Made for Iowa dealers

Dealer management software built for Iowa car dealers

DMS Apex keeps your inventory, deals and Iowa title paperwork in one simple system: the Buyer's Order and Iowa's registration fee, for $28 a month.

Start your 15-day free trial See why dealers switch

15-day free trial · no contract · no setup fee · cancel anytime

DMS Apex inventory screen for a Iowa dealer, listing every car with stock number, year, make, model and VIN — Your whole inventory in one list

DMS Apex profit and loss report showing each sold car with its price, costs and profit, and the month's total — Profit and loss, car by car

Iowa rules at a glance

What DMS Apex builds in for dealers in Iowa. Rates and rules change, so confirm yours with the state.

State tax: 5% (Iowa registration fee)
Who pays it: The buyer, to the state or county at titling (DMS Apex shows an estimate)
Trade-in: Reduces the taxable amount
Documentary fee: Not part of the taxable amount
Service contract: Not taxed
Required wording: The Buyer's Order prints the fee notice
Official forms: Buyer's Order with the documentary fee notice; Buyers Guide

Why a dealer needs a DMS

Spreadsheets, paper folders and memory work until the day a title application is wrong, a deposit is forgotten, or you can't say what a car really made. A dealer management system puts everything about a car and a deal in one place.

Know what every car really made

Cost, auction fee, repairs and the sale price sit together, so profit is a number you can see, not a guess at the end of the month.

Stop losing days to paperwork

The same information fills the Bill of Sale, the title application and the odometer statement, so nothing is typed twice and nothing is forgotten.

See which cars are getting old

Every car shows how long it has been on the lot, so slow cars get your attention before they cost you.

Keep deals from falling through the cracks

Pending sales hold the car, track the deposit, and show what is still to collect, so a deal is never half remembered.

Get the odometer and title details right

Mileage is confirmed before every sale, and older cars that are exempt print EXEMPT, the way the state expects.

Run it from anywhere

It works in any web browser on the office computer or a laptop. There is nothing to install and nothing to back up.

Iowa dealer paperwork, done from the deal

Enter the deal once. DMS Apex fills the Iowa forms you already use, so you spend less time at the desk and fewer trips fixing mistakes.

✓
Iowa's 5% registration fee estimate
Iowa charges no sales tax on vehicles. DMS Apex estimates the $10 plus 5% one-time fee the buyer pays at titling, on the price after the trade-in.
✓
The required documentary fee notice
When a documentary fee is charged, the notice Iowa requires is printed on the Buyer's Order right beside it.

Manage your inventory without the busywork

From the day a car is bought to the day it is sold, you can see what it cost, where it stands and how long it has been on the lot.

Add a car in minutes

Type the VIN and the year, make, model and details fill in. Stock numbers count up on their own.

Track every dollar into the car

Purchase price, auction fees and each repair are recorded against the car, with the vendor who did the work.

Know where every car stands

In Stock, Reserved, In Service or Sold, with the inventory age on every car.

Find any car fast

Search by make, model or year, sort by any column, and open a car with a double-click.

Wholesale and trade-ins too

Sell a car wholesale to another dealer, and record trade-ins right on the deal.

Reports you can export

Sales, pending sales, profit and loss, vehicles purchased, inventory, tax and fees, salesman and more, ready to print or open in Excel.

DMS Apex home screen with the shortcuts and the month's stock, pending sales and completed sales counts — Your numbers at a glance

Why pay for a system built for a different kind of dealership?

Big-lot dealer systems are designed for large sales teams, finance departments and long rollouts. If you run your own lot and your own deals, you end up paying every month for modules you never open, on a contract, after weeks of setup. DMS Apex is built the other way around: the tools a hands-on dealer uses every day, at a price that makes sense.

A typical full-scale dealer management system compared with DMS Apex
	A typical full-scale DMS	DMS Apex
Monthly cost	Often several hundred dollars a month, and more as you add features	$28 a month, everything included
Contract	Long-term agreements are common	No contract. Cancel any time
Getting started	Weeks of onboarding, setup fees and training sessions	Sign up, add a car, start. No training needed
What you get	Dozens of modules built for large sales and finance departments	The tools a hands-on dealer uses every day, and nothing to wade through
Iowa paperwork	Often extra, or set up separately	The 5% fee estimate and the documentary fee notice built in

Comparison describes typical full-scale systems in general, not any one company.

Built for independent dealers who run their own lot

If you buy the cars, price them, sell them and handle the paperwork yourself, or with a trusted few, DMS Apex fits the way you already work. It follows a car from purchase to title, with no department structure to learn and nothing to configure first. You get the control a large lot has, without the overhead.

✓Add your first car in minutes
✓Works in any web browser
✓Your team sees what you allow
✓Prints on any black-and-white printer
✓Cash and outside-financed deals
✓Your data stays private to your dealership

Start in an afternoon, not a month

1
Sign up
Create your account and add a card. Nothing is charged for 15 days.
2
Add your cars
Enter a VIN and the details fill in. Your inventory is ready as fast as you can type.
3
Sell your first car
Build the deal and print the Iowa paperwork from it.

Start your free trial

$28 a month after your 15-day trial. Cancel anytime.

Questions Iowa dealers ask

What does a dealer management system (DMS) do?

A DMS keeps your inventory, deals, customers, costs and paperwork in one place instead of in spreadsheets, paper files and memory. It shows which cars are on the lot, how long each has been there, what each car cost, what each sale made, and it prints the paperwork for a deal.

Does DMS Apex print Iowa dealer paperwork?

DMS Apex prints a Buyer's Order with the documentary fee notice Iowa requires, plus the federal Buyers Guide. Iowa's title application is a web form filed at the county treasurer, so it is not printed by DMS Apex.

How does DMS Apex work out Iowa sales tax?

Iowa has no sales tax on vehicles. The buyer pays a one-time fee of $10 plus 5% of the purchase price, which leaves out the trade-in allowance and the documentary fee, to the county treasurer at titling. DMS Apex shows it as an estimate. Rules change, so please confirm yours with the Department of Transportation.

How much does DMS Apex cost?

$28 a month, flat. There is a 15-day free trial, no contract and no setup fee. A card is needed to open your account, it is charged on day 15 unless you cancel before then, and you can cancel any time from Billing.

Do I need to sign a contract or pay to get set up?

No. There is no contract, no setup fee and no required training. You sign up, add your first car, and you are working.

Is my dealership's information private?

Yes. Every dealership has its own private database. Your cars, deals and customers are not mixed with anyone else's, and you decide which of your team can see costs and profit.

Does DMS Apex work in other states?

Yes, more states are being added all the time. See the full list on the States page. You can keep your inventory and deals in DMS Apex from anywhere, but the printed forms and tax rules are for the states we cover.

Is DMS Apex connected to the State of Iowa?

No. DMS Apex is independent software. It fills the state's published forms so you can finish them from your deal, but it is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Iowa Department of Transportation. Always check current requirements with the state.