The Texas dealer license is not a form. It is a building.
A $50,000 bond, 100 square feet of office with a seven-foot ceiling, a sign with six-inch letters bolted to something that does not move, and room for five cars nobody else may park in. Checked against TxDMV, 8 October 2026.
Almost everything written about getting a Texas dealer license describes the paperwork. The paperwork is the easy part. What stops people is a premises checklist that runs to two pages of measurements, and nearly all of it has to be true before you apply, not after you are trading.
This page is the Independent General Distinguishing Number, the GDN, which is the basic license for buying and selling used vehicles in Texas. Everything below comes from TxDMV's own pages and forms, listed at the bottom. Where TxDMV does not publish a figure, this page says so instead of guessing.
The office
Form LF628, the dealership premises checklist, is specific in a way that surprises people:
- At least 100 square feet of interior floor space, "exclusive of hallways, closets, or restrooms"
- A ceiling at least seven feet high
- A door that closes, so business can be done seated and in private
- A desk and two chairs
- Working internet access
- In a building with "a permanent roof and connecting exterior walls on all sides"
And the exclusions, which end the conversation for most people working from a driveway. The office may not be in "a residence, apartment, hotel, motel, rooming house, or any room or building not open to the public", and it may not be "virtual or provided by a subscription service".
Sharing a building is allowed within limits. Each dealer needs their own private office with permanent interior walls, their own office equipment and their own 100 square feet. A maximum of four retail dealers, or eight wholesale dealers, may sit in one building, and retail and wholesale dealers may not share a building with each other.
The sign
Not a banner. TxDMV says so explicitly.
- Letters at least six inches high showing the business name or assumed name
- Visible to the public within 100 feet of the main entrance to the office
- Durable, weather-resistant material: "Banners are not acceptable"
- Permanently mounted, meaning bolted to an exterior wall or bolted or welded to a dedicated sign pole set in the ground
A temporary banner is tolerated only while you can prove a compliant sign has been ordered. Wholesale dealers must add "Purchasers must be Licensed Dealers" in letters at least three inches high.
The display space
Retail GDN holders need room to display at least five vehicles of the type the license covers. The restrictions matter more than the number:
- Reserved exclusively for inventory. Not customer parking, not employee parking, not general storage, not another dealer's display area
- Not on a public easement, right-of-way or driveway
- Lit well enough to inspect a car properly if you are open at night
- Not blocking fuel pumps, charging stations or fire equipment
At a shared location the display area must be separated from the other business by "a material object or barrier that cannot be easily moved" by one person, something that "typically weighs more than 50 pounds", on every side except the way cars come in and out.
Wholesale dealers are exempt from the display requirement entirely.
The hours
Retail dealers must be open at least four days a week, four consecutive hours a day. Wholesale dealers, two weekdays a week for two consecutive hours. Hours must be posted at the main entrance to the office and must cover all seven days of the week, including the days you are closed.
And the line that catches part-timers: "Dealers cannot be open solely by appointment."
The bond
A signed and dated $50,000 Motor Vehicle Dealer's Surety Bond, with the Power of Attorney attached, carrying the exact legal business name and the full physical address including the suite number. It must be valid for a two-year term and signed by both you and the bond company.
You do not hand over $50,000. You pay a surety company a premium, and what that premium costs depends on your credit. TxDMV does not publish premium ranges and neither will we. Non-motorized travel trailer and utility trailer GDN subtypes are exempt from the bond altogether.
The course
Since June 2020, pre-licensing education applies to independent motor vehicle GDN applicants. Motorcycle, travel trailer, mobility, trailer, wholesale, wholesale auction, salvage and franchised dealers are exempt.
| Item | What TxDMV states |
|---|---|
| Who takes it | One owner or operating manager listed on the application, not everyone |
| Length | At least 6 hours of online instruction for new applicants, 3 hours for renewals |
| Cost cap | "must not exceed $150 per person" |
| How often | One time only. Later renewals do not repeat it |
| Proof | A certificate of completion, uploaded into eLICENSING |
| Exam | Not stated on TxDMV's education page |
If the person who took the course leaves the business, a new owner or manager has to complete it before the next renewal.
