The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has finalized its new rule designed to fight nefarious vehicle dealerships utilizing shady techniques when promoting vehicles. Called the Combating Auto Retail Scams (CARS) Rule, it can get rid of junk charges which can be generally added to buy agreements and current prospects with a clearer up-front image of what the ultimate worth will likely be. In concept, anyway.

According to the FTC, the rule will prohibit sellers from misrepresenting pricing on autos, reminiscent of promoting a worth for a particular trim that might not be accessible for buy. Dealers will likely be required to tell prospects of add-ons that are not required, reminiscent of prolonged warranties. Toyota was recently fined $60 million for a plethora of infractions by way of Toyota Motor Credit, together with allegedly telling prospects some elective add-ons have been required.

The rule additionally goes after bogus add-ons, which the FTC describes as charges for gadgets or companies that serve no objective or deliver no added worth to the desk. Extended warranties that mirror a producer’s guarantee, or built-in service visits for oil adjustments on electrical vehicles are listed as examples. Dealers will likely be required to get customers’ consent for any fees paid which can be a part of the acquisition. And the FTC particularly mentions youthful members of the navy, whom the company believes are focused by unscrupulous sellers greater than most.

“When Americans set out to buy a car, they’re routinely hit with unexpected and unnecessary fees that dealers extract just because they can,” stated FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. “The CARS Rule will prohibit exploitative junk fees in the car-buying process, saving people time and money and protecting honest dealers.”

The rule handed by a vote of 3-0 and is ready to enter impact July 30, 2024. As you would possibly anticipate, the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) will not be in the slightest degree glad about it.

“This regulation is heavy-handed bureaucratic overreach and redundancy at its worst, that will needlessly lengthen the car sales process by forcing new layers of disclosures and complexity into the transaction,” NADA President and CEO Mike Stanton stated in an announcement. “The FTC made up data to support its claims, then rejected calls to slow down the process and test the effectiveness of its proposal with real consumers. We are exploring all options on how to keep this ill-conceived rule from taking effect.”

Motor1 contacted NADA to ask particularly concerning the made-up information to which Stanton referred. A spokesperson defined it was listed within the ruling, claiming “the FTC clearly states that it assumed – not ‘determined,’ ‘calculated,’ or even ‘estimated;’ assumed – that the regulation would save consumers $30 billion a year by somehow reducing time during the vehicle shopping process.” 

Perusing the 372-page FTC CARS Rule, the one point out of $30 billion comes on this part on web page 303:

The Commission’s preliminary evaluation estimated that the proposed rule would permit customers to spend 3 fewer hours finishing every motorized vehicle transaction and end in (quantifiable) total time financial savings valued at between $30 billion and $35 billion.

It’s price noting that NADA’s 364-page document submitted to the FTC in the course of the remark section claims that legal guidelines exist already relating to the problems in query. NADA additional claims that the rule violates the FTC’s already established procedures, and violates the First Amendment, and even then, automobile consumers are “generally very happy” with the method as it’s now:

Despite many unfounded stereotypes on the contrary, the general public file comprises ample information demonstrating that customers are typically very proud of their experiences buying cars. For instance, the Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) compiled by famend market analysis agency J.D. Power exhibits that total buyer satisfaction with all sellers (each these the place they purchased and people they interacted with however didn’t purchase from) is excessive, scoring 789 on a 1,000-point scale in 2021.

With 736 mixed pages between the FTC and NADA, clearly, all sides has one thing to say. We suspect there could possibly be extra to return on this earlier than July 20, 2024, arrives.