To verify a dealer license, use the licensing agency's own lookup, and match the business name, address and status to the person you are dealing with. California, Texas, Virginia and Nevada publish a lookup or an active dealer list on the agency's site. We read each page in October 2026. Not every state has one, and some do not say what you can search by.
LocalIQ™ market snapshot
What top flip candidates are asking right now
| Model | Listings | Median asking price |
|---|---|---|
| GMC Sierra 1500 | 632 | $29,972 |
| Honda Civic | 5,396 | $15,000 |
| Honda Accord | 4,176 | $15,999 |
| Ford F-150 | 3,134 | $24,000 |
| Toyota Corolla | 3,040 | $14,500 |
| Nissan Sentra | 3,004 | $9,880 |
| Toyota Camry | 2,510 | $17,082 |
| Hyundai Elantra | 2,396 | $9,499 |
LocalIQ™ asking-price median · 24,288 listings · updated every 6 hours. National, last 8 model years; asking price is your resale ceiling.
Which states have an official dealer license lookup?
| State | Tool | What the agency page says | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | Occupational License Lookup (OLL) | "An online lookup tool used to verify the DMV license status of businesses across several categories." Vehicle Dealer is one. Search by business name, city and/or ZIP, or by occupational license number | CA DMV |
| Texas | Dealer License Lookup | Linked in the Dealers menu on the TxDMV site. The page does not say whether it accepts GDN numbers or only names | TxDMV |
| Virginia | Search Active Dealers | Search for all active, licensed motor vehicle dealers; filter by category (Car, Truck, RV, Trailer, Motorcycle), with separate searches for independent and franchise dealers and salvage dealers | Virginia MVDB |
| Nevada | Lists of Business Licenses | Choose the Dealer category to see all active dealer licenses; off-highway vehicle dealers have a separate list | Nevada DMV |
| Washington | General license lookup | The DOL site offers "Look up the status of a business or professional license." The page does not say it covers vehicle dealers | Washington DOL |
Two states did not give us a lookup: Florida's dealer FAQ page explains the application requirements but has no dealer license verification, and Georgia's Secretary of State page returned an access error when we tried to read it. That does not mean those states have no tool. It means we did not confirm one, so check the agency yourself.
For the other states, the agency link is on each state dealer license guide.
How do you verify a dealer, step by step?
- Get the dealer's exact legal business name and address, and the license number if they will give it. Ask for it before you wire money, the same way they would ask you for yours.
- Open your state's agency tool, not a third-party site. The agency record is the source of truth.
- Match the record. The name, the address and the license category should line up with who you are dealing with. A wholesale-only license and a retail license are not the same thing, see dealer license classes explained.
- Check the status. Look for active versus expired. If a record looks out of date, call the agency.
- If you cannot find them, ask the dealer for the exact name on the license. Do not complete the deal until it is resolved.
Why do dealers check each other's licenses?
A few state definitions put the licensed counterparty into the license itself:
- Michigan: Class W wholesalers buy and sell used vehicles from and to licensed used vehicle dealers only (Michigan Dealer Manual).
- Washington: a wholesale vehicle dealer is one that buys from or sells only to other Washington-licensed vehicle dealers (Washington statute, as recorded in our dealer data).
- Arizona: a Wholesale Motor Vehicle Dealer sells used vehicles only to licensed motor vehicle dealers (ARS 28-4301).
If you hold a wholesale license and sell to someone who is not licensed, you may be outside what that license allows. We do not give legal advice; ask your agency.
The same check works on you: a counterparty can look up your record, so keep it current. See dealer license renewal for the fees and filing steps.
What does a license lookup not tell you?
A lookup tells you a business is on a state register. It does not tell you the car is as described, the title is clean, or the price is fair. For a car you are about to buy at auction or from a dealer, run a title check and price the unit against comparable sales. The max bid calculator turns a resale estimate into a ceiling so you know what you can pay.
Where this fits in a flip
Licensing is the entry ticket; margin is the game. If you are deciding whether to get licensed at all, start with how many cars you can flip without a dealer license and the guide to getting a dealer license.
What if your state has no lookup, or the tool does not work?
Call or email the agency. The pages we read list contacts: Washington's Department of Licensing lists its regulations and business practices line at 360-664-6645 and dolbpdcompliance@dol.wa.gov, and Nevada's DMV lists its Carson City office at 775-684-4690, open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Ask the agency to confirm the business name, license category and status for the dealer you are checking. Keep a note of who confirmed it and when.
For states not in the table, the agency name and link are on each state dealer license guide. If a guide says "Confirm with agency" for a fact, that is the page telling you it could not verify it from an official source.
A practical habit: save a screenshot or printout of the lookup result with the date, next to the bill of sale. If a question about the other party's license comes up later, you have a record of what the agency showed when you checked. Keep in mind that the record can change after the date you saved it, which is why the date matters.