In April 2026, the FTC and Maryland Attorney General announced a proposed Lindsay Automotive settlement covering more than $75 million in consumer charges. The group also agreed to a $3.1 million state civil penalty.
A separate FTC and Illinois case produced a proposed $20 million judgment against Leader Automotive Group. The allegations included false prices, unwanted add-ons, junk fees, and fake reviews.
Those are real cases. The claim involving five Texas stores, January 2025 CIDs, and average $75,000 legal bills does not have a public source.
These seven compliance business trends could trigger an FTC audit, Civil Investigative Demand, state inquiry, lawsuit, or consumer-refund order in 2026.
FTC Compliance Risk Table for Dealers
The FTC’s current maximum civil penalty for certain knowing rule violations is $53,088 per violation. That amount is not an automatic fine for every advertising mistake. Authority, knowledge, rule, order, consumer harm, and enforcement forum affect the result.
| # | Compliance Trend Trigger | Governing Rule or Law | Fine or Loss Risk | What Investigators Review | Fix in 24 Hours |
| 1 | False or conditional advertised price | FTC Act, state advertising law | Refunds, injunction, state penalties, legal fees | Website, VDPs, social ads, disclaimers | Show one attainable price |
| 2 | Payment ads missing credit terms | TILA, Regulation Z, FTC Act | Civil liability, restitution, enforcement | Monthly-payment ads and landing pages | Add every triggered term |
| 3 | Add-ons without informed consent | FTC Act, state UDAP law | Refunds, litigation, large settlements | Menus, recordings, buyer orders | Remove default selections |
| 4 | Missing or inaccurate Buyers Guides | FTC Used Car Rule | Up to $53,088 per knowing violation | Used inventory and deal files | Inspect every used vehicle |
| 5 | Safeguards Rule gaps | FTC Safeguards Rule | Civil penalties, remediation, breach expense | Security program, MFA, logs, testing | Confirm MFA and written program |
| 6 | Fake reviews or review suppression | FTC Consumer Reviews Rule | Up to $53,088 per knowing violation | Google reviews, vendors, incentives | Stop fake and sentiment-based practices |
| 7 | Deceptive spot-delivery unwind | FTC Act, ECOA, FCRA, state law | Unwind, damages, restitution, legal fees | Conditional-delivery forms and notices | Review every open spot deal |
#1 False Advertised Prices Remain a Major Enforcement Target
The CARS Rule would have required an “offering price” in covered vehicle advertising. The Fifth Circuit vacated the entire rule on January 27, 2025.
The CARS Rule is not in force in 2026.
Do not mistake vacatur for permission to advertise a price nobody qualifies to pay. The FTC still brings deceptive-pricing cases under the FTC Act, often with state attorneys general.
The 2026 Lindsay settlement addresses advertised prices reduced by rebates unavailable to most shoppers, mandatory fees added later, and financing conditions omitted from the advertised offer.
WHAT INVESTIGATORS PULL
• Homepage price claims
• Search and social ads
• VDP prices
• Rebate qualifications
• Mandatory dealer fees
• Financing conditions
• Emails and texts quoting price
• Final buyer orders
A vehicle advertised for $32,495 should be available at $32,495 under the stated conditions, excluding charges permitted by applicable law. Do not advertise a price built from military, college-graduate, loyalty, conquest, trade-assistance, and finance rebates when no ordinary buyer qualifies for all of them.
24-HOUR FIX
Audit 10 live ads and 10 VDPs.
For each vehicle, compare:
Advertised price + disclosed mandatory charges = price offered at the dealership
Correct every mismatch. State law might require dealer-documentary fees or other charges inside the advertised price.
#2 Payment Ads Need Every Regulation Z Triggered Term
An ad says:
“Drive today for $299 per month.”
The shopper later learns the offer requires $5,000 down, 84 months, and approved credit.
A monthly payment is a triggering term under Regulation Z. Once an ad states the amount of any payment, the ad generally must disclose:
• Amount or percentage of down payment
• Terms of repayment
• Annual percentage rate
• Whether the APR could increase after closing
The cash price, taxes, fees, trade credit, lender approval, and expiration date also need clear treatment where relevant. State law and platform rules might require more.
The CARS Rule is not the legal basis. TILA, Regulation Z, the FTC Act, and state law remain available.
24-HOUR FIX
Pull every active payment ad.
Match the visible payment with the desking calculation. Check the term, APR, down payment, credit tier, taxes, fees, rebates, stock number, and expiration date.
Do not place the material terms behind a tiny link or unreadable disclosure. A disclosure should appear where the shopper sees the payment.
#3 Preselected and Unwanted Add-Ons Create Refund Cases
The vacated CARS Rule contained an express-informed-consent requirement. That federal rule does not govern 2026 transactions.
Charging customers for products they did not request still creates major FTC Act and state-law risk.
The 2024 Leader case alleged customers paid for unwanted products such as GAP, service contracts, theft protection, and protective coatings. The FTC said some add-ons were presented as required or added without authorization.
A prechecked box does not prove a customer chose the product. A signature on a 20-page deal package also does not erase a misleading presentation.
WHAT INVESTIGATORS COMPARE
• First pencil
• Desking screen
• F&I menu
• Product contract
• Buyer order
• Retail installment contract
• Recorded presentation
• Cancellation request
• Customer complaint
24-HOUR FIX
Set every optional-product selection to unchecked.
Give the customer the product name, price, purpose, term, major exclusions, and optional status. Record the customer’s decision. Make the price match across every document.
A voluntary product needs a real yes from the customer.
#4 The Federal Junk Fees Rule Does Not Cover Vehicle Sales
The FTC’s Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees took effect May 12, 2025. It covers live-event tickets and short-term lodging.
It does not create a federal vehicle-pricing rule.
