What are the taxes and fees on a used car in Minnesota?

In Minnesota you pay 6.875% motor vehicle sales tax on the purchase price, plus an $8.25 title fee and a $10 transfer tax, and then registration. One big exception matters on a cheap car: if it is a passenger vehicle at least 10 model years old, selling for under $3,000, and similar cars are worth under $3,000, the tax is a flat $10 instead of the percentage.

The tax

Minnesota charges motor vehicle sales tax at 6.875%of the purchase price. It is its own tax, separate from the general sales tax you pay at a store, and it is the state's money — not ours. On a $12,000 car that is about $825.

The $10 rule on older, cheaper cars

This is the part almost nobody knows, and it is worth real money at our end of the market. A passenger vehicle pays a flat $10 in lieu of the 6.875% if it meets all three conditions:

• the model year is 10 years old or older, and
• the purchase price is under $3,000, and
• the average value of similar vehicles is under $3,000.

All three, not any one of them. On a qualifying $2,500 car that is $10 of tax instead of about $172. We have cars on the lot that qualify and cars that do not, and we will tell you which is which before you decide.

Title and registration

On top of the tax there is an $8.25 title fee and a $10 transfer tax, plus registration, which varies by vehicle because Minnesota bases part of it on the car's original value and age. Plate transfers and lien recording add small amounts. Those are all state fees collected on the state's behalf.

What is actually ours

Everything above goes to the state. The only money that stays with us is the price of the car and our documentation fee, and both of those are on the paperwork in front of you before you sign anything. If a number on a buyer's order is not clear, ask us what it is and who gets it — that is a fair question and it has a short answer.

A note on rates

Rates and fees are set by the legislature and do change. The figures here were checked against Minnesota DVS in October 2026, and the official pages below are always the authority over anything written on a dealer's website — including ours.

Questions about a specific car on our lot? Call (651) 739-9326 or browse what we have.