Short answer: On March 13, 2026 the FTC warned 97 dealership groups that an advertised vehicle price must be the full price any buyer can walk in and pay, with every mandatory dealer fee included. Only government charges like taxes, registration and title can be left out. Check your listings, vehicle pages, finance ads, AI chat, lead forms, privacy policy and accessibility, and fix the red items first.
What the FTC warning letters said
On March 13, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission sent warning letters to 97 auto dealership groups across the United States. The message was simple: the price you advertise has to be the total price a buyer will actually pay.
The letters listed the pricing practices the FTC treats as deceptive:
- An advertised price that leaves out required fees, such as the doc fee
- A price that includes rebates or discounts not every buyer can get
- A price that only works with an extra down payment that isn’t shown
- A price that depends on financing through the dealer
- A price that requires buying add-ons that aren’t included
- Advertising vehicles that aren’t actually available
In September 2026 the FTC followed up with pricing FAQs for the auto industry. They say the advertised price must be “the actual price any consumer can walk in and pay,” and that this all-in price should be the most prominent number on your website, your inventory pages and your third-party listings. The FAQs also make clear that everyone who controls the ad shares the responsibility, not just the dealer.
What “total price” means on your website
Here is how the FTC’s guidance sorts the charges dealers ask about most.
| Charge | In the advertised price? | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Doc or processing fee | Yes | Every mandatory doc fee, whatever the amount. If some buyers pay a higher one, build the higher fee into the price. |
| Other fees or add-ons the dealer requires | Yes | If a buyer can’t say no to it, it’s part of the price. |
| Optional add-ons | No | Only if they are truly optional. Don’t present them as required or already installed. |
| Rebates only some buyers qualify for | Leave them out | A price that needs a special rebate isn’t a price every buyer can pay. |
| Taxes, registration and title | No | Charges the government requires can be left out. |
The FTC’s own example: a $40,000 car with a mandatory $85 doc fee should be advertised at $40,085.
There is no AI exemption
Many dealers now answer buyers with a website chat or an AI texting tool. In 2024 the FTC said it plainly: “there is no AI exemption from the laws on the books.” If your chat tool quotes a price without the doc fee, promises a payment it can’t back up, or lets a buyer think a person is typing, that answer is treated as your dealership’s own claim.
Three things to check in your chat tool today:
- It says it’s an AI assistant when asked, and doesn’t pretend to be a person.
- It only quotes all-in prices, or sends buyers to the vehicle page instead of quoting.
- It never promises approvals, rates or trade-in values.
The seven-point FTC & AI website check
These are the seven areas we review on a dealer website, and the red flags we see most often.
| Area | What we look for | Common red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Prices | Listings and vehicle pages show the full price, fees included | Doc fee only in the fine print |
| Conditions | No headline prices that need dealer financing, a trade-in or rebates most buyers can’t get | “With dealer financing” price as the big number |
| Finance ads | Monthly payments shown with the APR, term and down payment | “$399/mo” and nothing else |
| AI chat | It says it’s an AI and only promises what you can deliver | Quotes prices without fees |
| Lead forms | Clear consent to text and call before anyone contacts the lead | No consent line on forms that ask for a phone number |
| Privacy | The privacy policy matches the tracking on the site | Ad pixels firing that the policy never mentions |
| ADA | The most common accessibility problems | Images without alt text, unlabeled form fields, low contrast |
Proof: We ran the same checks on our own site before offering them to dealers. Dealersales.co scored 98 on Google PageSpeed (desktop) with 0 critical issues on an automated WCAG 2.2 accessibility scan.
How to fix the red items this week
- Prices. Pull ten vehicle pages and your top three listing sites. Add every mandatory fee to the headline price, and make that number the biggest one on the page.
- Conditions. Take conditional prices out of headlines. If a price needs dealer financing or a rebate, show the all-in price first and the condition separately.
- Finance ads. Any time you show a monthly payment, show the APR, the term and the down payment next to it.
- AI chat. Ask your chat tool “What’s the out-the-door price?” and “Am I talking to a person?” and read what it says.
- Lead forms. Add a clear text-and-call consent line to every form that asks for a phone number.
- Privacy. Compare your privacy policy with the pixels and tags that actually fire on your site, and update whichever is wrong.
- ADA. Run an automated accessibility scan and fix the top errors first: alt text, form labels and contrast.
What to do next
If you’d rather not work through this list yourself, send us your website. We’ll run all seven checks and email you a short red, amber and green report with fixes ranked by risk. No sales call unless you ask for one.
Get your free FTC & AI website check
Send us your website and we’ll review your prices, finance ads, AI chat, lead forms, privacy policy and accessibility, then send a report with fixes ranked by risk.
This article is a marketing review, not legal advice. Run final pricing and policy decisions past your dealer attorney.
Quick answers
Do taxes and title fees have to be in the advertised price?
No. The FTC lets you leave out charges the government requires, such as taxes, registration and title. Every fee the dealership requires, including the doc fee, must be in the price.
Can I advertise a price that includes a rebate?
Only if every buyer can get it. A price that depends on a rebate, a trade-in or dealer financing that most buyers won’t qualify for is exactly what the FTC warned dealers about.
Does this apply to third-party listing sites?
Yes. The FTC’s FAQs say the all-in price should be the most prominent price on your website, your inventory pages and third-party listings, and everyone who controls the ad shares the responsibility.
Is my dealership responsible for what our AI chat says?
Yes. The FTC has said there is no AI exemption from the laws on the books. Treat every answer your chat tool gives as something your sales team said.
Is the FTC & AI website check really free?
Yes. Send us your website and you get the report by email. No sales call unless you ask for one.
Sources
- FTC Warns 97 Auto Dealership Groups About Deceptive Pricing (FTC, March 13, 2026)
- Automobile Industry Pricing Transparency: FAQs (FTC)
- FTC Publishes Price Transparency FAQs for Auto Dealers (FTC, September 2026)
- FTC Announces Crackdown on Deceptive AI Claims and Schemes (FTC, 2024)
- Regulation Z, 12 CFR 1026.24: Advertising (eCFR)
- Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA (U.S. Department of Justice)
