Job Scams | Federal Trade Commission
Most dealers who sell used cars must comply with the used car Rule This publication explains how to prepare and display the Buyer's Guide and provides a compliance checklist.
Most car dealers who sell used cars must comply with the Federal Trade Commission FTC Used Car Rule In fact, car dealers who sell or offer for sale, more than five vehicles in a 12-month period must comply with banking regulations and financial institutions are exempt from the rule, as well as companies that sell vehicles to their employees, and landlords who sell a vehicle rented to a tenant, a tenant employee or buyer found by the tenant.
The car used rule applies in all states except Maine and Wisconsin These two states are exempt because they have similar regulations that require dealers to display information about used vehicles applies the rule in the District of Columbia , Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and American Samoa.
This brochure outlines the requirements of the rule, how to prepare and display the Buying Guide and offers a compliance checklist.
You must post a Buyers Guide before displaying a vehicle to sell or let a customer survey in order to buy it, even if the car is not completely ready for delivery you must also display a 's Guide buyer on vehicles for sale on your lot by lot, proxy, or any other agreement for public auction, dealers and auction company must satisfy the rule does not apply to auctions that are closed to consumers.
Previously or not, any motor vehicle for purposes other than moving or driving test is considered a used vehicle, including light commercial vans, light trucks, demonstrators, and program cars that meet the following specifications.
A gross vehicle weight of the vehicle GVWR of less than 8,500 pounds.
Any vehicle sold for scrap or parts if the dealer pays the title to the authority of the appropriate state and gets a rescue certification; and.
A backgrounder that provides important consumer purchases and guarantee the Buying Guide tells consumers.
Major mechanical and electrical systems on the car, as well as some of the main issues that consumers should look for.
If the vehicle is sold as is or with a warranty.
What percentage of the repair costs a dealer will pay under warranty.
To request that the car inspected by an independent mechanic before you buy.
To obtain a vehicle history report and visit for information on how to get a vehicle history report, how to check the safety reminders, and other topics; and.
To request a Spanish shopping guide if the sale is made in Spanish; and.
Keep for reference after the sale Purchasing Guide.
If you are trading used cars in Spanish, you must write a Spanish language shopping guide on the vehicle before displaying or offering for sale.
The Buyer's Guide should be displayed prominently and visible on or in a vehicle when a car is available for sale This means it must be prominent and both parties must be visible You can hang the Guide rearview mirror of the car or on a side mirror of the car, you can also place it under a windshield wiper guide can also be attached to a side window Guide in a glove compartment, trunk or under the seat is noteworthy because it is not conspicuous.
You can remove the guide for a test drive, but you must replace it as soon as the test drive is completed.
At the top of the guide, complete the vehicle make, model, model year and VIN identification number of the vehicle in a write dealer stock number, if you wish.
On the back of the Guide, complete the name and address of your dealer Fill also the name or position and the consumer person's telephone number should contact the complaints You can use a rubber stamp or prePrint with your guide these informations.
You can include a signature line on the Guide and you can ask the buyer to sign to acknowledge that it has received the Guide If you use a signature line, you must include a disclosure by him that says I acknowledge receipt of the Guide to the closing of this sale the buyers that language may be preprinted on the form the signature line and disclosures required to be included in the space for the name of the person to contact in case of complaints after sale.
The Buyer's Guide has two versions-One Is Says As no collateral dealer; the other said implicit guarantees.
As Is-No dealer warranty If state law allows it, and you choose not to provide written or implied warranty, you must use the version is like and check the box next to the title is like no warranty on the dealer Guide.
Implied warranties than in states that restrict or prohibit the disposal of implied warranties, you must use the implicit guarantee Only version and check the box next to the implied warranties if you does not offer a written guarantee.
Warranty If you provide the vehicle with an express warranty, you must check the box next to the Warranty section and complete Section Guide guarantees required by state law must be disclosed in this section Your state Attorney General may inquire on the conditions of state guarantee.
State law in some states, the use of Have No Buyers Guide Dealer Warranty can be legally sufficient to eliminate the implied warranties in other states as is sales are permitted only if specific action is taken or that language is used, for example, some states may require you to eliminate the implied warranties using a particular language or a document other than the Guide.
If you are not sure which version of the guide buyers have to use or if you have questions about the state requirements, please contact the FTC or the office of your state attorney general.
Warranty service must be provided to any person who owns the vehicle during the warranty period.
Warranty service must be provided free of charge where necessary, even for services such as the removal and reinstallation of a system covered by the warranty.
The consumer must be able to choose a replacement or refund if the vehicle can t be repaired after a reasonable number of tries.
The consumer should not take any action to receive a service, except to give notice that the service is required The service must be made after notice unless the guarantor can demonstrate that it is reasonable to require that consumers make more that give an opinion.
The duration of implied warranties should not be limited.
The guarantee is considered limited if any of these conditions doesn t apply.
Fill the percentage of parts and labor costs covered by the guarantee in the spaces If a deductible applies to repairs performed under warranty, put an asterisk next to the number and explain the franchise systems covered Duration section for example, 50 deductible applies to each service call.
There's a column to the list of covered systems and another to the list of the duration of the warranty for each system in the left column, you must specify each system is covered by warranty The rule prohibits the use of shortened phrases such as drive train or the train of power, because it is not always clear which specific items are included in the electric train or drive train.
In the right column, you must specify the duration of the warranty for each system if all systems are covered for the same length, you can specify the duration once.
What if the manufacturer warranty still APPLICATION.
If your hasn expired manufacturer's warranty, you can disclose this fact by ticking the box, MANUFACTURER WARRANTY S is still in effect original manufacturer's warranty has expired on certain vehicle components, in non-dealer Guarantees for this section vehicle Buyer's Guide.
