Questions & answers

Idaho requires every owner or responsible party listed on the license of a newly established used-vehicle or wholesale dealership to complete the class and pass the exam, not only the one who signs — no manager or stand-in may take it for you. Each owner completes it under their own name and earns their own certificate. Franchised dealers and salesman license applicants are exempt.

Yes. Idaho Dealer School is an ITD-approved provider of the Idaho vehicle dealer prelicensing class. Your certificate counts toward your ITD dealer license application.

Yes. The whole class runs on your phone, and every lesson exists fully in both English and Spanish, narrated in both. You can switch languages at any point, and your progress saves wherever you stop.

Anyone who sells for a dealership needs a salesman license, and it's held by the person, not the business. If you own the dealership, the dealer license already lets you act as a salesman; the owner ID card is $0.00. Everyone you hire to sell needs their own salesman license on ITD 3171 — $36.00 with an Idaho driver's license or ID. A salesperson without an Idaho driver's license or ID card pays $26.00 on the ITD 3171, then $10.00 for the photo at the county sheriff's DMV office: same total, two steps. A copy of the signed and submitted ITD 3171 acts as the temporary salesperson license for 60 days. See every Idaho license type.

No — Idaho licenses your location as much as it licenses you. You need an enclosed commercial structure zoned for your type of dealership, a permanent exterior sign with the trade name readable from fifty feet, a business phone listed in the dealership's name, and records kept where an investigator can inspect them. A home works only if the dealership is a separate building, or a ground floor with a separate entrance and no entrance to the residence, and the zoning allows it. A Motor Vehicle Investigator inspects the location before the license is issued. Full lot requirements.

Yes. Rewind and revisit any lesson, any time, for 12 months.

Each owner who passes gets a Certificate of Completion from Idaho Dealer School in their own name. It shows the 8-hour prelicensing class and the passed exam. You download it the moment you pass. It goes in your ITD 3170 packet, and ITD can verify it online from the link printed on the certificate. If you lose it, reissue is free, any time, from your account.

You get a full year — 12 months of access.

Every owner or responsible party listed on the license takes the 4-hour course before each renewal application goes in. Our renewal class is open. See the renewal page.

Yes. The class ends with a 40-question closed-book exam. You need 32 of 40 to pass, with up to three attempts.

Yes. It's 8 hours of instruction, with the exam included.

ITD's fees for a new retail dealer are $190.00 for the initial application plus $300.00 for ICAR. A wholesale dealer does not pay ICAR. The bond premium, insurance, plates, and your location are extra. Every cost, with its source.

The bond covers $20,000 for most dealers, $40,000 for a wholesale dealer, and $10,000 for motorcycle and powersports only. What you pay is a premium your surety quotes you, and ITD does not set it. How the bond works.

Fewer than five a calendar year, titled in your own name. The five-car rule, explained.

Mail the notarized packet (do not email it — the notary signatures must be originals). Allow up to 30 days. When your place of business is ready (parking for at least 5 vehicles, a lockable office, your dealer sign), a Motor Vehicle Investigator contacts you to schedule the inspection. After the inspection ITD mails the license.

Any time before you apply. Your certificate goes in the application packet. Zoning and the bond take longer than the class. See the full order on How to Become a Dealer.