Ohio Dealer License Plates
When you are granted an Ohio dealers license you will be issued Ohio dealer license plates that you may place on vehicles that you are holding for resale.
You can use dealer license plates of the following
vehicles:
On Vehicles Owned by Dealership Titled for
Resale
On Vehicles in Transit from Dealer Auction to
Dealership
On Vehicles in Transit from Dealer to
Purchaser AFTER the purchaser has paid for the vehicle
Vehicles Being Demonstrated for Sale, that would include
your demos being test driving by customers
Vehicles
Operated with Permission of Dealer
As an Ohio used motor vehicle
dealer you will be required to obtain at least one
dealer license plate because the BMV realizes at one
time or another you may be allowing customers to test
drive your demos or you might be transporting vehicles
back and forth from an auction. You may order additional
plates but are limited to the plates you can possess
based upon previous year sales.
The BMV strictly PROHIBITS a dealer license plate to
used on certain vehicles.
A vehicle Used for
Commercial Purposes, the State never allows you to place
a dealer license plate of a vehicle being used as a
commercial vehicle, so you could NOT use a vehicle to
provide a service that you are being paid for, for
example you could not use a truck with a snow blade that
you have been hired to push snow with a dealer license
plate on the truck, that is a COMMERCIAL vehicle, if you
want the truck to be hired to push snow, you would need
to pay sales tax and properly register the vehicle
Providing a Service to Generate Income, anytime you are
being paid for a service provided by a vehicle, the
vehicle is being used as a commercial vehicle
Hauling
or Pulling Another Vehicle, now you can go to the
auction and buy that beautiful 3 quarter ton truck,
place a dealer license plate on it, and drive it back to
your dealership, but you could never use that truck and
haul vehicles back and forth to the dealer auction, if
you want to haul vehicles back and forth from the dealer
auction you would need to pay sales tax and register
that truck because it would no longer be a demo, it
would be considered a SERVICE vehicle
As an Ohio used motor vehicle dealer you will be
issued dealer license plates, often referred to as
dealer tags. The
Bureau of Motor Vehicles Dealer Licensing Section
has strict standards you must abide by in order to keep
your dealer license plates and you must ensure your
dealer license plates are being used correctly.
As an Ohio used motor vehicle dealer you will be
required to obtain at least one dealer license plate.
You may order additional plates but are limited to the
plates you can possess based upon previous year sales.
To order additional or replacement plates you may call the dealer licensing section to request that either application be mailed to the dealership or you may visit the dealer licensing website and log into the dealer online services.
In your Ohio dealer training class your instructor
will inform you on proper dealer license plate
guidelines. The State of Ohio have very strict
guidelines to follow regarding the use of your dealer
license plates. When you leave your dealer class you
will know exactly what is allowed and what is not
allowed regarding your dealer plate usage.