If the consumer has to pay to get coverage under the manufacturer's warranty, you can not check the warranty box Such coverage is considered a service contract, however, you can check the security box if you pay the cover offered by the manufacturer and the consumer did not pay anything more than the price of the vehicle to obtain coverage if you provide a warranty in addition to the manufacturer's warranty remaining, explain the terms of the warranty on the Guide purchase.
Where do Negotiated warranty Changes INCLUDE.
If you and the consumer negotiate changes in the guarantee, guide Buyers should reflect 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 go through the disclosure of 50 percent and write 100 percent even if you initially offer the vehicle but agree to provide warranty, you must delete the have No warranty disclosure retailer and fill the guarantee section of shopping guide correctly.
If you offer a service contract for repairs, check the box next to the word service contract, however, if your state regulates service contracts that the insurance company, you do not have to check this check box to your Attorney General or Commissioner of insurance of the State to find out if your state regulates contracts for services such as insurance.
You must give the buyer the original guide or a copy of vehicle buyers to the sale The guide should reflect all the final changes If you include a signature line on your buying guides, make sure that the buyer sign guide that reflects all final changes.
If you offer a written guarantee, or if the manufacturer's warranty is still valid, you must also comply with the Act, Magnuson-Moss warranty and other FTC rules, including the warranty disclosure rule The Act warranty contains provisions that establish the rights of consumers regarding written guarantees for example, the law forbids you to eliminate the implied warranties when you provide a written guarantee.
The warranty disclosure rule requires that you disclose certain information on the cover of your warranty rights and consumers under the law of the State This information must be included in a single document that is clear and easy to read.
Buyer's Guide can serve my written guarantee.
Warranty information you provide on the Buying Guide is not enough to meet the requirements of the warranty disclosure rule Therefore, the written warranty and the Buyers Guide must be two separate documents.
Another federal rule rule on pre-sale FTC Availability of written warranty terms require that you post written guarantees near the vehicle or make them available to consumers on request before buying.
You may also be interested in the Guide to the Law on federal guarantee entrepreneur She explains Guarantee Act Magnuson-Moss, guarantees governing federal law on consumer products.
What information should I do if I suggest 50 50 Guarantee or other collateral costs of Split.
Split costs of guarantees are those in which the dealer pays less than 100 cost for a warranty repair Such warranty includes 50 50 guarantees that the dealer pays 50 cost for a covered repair and pays the other 50 Another type of cost allocation is guaranteed under which one, pays a deductible and the dealer pays the remaining cost for repair.
If you offer a guarantee of shared cost that requires you to pay a percentage of the cost of repair for covered repairs, you must include the following information in your warranty document.
The percentage of the total repair cost you pay.
The percentage of the total repair cost the buyer must pay.
How the total cost of the repair will be determined, for example, the guarantee may indicate the total cost of a warranty repair costs will be the ABC engines retail price for the work another example, the guarantee may indicate the total cost of warranty repair will be determined by adding the cost of parts to the work of dealer labor costs will be charged to a ________ rate per hour for the actual time required to complete the repair as a final example, the guarantee can indicate whether the work is done by a repair shop outside, the total cost of repair will be the ABC Motors price charged by the store outside if the work is done by ABC Motors, the total cost of the repair will be the same charge prices ABC Motors non-guaranteed customers for the same work.
If your warranty requires buyers to pay a deductible, your warranty document must indicate the amount of the deductible and the details as to when and under what circumstances the deductible must be paid.
Dealers offering bargains guarantees may require that buyers return to the dealer for warranty repairs if your warranty includes this restriction, however, you must provide an estimate of the total cost of repair before the start of work This will allow the buyer to decide whether to approve the repair or do the work elsewhere.
You can download the business center of the Shopping Guide from the FTC or you can get buying guides commercial form companies or trade associations, you can generate them yourself on a computer, however, you must use the text, type style, type size, and the size specified in the rule You're not allowed to place another language or symbols including logos on the buying guide guides should be printed in black ink 100 on white paper cut at least 11 x 7 1 4 These requirements can not be changed in any way you can use the color of ink to fill in the blanks.
Have you completed a Buyer's Guide correctly for each used vehicle offered for sale.
Show you the buyers guide prominently and conspicuously on every used vehicle that you offer for sale.
If you choose to include a signature line for the signature of the buyer, do you include the following communication language required.
I hereby acknowledge receipt of the Buyer's Guide to the closing of the sale.
Do you have the following disclosure required in your sales contract.
The information you see on the form window for this vehicle is part of this contract the window form information supersedes all contrary provisions of the sales contract.
Give yourself Buyers Guide of the vehicle or a copy to the buyer at the time of sale and make sure he shows the cover of the precise final negotiated warranty.
If a sale is made in Spanish, do you use the Spanish language Buying Guide.
If you offer a written guarantee, you prepare a security document according to the federal law is the guarantee document available for review by potential buyers.
Dealers who violate the used car rule can be subject to penalties of up to 40,654 per violation in implementing measures FTC Many states have laws or regulations that are similar to the car rule opportunity Some states include car rule used by reference in their state laws as a result, state and local officials of the law enforcement may have the power to ensure that dealers display guides purchase and a fine or sue them if they do not comply.
If you have questions about the used car rule, contact the FTC and request a free copy of the compliance guidelines Rule or staff of the Rule of used car; both documents explain certain aspects of the rule in more detail.
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help identify consumers, stop, and avoid To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues visit or call Toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP 1-877-382-4357; TTY 1-866-653-4261 The FTC between consumer complaints into the Consumer Sentinel Network a secure online database and investigative tool used by hundreds of enforcement agencies in civil and criminal law in the US and abroad.
Dealer's Guide to used car rule Federal Trade Commission, distributor, guide, used.