September 21, 2026
By Barrie Charapp Beaty
Charapp & Weiss, LLP
bbeaty@cwattorneys.com
As you are aware, in March 2026, the FTC issued a warning to every dealer in the nation that the price advertised must include all fees but for government fees. In April 2026, the Director of the FTC’s Consumer Protection Bureau, Christopher Mufarrige appeared with NADA’s Paul Metrey
for a Q&A webinar to offer further guidance to the dealers on complying with the FTC Act. In that webinar, Mr. Muffarrige specifically stated that “At a very high level ... the principle here is: If you can control what’s in the ad, then you’re responsible for it.” He also made it clear to the that the most prominent advertised price shall be the ceiling not the floor.
In the FTC’s Automobile Industry Pricing Transparency: FAQs published on September 15, 2026, the FTC confirmed that not only the dealers are responsible, but the manufacturers.
12. Who is responsible for accurately disclosing price in ads––dealers, third-
party advertisers, or OEMs?
In brief: everyone who has control over the advertising is responsible for making sure the ads state the actual price as the most prominent amount. Here are some tips.
Dealers should make sure the pricing information they’re advertising is accurate. When working with third parties, dealers should provide the actual price and take all steps within their control to ensure that the third party discloses it as the most prominent amount. Dealers should make sure no one at the dealership provides any contradictory instructions.
Third-party advertisers should make sure this accurate price appears the most prominently when any amount is stated. OEMs should make sure none of their policies or practices conflict with these requirements and keep in mind that everyone who has control over the advertising is responsible for making sure ads state the actual price as the most prominent amount.
We send you this letter as a partner so that you and the dealers can be advertising compliant to the benefit of the consumers, which is the ultimate goal for both of us. Dealers have worked tirelessly with their vendors and advertising personnel to ensure that the most prominent advertised prices that they control comply with the FTC requirements. The cash incentives that are pushed in the most prominent price but cannot be coupled with a special financing are causing a world of issues for dealers and consumers. It looks like this:
MSRP: $54,000
Dealer Discount*: -$2,000
Cash Rebate**: -$2,000
Processing Fee/Charge/Doc Fee: +$800
DEALER’S PRICE: $50,800
*Dealer Discount is available to everyone
**Not available with special financing, lease and some other offers.
The above example is what some manufacturers provide for the disclosure to the consumer that the $2,000 won’t be available if the consumer chooses the financing. Some OEMs couple the cash rebate into the dealer discount and don’t even provide the disclosure. Disclosure or not, the incentive should not be in the most prominent price advertised. In the FTC’s Automobile Industry Pricing Transparency: FAQs published on September 15, 2026, the Cash Rebate cannot be added to the dealer’s most prominent price.
5. Can the MSRP or discounts and rebates be included in ads?
Yes, as long as the actual price is the most prominently displayed amount, and consumers know what price they would need to pay to get the car. Prominence is not limited to font size. Take, for example, a dealer that lists the actual price in 16-point font in an online advertisement, and the MSRP in a smaller font. If the dealer displays the smaller-font MSRP in a place that is more likely to draw attention, the actual price isn’t the most prominent amount.
Likewise, displaying words like “the price you’ll get” in close proximity to both the actual price and MSRP would be confusing. By contrast, a dealer could list the MSRP of a vehicle in an online advertisement if it is less prominent than the actual price. Again, whether any given ad is lawful is a fact-specific inquiry; at the end of the day, the overall ad can’t be misleading. Otherwise, consumers and competition suffer.
For example, a dealer advertising a $34,999 car can offer a $1,000 discount for first responders in an online ad, as long as the $34,999 price any consumer could walk in and pay is the most prominent and the terms of the discount are clear. As another example, a dealer advertising a $39,999 vehicle can offer a $2,000 discount for using dealer financing, as long as the $39,999 price that any consumer would pay using any financing is listed most prominently.
The test for whether a rebate/discount/incentive should be in the most prominent price of a vehicle is no longer whether the rebate/discount/incentive is available to everyone but rather (i) is it available to everyone? and (ii) does it increase the price should the consumer not meet it or choose not to take it? Consumers do not understand (i) the Cash Rebate disclosure and (ii) learn about the disclosure in the finance office when they are given the option to get the most prominent price advertised or take the special financing. The problem with it is that consumers want (i) the most prominent price advertised and (ii) the special financing because they can qualify for it.
Other manufacturer incentives that are causing issues for dealers are PMA/geographic incentives. Pushing PMA/geographic incentives into pricing in the day of internet and online purchasing is also setting dealers up for issues with consumers and regulatory authorities. Although most dealers still sell majority into their PMA, many dealers have an online presence and are delivering cars to consumers that will register the vehicles outside of the dealer’s PMA. For that consumer that purchases the vehicle in Virginia to use it at their second home in Florida with a Florida registration, the Florida PMA incentive may have a different incentive amount to the Virginia PMA incentive that was added by the manufacturer into the price unbeknownst to the consumer and the dealer. Having different local incentives that change prices on the dealers and consumers is causing confusion for all. Different priced incentives based on geographic locations added to the most prominent price of the vehicle is no longer viable in an online shopping market.
If you are a manufacturer that offers incentives that requires the consumer to choose between cash or special financing, it is a conditional incentive and shall not be added to the most prominent price of the vehicle. Same goes for any geographic incentive that you are adding to the most prominent price of the vehicle. Based on the guidance from the FTC, any incentive that can increase the price of the vehicle (i.e., choosing between cash rebate or special financing, geographic location rebates), it is a conditional incentive no different than a military or first responder rebate, and should not be in the dealer’s most prominent price. For best practices, the incentive can be listed such as in a box of “additional incentives possibly available,” but should not be pushed to the dealer’s most prominent price of the vehicle.