Indiana car-buying rules
These are the rules the Before the Lot planner uses for Indiana, with the source and date for each. They describe the rules and the planner's estimate; they are not legal or tax advice, and the dealer's quote and your state's documents are what count.
Dealer doc fee in Indiana
Cap: $261.72.
- How the figure changes: yearly (CPI), each July 1.
- Law: IC 9-32-13-7.
The statute sets $200 with a CPI adjustment. The Secretary of State's dealer division says it won't take enforcement action on fees at or below $261.72 from July 1, 2026 ($245.28 in 2024). The fee must be included in the advertised price, disclosed in writing, and shown as its own line on the bill of sale.
Sales tax in Indiana
- Tax: Sales tax (gross retail tax).
- State rate used: 7%.
- Local add-ons: None on cars.
- Dollar cap on the tax: none in the data.
Flat 7% statewide on price minus trade-in (the trade must be titled to you). No local tax.
Trade-in tax credit
Yes. Indiana takes the trade-in value off the taxed price.
Does a maker's rebate lower the taxed price?
No. Rebate is 'not an allowable deduction... if the dealer receives payment'.
Cancellation and return rights
No Indiana-specific right to cancel or return a dealership purchase is in the planner's data.
There is no federal cooling-off period for buying a car at a dealership; the FTC's door-to-door Cooling-Off Rule excludes dealers with a permanent place of business (16 CFR 429.3(a)). The FTC CARS Rule was vacated by the Fifth Circuit in January 2025 and formally withdrawn effective Feb 12, 2026 (91 FR 6507). No other state with a general used-car cooling-off right was found; NCLC calls California's the first in the nation.
Worked out-the-door example: a $35,000 vehicle
Built with the planner's own out-the-door formula: the tax is the state base rate times the vehicle price plus the doc fee, with no trade-in, rounded to the cent. Local taxes are not included.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Vehicle price (example) | $35,000 |
| Doc fee (the Indiana cap) | $261.72 |
| Sales tax at 7% on $35,261.72 | $2,468.32 |
| Title and registration (the planner's default estimate) | $250 |
| Out-the-door total | $37,980.04 |
Title and registration fees differ by state and vehicle; $250 is a placeholder, not an Indiana figure.
Plan a purchase in Indiana
Plan a purchase in Indiana opens the free planner with Indiana already chosen. Nothing is sent to a server; the choice rides in the link's fragment.
These rules feed two steps of the method: set your numbers and let dealers compete. To read a dealer's quote line by line, see reading an out-the-door quote. All states.