July 21, 2026
By Barrie Charapp Beaty
Charapp & Weiss, LLP
bbeaty@cwattorneys.com
The original Used Car Rule was promulgated by the Federal Trade Commission in 1985. While there are few dealership employees who were active before the Rule was put in place, there is still some confusion surrounding the completion of the buyers guide. This was caused in part in early 2017 when the Rule was revised, and the buyers guide was redesigned.
Do your personnel understand the dealership’s obligations under the Rule?
- What vehicles must have a buyers guide?
- What form should be used?
- How should the form be completed for each vehicle?
- Is the customer given the form upon delivery?
- Do you keep a signed copy of the form?
The Rule is enforced by the FTC. In the past, FTC visits to audit Used Car Rule compliance led to counseling letters to help dealers improve compliance. But this is a different FTC, and audits are likely to lead directly to legal actions to put dealers under orders with the FTC that they comply with the Rule or suffer fines.
FTC enforcement should not be the only concern of dealers, however. While private litigants cannot sue to enforce the Rule, plaintiffs attorneys have become adept at using used car buyers guides, or the lack thereof, in lawsuits challenging the quality of vehicles sold to their clients.
The FTC buyers guide is something a consumer expects to see on the window of a used vehicle. It is something a plaintiffs attorney expects to see in litigation over the quality of a used vehicle, and the failure to have a copy signed by the customer in the deal file turned over in discovery is a problem. That is likely to lead to testimony by a plaintiff of ignorance about the details of the used vehicle because a used car buyers guide was not displayed and provided at delivery.
Give careful attention to compliance with the FTC Used Car Rule. This newsletter contains a checklist for compliance with the Rule. Use it as a guide to ensure each covered vehicle has a buyers guide properly completed. Although the guide has been around since 2017, there seems to be a lot of confusion still on how the form should be filled out.
In addition to the checklist, below are some key points to remember for properly filling out the buyers guides:
- Although its called the FTC Used Car Rule, the vehicles that require a buyers guide are not just previously titled vehicles, which dealers often think of as “used”. The buyers guide should be on “any vehicle driven for purposes other than moving or test driving,” which would include demonstrators.
- In the systems covered column, the FTC Used Car Rule prohibits the use of shorthand phrases such as "drive train" or "power train" because it's not always clear what specific components are included in the "power train" or "drive train."
- Under the FTC Used Car Rule, a customer’s signature is optional, but it’s a best practice to get customer signatures with dates (and a requirement under Virginia law). If you are obtaining a customer’s signature on the buyers guide, the following disclosure must be near the signature: "I hereby acknowledge receipt of the Buyers Guide at the closing of this sale."
- If negotiations with a consumer change the deal than what is represented in the buyers guide on the vehicle, then the buyers guide should change to reflect those changes. “For example, if you offer to cover 50 percent of the cost of parts and labor for certain repairs, but agree to cover 100 percent of the cost of parts and labor after negotiating with the customer, you must cross out the ‘50 percent’ disclosure and write in ‘100 percent.’ Similarly, if you first offer the vehicle "as is" but then agree to provide a warranty [free of charge], you must cross out the ‘As Is-No Dealer Warranty’ disclosure and complete the ‘Warranty’ section of the Buyers Guide properly.” https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/dealers-guide-used-car-rule