When it comes to any kind of restriction specifically on Sundays, these are the 13 that have this form of blue law on their books: New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri and Wisconsin.
Pennsylvania says it is against the law to buy, sell, exchange or trade a new or used motor vehicle or trailer on Sunday. It does not specifically target dealers, but it must be done in the presence of a notary who is an authorized agent of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Finding someone to work on this day can prove to be troublesome.
Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Texas and Utah have limited the hours of operation of car dealerships on Sundays. Maryland allows this to be a county-by-county situation, meaning, they can have a complete ban, a restriction of hours, or designate a different day of the week. Texas says dealerships can choose Saturday or Sunday as their day off, Utah has a similar rule.
What’s interesting is that it’s not like some of these restrictions have been in place since the founding of each state, like, you know, in older, more religious times. Illinois’ ban has been on books only since 1984. Since then, similar resolutions have emerged from Utah and Texas mandating that Jews and Muslims not observe Sunday as their holy day.
Blue laws are still very much in place, and thirteen states still prohibit, or prohibit both greedy dealers (and less greedy types) from selling cars on Sundays. If you’re in the market for a new ride, it’s a good idea to plan accordingly before traveling across the country to pick it up.
