Effective November 10, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued its Final Rule amending the Used Car Buyers Guide. The current Buyers Guide with which dealers are familiar did not clearly provide the ability for a dealer to specify that it was selling a vehicle “AS-IS” while still disclosing the existence of a manufacturer warranty or service contract, and any attempt to modify the form was often confusing to both dealers and the customer.
The amended Buyers Guide, which is attached for your reference, includes the following changes:
- Providing a specific box for dealers to check stating that the vehicle is being sold by the dealer “As Is,” without any warranty from the dealer itself.
- Providing a specific section on the face of the Buyers Guide outlining “non-dealer warranties” that may be provided with the sale.
- Providing a box that dealers can check to indicate whether a vehicle is covered by a third-party warranty and whether a service contract may be available.
- Providing a box that dealers can check to indicate that an unexpired manufacturer’s warranty applies.
- Adding air bags and catalytic converters to the Buyers Guide’s list of major defects that may occur in used vehicles.
- Adding a statement that directs consumers to obtain a vehicle history report and to check for open recalls. The statement also instructs consumers to:
- Visit https://www.ftc.gov/usedcars for information on how to obtain a vehicle history report.
- Visit https://www.safercar.gov to check for open safety recalls.
- Adding a statement, in Spanish, to the English-language Buyers Guide advising Spanish-speaking consumers to ask for the Buyers Guide in Spanish if the dealer is conducting the sale in Spanish.
- Providing a Spanish translation of the statement that dealers may use to obtain a consumer’s acknowledgement of receipt of the Buyers Guide.
The FTC is permitting dealers to use their remaining stock of Buyers Guides for one year from November 10, 2016. However, we recommend ordering and beginning use of the new Buyers Guide form immediately, as it is a much more “dealer friendly” for those dealers that do not provide any type of dealer sponsored warranties on used vehicles. A pdf of the new Buyers Guide can be found at:
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/pdf-0083-buyers-guide.pdf
If you have any questions regarding the updated Buyer’s Guide or the FTC Used Car Rule, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our Dealer Practice Group at 248-645-9300 or by email.
- Charles A. LeFevre, Chair, [email protected]
- Lawrence F. Raniszeski, [email protected]
- Michael J. O’Shaughnessy, [email protected]
- Eric R. Bowden, [email protected]
- Alycia Pallach Wesley, [email protected]
- Coriann Gastol, [email protected]
