The FTC has made advertising compliance one of its top enforcement priorities, and dealerships can no longer afford to treat it as an afterthought.
At VADA 2026, ComplyAuto's Lauren Bailey joined VADA's Anne Gambardella and our outside counsel Barrie Beaty for a practical discussion of the FTC's recent warning letters, the agency's six key advertising enforcement priorities, and the steps dealers should take now to reduce legal risk. From all-in pricing and rebates to third-party listing sites, AI and phantom inventory, the panel offered timely guidance for navigating one of the biggest regulatory shifts facing the automotive retail industry.
The full panel is below (audio sync'd to slides), and broken out by chapter.
Video chapters
- 0:00 Introduction
- 2:02 Agenda and today's discussion
- 4:48 What counts as advertising?
- 8:10 Is a Monroney sticker an advertisement?
- 14:30 Private communications vs. advertising
- 20:42 The FTC's March 2026 warning letters
- 27:26 All-in pricing and required fees
- 33:19 Third-party listing sites and vendor responsibility
- 43:20 Rebates and conditional pricing
- 48:30 Required down payments
- 50:55 Dealer financing offers
- 53:20 Mandatory dealer add-ons
- 57:55 Phantom inventory and vehicle availability
- 1:02:35 "Made in America" advertising claims
- 1:05:10 Best practices for dealership compliance
- 1:09:15 Download the ComplyAuto Dealer Guide
- 1:10:20 AI in dealership advertising
- 1:18:45 Guardian compliance platform
- 1:23:00 Audience Q&A