Deep state — New York
The full New York path for the license most new dealers need — the Retail Dealer — DMV Facility Registration — with every requirement cited and the Year-1 cost built from published figures, not copied from a roundup. Sellers of cars to the public start here; selling to dealers only? The path checker prices the wholesale route too.
| Requirement | New York rule |
|---|---|
| Education | None. New York mandates no pre-licensing course. |
| Exam | None — New York has no dealer exam. |
| Surety bond | $20,000 — DMV tiers the bond by volume: $20,000 at 50 or fewer vehicles a year, $100,000 above 50. The checker applies your tier from the volume you entered. You pay a premium (estimated $200–$600/yr), not the bond amount. Premium follows the bond tier: roughly 1–3% of face per year depending on credit. |
| Place of business | An 'Original Facility' meeting DMV specifications — display area, office, and the red-and-white dealer signage DMV prescribes. New York is the most premises-and-inspection-heavy state in the big 8. |
| Renewal | Keep the facility registration current with DMV and the surety bond continuously in force — if the bond lapses, the registration does not stay valid. Renewal runs through DMV's dealer program on the registration cycle for your facility. |
| Cost line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Dealer application fee | $37.50 |
| Facility registration fee | $450 |
| State-approved pre-licensing course New York has no pre-licensing course and no dealer exam — the process is premises, paperwork, and inspection. | $0–$0 |
| Bond premium, first year (estimate) | $200–$600 |
| Estimated Year-1 license-layer total | $687.50–$1,087.50 |
This is the license layer only: state fees, course, and bond premium. Rent, inventory, garage insurance where your state requires it, and local permits sit on top and vary too much to print honestly. The total above sums exactly the lines above it.
New York tiers the bond by volume. Above 50 vehicles a year the bond is $100,000 and the same math gives $1,487.50–$3,487.50. Run the path checker with your real volume to see your tier.
DealerSteps is a navigation guide, not a course provider. None. New York mandates no pre-licensing course. Take that course only from a provider on your state's official approved list — our job is everything before, around, and after it: the packet, the lot, the bond, the auctions, and your first 90 days.
One payment, yours to keep. The Playbook is a navigation guide — it is not the state-approved course (where your state requires one, it walks you to the approved providers).
Not licensed yet and still selling? Check your count first on the New York car-sale limit page.
The license layer — state fees, the state-approved pre-licensing course where the state requires one, and the first-year bond premium — totals an estimated $687.50–$1,087.50 for the retail path, summed line by line from the published figures on this page (checked October 18, 2026). Lot rent, inventory, and insurance sit on top.
None. New York mandates no pre-licensing course. DealerSteps is a navigation guide, not a course provider — where a course is required, take it from a provider on the state's official approved list.
$20,000 for the retail path. DMV tiers the bond by volume: $20,000 at 50 or fewer vehicles a year, $100,000 above 50. The checker applies your tier from the volume you entered. You pay an annual premium — estimated $200–$600 — not the bond amount.