1. a. When the transferee of a vehicle is a dealer who holds the vehicle for resale and operates the vehicle only for purposes incident to a resale and displays a dealer plate on the vehicle or does not drive such vehicle or permit it to be driven upon the highways, such transferee shall not be required to obtain a new registration or a new certificate of title but upon transferring title or interest to another person shall execute and acknowledge an assignment and warranty of title upon the certificate of title assigned to the person and deliver the same to the person to whom such transfer is made.

 b. A dealer licensed pursuant to chapter 322 or chapter 322C who has acquired a vehicle for resale which is subject to a security interest as provided in section 321.50 and who has forwarded to the secured party the sum necessary to discharge the security interest may offer the vehicle for sale prior to the receipt from the county treasurer of the certificate of title for the vehicle with the lien discharged for a period of not more than thirty days from the date the vehicle was acquired and the provisions of section 321.104, subsection 2, shall not apply.

Ask a accident law question, get an answer ASAP!
Thousands of highly rated, verified accident lawyers.
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 321.48

  • Days: means calendar days. See Iowa Code 322G.2
  • dealer: means every person engaged in the business of buying, selling, or exchanging vehicles of a type required to be registered under this chapter. See Iowa Code 321.24
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Motor vehicle: means a self-propelled vehicle purchased or leased in this state, except as provided in section 322G. See Iowa Code 322G.2
  • Person: includes any individual, firm, corporation, partnership, joint adventure, or association, and the plural as well as the singular number. See Iowa Code 321H.2
  • Purchase price: means the cash price paid for the motor vehicle appearing in the sales agreement or contract, including any net allowance given for a trade-in vehicle. See Iowa Code 322G.2
  • Selling: includes bartering, exchanging, or otherwise dealing in. See Iowa Code 321H.2
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Vehicle: means any vehicle as defined in chapter 321. See Iowa Code 321H.2
  • Warranty: means any written warranty issued by the manufacturer; or any affirmation of fact or promise made by the manufacturer, excluding statements made by the dealer, in connection with the sale or lease of a motor vehicle to a consumer, which relates to the nature of the material or workmanship and affirms or promises that the material or workmanship is free of defects or will meet a specified level of performance. See Iowa Code 322G.2
 2. A foreign registered vehicle purchased or otherwise acquired by a dealer for the purpose of resale shall be issued a certificate of title for the vehicle by the county treasurer of the dealer’s residence upon proper application as provided in this chapter and upon payment of a fee of five dollars and the dealer is exempt from the payment of any and all registration fees for the vehicle. The application for certificate of title shall be made within thirty days after the vehicle comes within the border of the state. However, a dealer acquiring a vehicle registered in another state which permits Iowa dealers to reassign that state’s certificates of title shall not be required to obtain a new registration or a new certificate of title and upon transferring title or interest to another person shall execute an assignment upon the certificate of title for the vehicle to the person to whom the transfer is made and deliver the assigned certificate of title to the person.
 3. Notwithstanding subsections 1 and 2, requirements in those subsections for obtaining title to a vehicle or acknowledging assignment and warranty of title do not apply to a dealer who sells a motor vehicle to a purchaser in a consignment transaction authorized under section 322.7B.
 4. In a transaction in which a vehicle is traded to a dealer as defined in chapter 322 or chapter 322C toward the purchase price of another vehicle and each vehicle is owned in whole or in part by the same person, the person acquiring the vehicle from the dealer shall be entitled to a credit under section 321.46.
 5. A transferee of a new completed motor vehicle shall obtain a certificate of title for the vehicle but is not required to pay the annual registration fee for the vehicle, provided all of the following apply:

 a. The transferee is an equipment dealer licensed as a motor vehicle dealer under chapter 322.
 b. The transferee purchases the vehicle at retail for the purpose of modifying the vehicle as provided in section 321.105A, subsection 2, paragraph “c”, subparagraph (31), prior to selling it as a used vehicle to a business or government entity.
 c. The transferee operates the vehicle only for purposes incidental to a resale.
 d. The transferee displays a dealer plate on the vehicle or does not drive the vehicle or permit it to be driven upon the highways.
 6. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a dealer from obtaining a new certificate of title or new registration in the same manner as other purchasers.