Florida dealerships, for decades not been prosecuted for advertising car and truck prices that were misleading or false. In nearly all car and truck advertisements, the price does not include added fees and equipment or state that the price depends on rebates for which all customers may not qualify.
In most cases the added fees and qualifiers are in small print at the bottom of an ad, or even on a different page of the dealer's website, making it difficult for consumers to know what the real price is, or to comparison shop among several dealers with differing fees.
Earl Stewart, Jr. of Earl Stewart Toyota in Lake Park, Florida, has for decades crusaded against dealers who advertise false and misleading prices, and have different prices for each customer..
As one of the few dealership offering "one price" to all customers. with no hidden fees, he says it's unfair for auto dealers to advertise a lower price than consumers can actually buy a vehicle for, while he advertises a real price that is higher than those artificially "low" prices of his competitors.
Stewart, on his weekly radio show, has blasted Attorney General Moody for her lack of action against dealers who have been breaking the law for decades.
Stewart says the lobby of the Florida Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) is just too powerful, and puts pressure on Moody and past Attorneys General to not interfere in their businesses.
As Moody notified dealers of possible actions against dealer misleading advertising, the FADA and President Ted Smith sent a certified letter on June 14 to all of Florida dealership owners warning of possible enforcement coming as soon as September 1, but subtly hints it may be "business as usual" as the Attorney General has always been lax to enforce the law and does not have enough personnel to prosecute dealers anyway.
Smith notes in his letter to dealers that the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), for the last 20 years has taken "a predominantly hands off approach with respect to dealer advertising" even though the 25-year old law is clear that the advertised price must include all fees and extras (excluding government taxes and fees).
Smith said the OAG has given guidance to the FADA since 2004, that even though dealer advertising is violating Florida Statute 501.976(16), no enforcement action would be taken against dealers as long as they provide a footnote below the advertised price stating that delivery fees would be added to that advertised price.
The OAG has followed that policy for the last 20 years. The OAG said they believed this would cause no harm to consumers. Apparently, the OAG will still allow this practice, but go after dealers who hide the footnoted information, or hide or don't disclose "add-ons" to the price, or show a lower advertised price by including discounts for which not everyone can qualify.
The FADA has been holding "roadshows" for it's dealers to explain the possible new enforcement action and will hold a webinar July 17 for dealers at a cost of $199 or $375 for industry vendors.
Consumers will most likely continue to find vehicle shopping a real time consuming chore as dealerships continue to use advertising tactics against consumers trying to comparison shop, and find online true pricing.
A future trend maybe online shopping through vendors like Amazon who are planning this year to offer one manufacturer's dealership vehicle prices on their platform that presumably will be transparent and competitive. Sam's Club, Costco and AARP offer car buying services that refer consumers to pre-selected dealers with low price and price transparency that also is a help to comparison shopping although all dealerships are not included among the car buying services.
Photo credit: Don Browne
Excellent article!
ReplyDeleteMuch needed! Ads are very deceiving!
ReplyDeleteThe attorney general is a fascist that probably takes a lot of money from dealers. Anyone care to wager the large dealers don't get one complaint filed against them.
ReplyDelete