Not in Virginia? Motor vehicle dealer bonds in other states
Virginia motor vehicle dealer bonds.
$500 flat.
Also known as the Virginia auto dealer bond or car dealer bond.
Virginia requires an applicant for an original motor vehicle dealer license to file a $50,000 bond with the Motor Vehicle Dealer Board and keep it for the first three consecutive years (§ 46.2-1527.1(D)). After three claim-free years a renewing dealer pays the $100 Recovery Fund fee instead of holding the bond. Ours is $500 flat.
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Three steps to licensed.
Your dealer license is waiting on this bond. Here's the entire process — no broker phone tag:
Apply once, online
Business details, owner information, effective date. That is the application — the only extra step is a one-time consent to a soft credit pull.
Approved
Most are approved as soon as you apply. The credit check is a soft pull that never affects your score. If it needs a second look, one to two business days at most.
E-sign & file with the Dealer Board
Pay online and receive the executed bond ready to file with your dealer license application. Wet-ink originals mailed whenever the state insists.
What it is and who needs it.
What the bond actually guarantees
Virginia licenses motor vehicle dealers through the Motor Vehicle Dealer Board, and conditions the license on a $50,000 surety bond under Va. Code §46.2-1527.1. The bond is a consumer-and-public-protection guarantee: it stands behind your compliance with Chapter 15 of Title 46.2 and provides a source of recovery for parties a dealer harms.
It's a three-party arrangement: you (the principal), the surety carrier standing behind you, and the Commonwealth together with harmed buyers (the protected parties). The bond is conditioned on the dealer not practicing fraud or violating the vehicle dealer laws in the conduct of business.
It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety. Dealers who deliver clean title and keep good records treat the bond as a license formality, not a risk.
You need this bond if you're
One application, issued instantly.
These are the actual underwriting fields, including a one-time consent to a soft credit pull. Submit once and your bond is issued when you pay.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Virginia bonds.
The Dealer Board is waiting on one document.
$500 flat, short application, bond issued when you pay. Free until issued.