Colorado Car Dealer Forms

These are the Colorado DMV forms a licensed dealer needs to buy, sell, and title vehicles in Colorado. From the Colorado title and registration application to the bill of sale, odometer disclosure, title reassignment, and temporary tag paperwork, each links to the official source where available. Download the current version straight from the Colorado Department of Revenue, Auto Industry Division (AID) & Motor Vehicle Dealer Board or the federal agency, never a copy that's gone stale.

Which Colorado form goes with which deal

A form list on its own does not tell you what to grab on a Saturday afternoon. Here is the same set arranged by the deal in front of you.

Retail sale to a customer in state

Application for Title and/or Registration (DR 2395), Odometer Disclosure (federal, on the secure title / DR 2395 process), the FTC Buyers Guide, and a bill of sale. This is the stack behind almost every deal jacket you build.

Retail sale to an out-of-state buyer

Same paperwork, but the buyer titles in their home state, so the Colorado title has to be assigned cleanly and the odometer reading has to match on every document. A correction later means a duplicate title and a delayed deal.

Wholesale to another licensed dealer

No Buyers Guide is required on a dealer-to-dealer sale, but the title assignment and odometer disclosure still are. Keep the invoice with the jacket, it is what proves the unit left your inventory.

Taking a trade-in

You need the customer's signed title assignment and odometer disclosure, plus a lien payoff quote in writing if the trade is financed. Take the trade in your books at actual cash value, not at the number you allowed on the deal.

Title is not in hand at signing

Power of Attorney for a Motor Vehicle (DR 2175) covers the assignment and mileage disclosure until the title arrives. Track the promise: an unresolved title is the single most common reason a deal unwinds.

Customer pays more than $10,000 in cash

IRS Form 8300 is federal and applies in Colorado like everywhere else. It covers cash and cash equivalents in one transaction or in related transactions, and it is due within 15 days.

Colorado state forms

Federal forms (every state)

Temporary tags and dealer plates in Colorado

Colorado dealers issue 60-day temporary permits through the DRIVES Dealer Access Portal after enrolling via Third-Party Access (3PA). Permits must be printed and attached to a department-approved mounting board, and by law (C.R.S. §42-3-105) you cannot issue a temp tag unless the buyer shows proof of insurance. A second 60-day permit is allowed if the county hasn't completed the title/registration within 60 days.

Where Colorado dealer forms come from

In Colorado the agency really is the DMV. Everything below comes from the Colorado Department of Revenue, Auto Industry Division (AID) & Motor Vehicle Dealer Board.

• Auto Industry Division, Auto Industry ↗
• AID, Dealer & Wholesaler License ↗
• Colorado DMV, Colorado Dealers ↗

Paperwork mistakes that cost dealers money

None of these are exotic. They are the four that turn up again and again in audits and in unwound deals.

1. Assuming an older car is odometer exempt. The federal rule changed for model year 2011 and newer: those vehicles carry a 20 year disclosure window, not 10. Dealers who learned the old rule skip disclosures they still owe.
2. A Buyers Guide that is not on the car. The Used Car Rule wants it displayed on the vehicle while it is offered for sale, not produced at signing. It also has to match what you actually agreed to sell, and the copy the buyer takes home governs over the contract if the two disagree.
3. A title assigned in the wrong hand. Reassignments are limited, the signature has to match the name printed on the title, and a correction fluid fix voids it. That is a duplicate title application and weeks of delay.
4. Paperwork that lives in a drawer. A form you filed but cannot find is a form you did not file, as far as an auditor is concerned. Store documents against the VIN, not in a filing cabinet by month.

Colorado dealer forms FAQ