Plates
| Plate | Cost | Term |
|---|---|---|
| Standard dealer plate | $90 per plate | Two years, expiring with the license |
| Dealer temporary plate | $10 per plate | Two years, expiring with the license |
| Personalized dealer plate | $85 per year per plate | Issued two years at a time |
A new independent motor vehicle dealer typically starts with two standard plates and somewhere between five and 25 temporary plates depending on the subtype. Plates have to live in a locked room or closet, or in "a securely locked, substantially constructed safe or steel cabinet" bolted to the floor or wall.
What TxDMV does not publish
Six things that other guides state confidently and TxDMV's own pages do not:
- The GDN application fee. It is quoted inside eLICENSING when you apply
- The renewal fee
- A stated renewal window. The two-year term implies biennial renewal, but the pages do not say it in those words
- How long processing takes. LG100 says only that times "vary based on application volume, completeness of the submission, fingerprint results"
- Paper temporary tag fees
- Whether the pre-licensing course ends in an exam
If a page gives you a confident number for any of those, check where it came from before you budget on it.
After the license
- Sell at least five vehicles a calendar year. TxDMV calls it remaining "regularly and actively engaged in business", and says the license may be revoked or canceled below that
- Vehicle inventory tax. Notify the county tax office and the appraisal district within 30 days of the license's active date, not when you start selling. The annual declaration is due between 1 January and 1 February
- Title paperwork. 20 business days for cash and third-party financed sales, 45 calendar days for in-house financing
- Display the GDN license and the bond notice where the public can read them at every licensed location
If every owner and manager lives outside Texas, a Texas resident has to be added as a bona fide employee and be on site during your posted hours.
What this costs you before the first car
The honest version, using only figures TxDMV publishes:
| Line | Published figure |
|---|---|
| Pre-licensing course | Up to $150 |
| Two standard dealer plates | $180 |
| Bond premium | A percentage of $50,000, set by your credit |
| Application fee | Quoted in eLICENSING |
| Office, sign, display space | Whatever rent and signage cost where you are |
Rent and the sign are usually the two biggest lines, and both are local. What makes the licence pay is not the fee, it is the volume: five cars a year keeps it alive, and the published used-vehicle gross profit at large dealer groups has sat near $1,600 per car through 2026. What a good gross profit per car looks like works through why the headline figure overstates what a small lot actually keeps.
Which is the part most new dealers get wrong. The licence is a fixed cost you pay once every two years. The money is decided car by car, by costs that arrive one receipt at a time and are almost never all written down. Deelary keeps each of those on the car it belongs to, so the margin on screen is the margin you bank.
Comparing states, or not sure Texas is where you will apply? Dealer license requirements by state puts the bond, the office, the sign and the course side by side. The Florida VI requirements cover a state that inspects the premises before it reads the application, and the California rules cover the one state with an exam you can fail. How to get a dealer license sets Texas beside Virginia and California, and do you need a dealer license to flip cars covers the threshold question first.
Questions
How much is a Texas dealer license?
TxDMV does not publish the GDN application fee on its licensing pages, so we are not going to put a number on it here. What it does publish: the surety bond is $50,000, standard metal dealer plates are $90 each, dealer temporary plates are $10 each, and the pre-licensing course is capped at $150 per person. The application fee itself is quoted inside eLICENSING when you apply.
How long does a Texas GDN last?
Two years. TxDMV states it indirectly rather than as a headline: dealer plates are "issued for a two-year term, matching the term of the license", and a lease submitted with the application must run a two-year term or a one-year term with an option to renew for a second year.
Can I run a Texas dealership from home?
No. The premises checklist rules out a residence, apartment, hotel, motel or rooming house, and rules out a virtual office or a subscription address. The location has to be a building with a permanent roof and connecting exterior walls on all sides.
Do I need a lot if I only sell wholesale?
No. TxDMV states that a wholesale dealer is not required to have a display space, and the five-vehicle display rule applies to retail GDN holders. Wholesale dealers still need the office, the sign and posted hours, and their sign must carry the words "Purchasers must be Licensed Dealers" in letters at least three inches high.
How many cars do I have to sell to keep the license?
At least five in a calendar year. TxDMV puts it as remaining "regularly and actively engaged in business", and says the license may be revoked or canceled below that.
Is there an exam at the end of the course?
TxDMV does not say. The education page describes six hours of online instruction for new applicants and a certificate issued to each person who "successfully completes" the course, but it states no exam, no passing score and no retake rule.