Dealer prep, reconditioning, certification, nitrogen, theft products, market adjustments, and documentary fees still face scrutiny under the FTC Act and state law when the dealership hides them, misstates their purpose, presents them as government charges, or makes an advertised price unavailable.
The problem is deception, not a federal $300 dealer-fee ceiling. No federal FTC rule creates the $300 limit in the original brief.
Use three practical buckets:
- Vehicle price and mandatory dealer charges
- Government taxes and fees
- Optional products selected by the customer
24-HOUR FIX
Pull 20 buyer orders.
Identify every fee, who receives the money, whether the charge is mandatory, where the charge first appeared, and what service supports it.
Remove vague labels. Match the advertised price with the amount the customer was asked to pay under applicable state law.
#5 Safeguards Rule Failures Leave a Paper Trail
The FTC Safeguards Rule applies to covered dealers arranging or brokering consumer financing. Selling the contract to a lender does not end the dealer’s duty to protect customer information.
The FTC expects a written information-security program led by a Qualified Individual. Required controls include risk assessment, access controls, encryption or compensating controls, multi-factor authentication or a reasonably equivalent control, activity logging, service-provider oversight, incident response, and regular reporting.
Continuous monitoring is one testing option. Without continuous monitoring, the rule requires annual penetration testing and vulnerability assessments at least every six months.
WHAT INVESTIGATORS REQUEST
• Written information-security program
• Qualified Individual appointment
• Current risk assessment
• MFA configuration
• User-access list
• Terminated-user report
• Encryption controls
• Penetration-test results
• Vulnerability assessments
• Vendor contracts
• Incident-response plan
• Annual governing-body report
24-HOUR FIX
Ask IT for proof, not a verbal “yes.”
Get screenshots or reports showing MFA status for DMS, CRM, email, remote access, cloud storage, and vendor connections. Obtain the current written program and latest risk assessment.
One shared login destroys individual accountability. Disable shared credentials and inactive users.
#6 Fake Reviews and Review Suppression Carry Rule-Level Risk
The FTC Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule took effect in October 2024.
The rule prohibits buying or selling fake reviews, paying for reviews conditioned on positive or negative sentiment, certain undisclosed insider reviews, misleading company-controlled review sites, certain review-suppression practices, and fake social influence indicators.
Employees should not review their own dealership without a clear disclosure. Managers should never require staff, relatives, or friends to post customer reviews.
Review gating needs precise treatment. Asking satisfied customers for reviews while routing unhappy customers elsewhere might create deception or platform-policy problems. The FTC rule focuses on fake reviews, sentiment-conditioned incentives, undisclosed insiders, misleading claims about displayed reviews, threats, and suppression based on negative sentiment.
Do not claim every gated request creates an automatic $53,088 fine.
24-HOUR FIX
Inspect your review platform.
Check:
• Who receives review requests
• Whether ratings change the request path
• Whether employees receive review incentives
• Whether incentives require positive sentiment
• Whether negative reviews are hidden
• Whether insiders disclose their relationship
• Whether a vendor posts on the customer’s behalf
Send review invitations using a neutral process. Never pay for five stars.
#7 Spot Delivery Needs Written Controls, Not a Fake Three-Day Rule
The vacated CARS Rule did not create an enforceable federal three-day funding deadline. No general federal rule requires every dealer to notify a spot-delivery customer within three days.
State law, contract terms, lender requirements, ECOA, FCRA, and the FTC Act determine the risk.
A deceptive yo-yo pattern often looks like this:
The dealership delivers the vehicle before final financing approval. Days later, the store tells the customer the deal failed. The customer must accept a higher rate, larger down payment, added co-signer, or different vehicle.
The FTC has challenged spot-delivery practices where dealers misrepresented approval, kept down payments or trades, or pressured customers into worse terms.
WHAT INVESTIGATORS PULL
• Credit application
• Lender submissions
• Approval and stipulation records
• Conditional-delivery agreement
• Delivery date
• Funding date
• Adverse-action notice
• Customer communications
• Trade payoff
• Down-payment handling
• Rewritten contract
24-HOUR FIX
Pull the last 10 spot deliveries and every open unfunded deal.
Confirm the customer received accurate written terms. Track lender status daily. Do not say financing is final before approval. Follow the contract and state deadline for notice, return, trade handling, and unwind.
Your attorney should set the deadline and form for each state.
The Owner’s 60-Minute FTC Self-Audit
Minutes 0 to 20: Advertising and Website
• Review 10 VDPs.
• Review 10 paid and social ads.
• Test every rebate qualification.
• Compare advertised price with buyer-order price.
• Check payment ads for Regulation Z terms.
• Save screenshots with dates and URLs.
Minutes 20 to 40: Buyer Orders and Menus
• Pull 10 recent retail deals.
• Match the ad, pencil, menu, buyer order, RISC, and product contracts.
• Confirm optional products were selected by the customer.
• Find every mandatory dealer fee.
• Inspect 10 used vehicles for completed Buyers Guides.
• Compare each Buyers Guide with the final warranty terms.
Minutes 40 to 60: Security, Reviews, and Spot Deals
• Obtain the written information-security program.
• Verify MFA with reports or screenshots.
• Review inactive users and shared credentials.
• Inspect review-request rules and employee incentives.
• Pull every open unfunded spot delivery.
• Assign an owner and deadline to each failure.
Keep the evidence. A completed checklist without screenshots, reports, corrected ads, signed forms, and system logs will not help when an investigator asks what the store did.
RELATED READING
6 Sales Pay-Plan Changes That Protect Dealer Gross and Retain Staff
Sponsored by Gas.net — powering dealership growth through intelligent data.
Alt text: “Gas.net connects franchise dealers with integrated analytics and marketing tools.”