You cannot complete the purchase of a car on Sunday in Colorado. Under C.R.S. 44-20-302, dealerships and any other sellers are prohibited from keeping their lots open to sell, trade, or offer motor vehicles on Sundays. You can walk a lot, look at inventory, and do your research, but no one can sell you the car until Monday.1Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 44-20-302 – Sunday Closing
What the Sunday Ban Actually Covers
The statute is deliberately broad. It bars any person, firm, or corporation from keeping open any place, premises, or residence for the purpose of selling, trading, or offering to sell a motor vehicle on Sunday. It applies to owners, proprietors, agents, and employees. And it covers new, used, and secondhand vehicles equally.1Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 44-20-302 – Sunday Closing
What matters is the offering, not just the closing. A dealership that opens its showroom and lets salespeople quote prices is in violation even if no paperwork is signed and no money changes hands. That’s why Colorado lots stay physically closed on Sundays rather than staffed with people who “aren’t technically selling.”
There’s also no population-based carve-out for smaller counties and no exemption based on vehicle category beyond a narrow one described below. If it has a motor and it isn’t a boat or a snowmobile, Sunday sales are off the table anywhere in Colorado.
What You Can Still Do on a Colorado Sunday
The ban targets the sale itself. Plenty of related activity is still allowed:
- Walk a dealership lot and look at vehicles. Many dealers deliberately keep their lots accessible so shoppers can browse when staff aren’t there.
- Use a dealership’s service department, repair shop, or towing and wrecking service. The statute expressly permits these on Sundays.1Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 44-20-302 – Sunday Closing
- Buy petroleum products, tires, and automobile accessories from a dealership. Those sales are also carved out.1Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 44-20-302 – Sunday Closing
- Buy a boat, boat trailer, snowmobile, or snowmobile trailer. Those are the only vehicle categories exempt from the Sunday prohibition.1Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 44-20-302 – Sunday Closing
Recreational vehicles, farm equipment, and commercial trucks are not exempt. If you want an RV on Sunday, you’re in the same boat as someone shopping for a sedan.
Does the Ban Apply to Private Sales?
The text of the statute reaches further than most people realize. It applies to any “person, firm, or corporation” and covers any “place or premises or residences” used for selling a motor vehicle.1Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 44-20-302 – Sunday Closing On its face, that language extends beyond licensed dealers to private, individual-to-individual sales.
In practice, enforcement has focused almost entirely on licensed dealerships, and private sellers rarely face scrutiny. But there is no clear written exemption for a neighbor selling a used car out of their driveway. And either way, you can’t finish the transfer that Sunday: county clerk offices, where the title work happens, are closed.
Online Shopping and Digital Leads
The statute targets the physical act of keeping a location open. It doesn’t spell out how it applies to online activity, and dealerships operate in that gap. Browsing inventory on a dealer’s website, submitting a financing application, or emailing a salesperson about a specific car are all common Sunday activities that don’t involve a physical premises being open for business.
The line gets murkier when digital activity looks like an actual completed sale. A binding purchase agreement executed electronically on a Sunday could be viewed by a regulator as functionally the same as a Sunday sale. Most Colorado dealerships handle Sunday internet leads as Monday morning business: they’ll collect information and answer questions, then push paperwork to the next day.
What Happens if a Dealer Sells Anyway
Selling, exchanging, or offering a motor vehicle on Sunday is a misdemeanor under C.R.S. 44-20-303, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, up to six months in jail, or both. A dealership can also lose its motor vehicle dealer’s license, which shuts the business down.
Enforcement runs through the Auto Industry Division within the Colorado Department of Revenue and the Colorado Motor Vehicle Dealer Board, which handles investigations, hearings, and license actions.2Colorado Department of Revenue. Auto Industry Division The realistic deterrent isn’t the fine; it’s the license. That’s why you won’t find a Colorado dealership willing to quietly sell you a car on a Sunday.
How to Work Around the Ban as a Buyer
The restriction is more of a scheduling problem than a real obstacle. A few habits make the weekend work in your favor:
- Use Sunday for reconnaissance. Walk the lot, photograph window stickers, note VINs, and check pricing from home. You’ll come in Monday with a specific car in mind and less room for a salesperson to steer you.
- Treat Saturday as your buying day. Dealers know it’s the last selling day of the week, and many time their promotions accordingly. If you’ve already done the Sunday research, Saturday negotiations go faster.
- Get financing lined up before you show up. A pre-approval from your bank or credit union removes one of the slowest steps in the process and gives you a real number to compare against dealer financing.
- Don’t count on a change of heart. Colorado does not give buyers a right to cancel a completed vehicle purchase, and the federal cooling-off rule does not apply to cars bought at a permanent dealership. When you sign on Monday, the deal is final.
The Sunday ban has been part of Colorado law since the late 1950s, and periodic repeal efforts haven’t dislodged it. For now, plan your car shopping around a six-day sales week.