Becoming a Wholesale Used Car Dealer
I have recently gone through the process of becoming a wholesale used car dealer in California. There were a lot of hoops and details that I had to go through so I wanted to share this with you. Please use this information as information only I am sure there are other ways but this is the way that I was able to do so. My way also involves becoming a LLC but this is not required as well.
1. Find a class to get your Dealer Education Certificate. There are many classes available depending where you are.
2. After completing the class you will need to take the certificate to the DMV and take a written exam. The exam can be tricky so try to go in as soon as possible from when you have taken the Dealer Class.
3. Find a location. I recommend finding a location next; it was very difficult for us to find a location that was zoned for Wholesale Used Car Dealer. Every city has different requirements so make you do not get discouraged if the first couple of locations don’t pan out. I choose to find the location first prior to filing our LLC paperwork. In some cases you could file the LLC paperwork before to get this processed started.
4. Fill out the appropriate information with the State of California to get your LLC. Once approved you will need to file a Statement of Information with them. The DMV will want to get the Statement of Information so make sure to file this as soon as possible.
5. Get your business license with the city. This took much longer than expected. The average time for my city was 8 weeks.
6. While you are at the city get them to fill out a Property Use form (OL 902). This document will state that you can use this location for Wholesale Used Car dealer.
7. File for a Fictitious Name with the county. They will also have your register this with some local papers. In most cases they will give you a list of places with prices of who you can register with. In my case I went with the cheapest one.
8. File to get your Resale Permit. This part was super easy can be done online or in person.
9. Get a Surety Bond of Dealer (OL25)
10. Request for Live Scan Service (DMV 8016). I found a place that will do the Live Scan and the notary which you will need for ADM 9050.
11. You will need to file the following applications
a. Application for Original Occupation License (OL 12)
b. Original Application for Occupational License (OL 21A)
c. Authorization To Release Financial Information (OL 53)
d. Application for Occupational License Personal History Questionnaire, Part B (OL 29B)
e. Appointment of Director as Agent for Service of Process (ADM 9050)
12. Use the DMV OL248B checklist to make sure you aren’t missing anything.
I had to go through a lot of back and forth since I was always waiting for something to come in. I recommend starting all the paperwork as soon as possible. You never know what might come up and it would have saved me a lot of time if I got some of the other stuff going during that waiting.