Driving the news: The FTC yesterday (May 28) made public its list of the 97 dealerships and dealership groups that received warning letters in March.
CDG News obtained the link to the list via a response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed March 17.
For context: The warning letters went out to the nearly 100 entities in the first weeks of March, and the FTC released a March 13 statement with an example of such a letter, saying dealers were put on notice.
No actions were initiated from the letters themselves, but it was considered a serious warning shot.
Also worth noting: The FTC didn’t specify punishments, but warned against several practices it deemed illegal.
Posting a price that excludes required fees
Tying the advertised price to the buyer financing through the dealership
Charging for add-ons that were never included in the listed price
Basing the advertised price on rebates or discounts not all buyers can access
Omitting a required down payment from the price shown in ads
Listing vehicles that don't exist or aren't available for sale
Other context: When inquiring about the list and submitting the FOIA request to the FTC, CDG News was told that if enough people requested the 97 names, the list would become public.
It is not clear whether that applied only to media and/or FOIA requests directly.
It also wasn’t immediately clear how many requests the commission received.
The FTC did not immediately respond to a later afternoon email requesting that information.
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