selling vehicles to dealers must be licensed by the jurisdiction. A wholesale dealer can only sell used vehicles and only to licensed dealers and cannot engage in the retail sale of vehicles to the general public. In most jurisdictions, laws allow wholesale dealers to purchase vehicles from anyone and also permit the sale of vehicles to licensed dealers in other jurisdictions.
Many jurisdictions require a wholesale dealer to have a physical presence within the jurisdiction where records are kept and can be examined but do not require a vehicle display area. In some cases the jurisdiction acknowledges this may encourage several wholesale dealers to co-locate and therefore they restrict the number of wholesale dealers in one physical location. Once jurisdictional law defines wholesale dealers and the transactions they are permitted to conduct; the laws, rules, and policies further define the jurisdiction’s license application process and licensing requirements.
AAMVA has a white paper summarizing the challenges and provides some steps jurisdictions have taken to overcome them. The whitepaper was developed by the Internet Vehicle Sales Working Group
Highlighted resource:
- Wholesale Vehicle Dealer Licensing White Paper (December 2019)
Below is a list of recently added items related to this topic. At the bottom of the page is a button that will take you to our search results page, where you can find additional items as well as filters to customize your search for content.