The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office recently issued an advisory reminding motor vehicle dealerships of their obligations regarding vehicle advertising, pricing transparency, and consumer protection requirements. While directed toward Massachusetts dealerships, the advisory reflects a broader regulatory trend that compliance officers nationwide should be monitored closely.

State Attorneys General, the FTC, and other regulators continue to focus on pricing transparency, advertised vehicle prices, fees, rebates, discounts, and consumer disclosures. The message from regulators is consistent: consumers should be able to understand the true cost of a vehicle without encountering hidden fees, misleading discounts, or conditions that were not clearly disclosed upfront.

Dealerships should review their advertising and sales practices to ensure:

• Advertised vehicle prices accurately reflect the price available to consumers.
• Mandatory fees and charges are properly disclosed and not hidden until later in the transaction.
• Rebates, incentives, and discounts clearly disclose eligibility requirements.
• Promotional offers include all material terms and conditions.
• Online vehicle listings, payment calculators, digital advertisements, and third-party listing sites are consistent with dealership pricing practices.
• Staff understand and follow established advertising and pricing policies.
• Monitoring and auditing processes are in place to identify discrepancies between advertised and actual transaction prices.

The Massachusetts advisory follows a series of state and federal enforcement efforts focused on deceptive pricing, undisclosed fees, add-on products, and misleading advertising practices. Regulators are increasingly scrutinizing not only traditional advertising but also website content, digital retailing tools, online payment displays, and third-party vehicle listings.

1. Does our advertised price match what consumers are actually required to pay?
2. Are all mandatory charges included or clearly disclosed?
3. Are rebate qualifications and conditional offers easy for consumers to understand?
4. Have we recently audited our website, digital retailing platform, and third-party listings?
5. Are our sales and F&I teams trained on advertising and pricing compliance expectations?

Now is an excellent time to conduct an Advertising and Pricing Compliance Review. Compliance officers should work with dealership leadership, marketing teams, website providers, and vendor partners to ensure pricing practices align with both state and federal expectations.

As we’ve discussed in recent ADCO webinars and publications, price transparency continues to be one of the most active areas of regulatory scrutiny. A proactive review today can help prevent customer complaints, regulatory inquiries, and enforcement actions tomorrow.

Stay vigilant!