Since a new car costs about $50,000 these days, it’s really important that people do research, figure out exactly what they want, and determine how much they can pay.
As we all know, buying a car from a dealership is a challenging task filled with many tricky steps.
One you may not be aware of to look for is how dealerships advertise prices.
The Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, is sending letters to 97 auto groups nationwide, warning them that the prices they advertise need to be the total price – including all mandatory fees – that consumers will be required to pay.
The letters encourage dealers to review their advertising and pricing practices. This includes making sure advertised prices match the actual prices charged to consumers.
The FTC will continue to monitor the marketplace and take additional action as needed to ensure car dealers comply with the FTC Act and other rules the FTC enforces, Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in statement
The letters the FTC sent to the auto dealers give examples of illegal pricing practices in the auto industry including:
- Advertising a price that doesn’t reflect all required fees.
- Advertising a price that reflects rebates or discounts not available to all consumers.
- Advertising a price that fails to take into account the amount of an additional required down payment.
- Conditioning the advertised price on consumers using dealer financing.
- Requiring consumers to buy additional items not reflected in the advertised price.
- Advertising unavailable or non-existent vehicles.
The letters also include several pending actions the FTC has brought to address deceptive pricing practices in the auto industry including cases against Lindsay Chevrolet, Leader Automotive Group, and Asbury Automotive Group.
Add making sure the dealerships you’re visiting aren’t illegally advertising their cars to your list of how to buy a car steps.
