The car buying landscape is getting much-needed real transformation. Transparency around pricing is really catching steam, and online auto marketplace CarGurus is hopping on board next. Beginning July 14, every dealer listing on CarGurus for a used vehicle must list all mandatory dealer fees directly within the listing itself-to remove any surprise element in pricing. CarGurus’ transparency requirement comes with a bit of teeth: Used car listings without completely itemized dealer fees will get a “No Rating.”

More importantly, listings that do not disclose all required dealer fees will be pushed to the bottom of the search results-which will seriously impact how many potential buyers see the listing. This policy will also have a ripple effect in the dealer search ranking system on the platform. To the benefit of the dealer community, compliant dealers will not be penalized in their rankings for listing all their mandatory fees. On July 14, CarGurus will also update its Instant Market Value and its Deal Ratings to incorporate total vehicle cost, inclusive of all dealer fees.

This means a “Great Deal” listed on the platform actually represents a good deal at the all-in price, not at the price of the sticker that does not include the additional fees. In the upcoming months, new features on the site also will showcase dealers that adhere to transparent pricing with both search results pages and listing detail pages of those cars designated with the “Transparent Pricing Badges,” while car shoppers will also have the option to search only for dealers that participate in the “Transparent Pricing” initiative.

1. The Entire Industry Is Shifting Toward Honest Pricing

This push towards transparency on CarGurus prices doesn’t operate in a void. It’s a piece of an industry-wide movement influenced both by marketplace competition and increasing regulation. In fact, some of CarGurus’s competitors have also been introducing similar features into their products. For example, TrueCar has shifted toward an all-in pricing system that requires listing prices to be inclusive of all necessary dealer fees, and Cars.com, Carfax, and Autotrader have recently been modifying the information they present in their vehicle listings to help users have better insight into prices.

The industry-wide wake-up call:

• TrueCar requires all-in pricing
• Cars.com updating transparency tools
• Carfax and Autotrader following suit
• FTC pressure driving the change
• Industry-wide shift now accelerating

This latest move comes after pressure on dealers from federal regulators, particularly the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The agency is making it a priority to penalize auto dealers engaged in misleading advertising. In recent weeks, the FTC has issued formal warning letters to 97 groups of auto dealers nationwide, warning them to include the amount that the consumer will actually need to pay with advertised prices.

2. The FTC Identified Six illegal Advertising Practices

The FTC warning letters had details, and in a fact-sheet outlining six of its current views of unlawful advertising, addressed the most important concern head-on: an advertised price does not include all the mandatory fees, which directly confronts the “click a price of, say $5,000 for car and have it reach $9,000 after the mandatory negotiating fees at the car dealership table. The FTC stated that advertised price should reflect the true price including all mandated costs.

Six tactics now on notice:

• Prices must include all fees
• Discounts must apply to everyone
• Required down payments must show
• Financing conditions must be disclosed
• Bait-and-switch listings now banned

Also prohibited: The ad can’t offer a price including rebates or discounts that won’t apply to all consumers. So, if your car-buying price is dependent on receiving a military or college grad rebate, don’t include that discounted price in your advertisement as the advertised price. Additionally, dealers cannot force you to purchase add-ons if they were not part of the car you saw advertised. And now, dealers cannot advertise cars for sale that they do not have available at the dealership.

3. Section 5 of the FTC Act Is the Legal Backbone

Enforcement in this instance, along with other FTC enforcements under FTC Act Sec. 5 for deceptive practices related to the sale or financing of autos, utilizes a centuries-old FTC law making unfair or deceptive acts or practices unlawful, in lieu of relying upon the agency’s more recent auto-focused CARS Rule that has been temporarily suspended by agency officials. Bottom line: Deceptive pricing remains a violation.

The century-old law fighting back:

• Section 5 prohibits deceptive practices
• Law has existed over 100 years
• CARS Rule currently on hold
• FTC uses Section 5 authority
• Enforcement continues regardless of CARS

While the now-stalled CARS Rule laid out clear regulatory standards, regulators continue to base their enforcement practices on its precepts. That includes mandating upfront pricing transparency from auto dealers (i.e. Disclose the total offering price of a vehicle before negotiation commences), and prohibiting them from charging consumers for add-on items such as paint protection plans and extended warranties if they are automatically included in a sale without consumer consent.

4. The CARS Rule Set the Blueprint for Full Disclosure

Previously suspended in July 2022, the CARS Rule was one of the most robust and transparent guides to transparent pricing to date. For instance, it explicitly restricted dozens of unfair and deceiving practices that have made car buyers mad over the years, such as dealers claiming certain facts about a vehicle’s past, or making dishonest statements about a vehicle loan’s conditions, principal, financing total and the fees imposed by government.

What the CARS Rule demanded:

• Total offering price disclosed upfront
• No unapproved add-ons permitted
• No false vehicle history statements
• Loan terms must be accurate
• Final total disclosed before signing

Before a buyer signs any final paperwork, the CARS Rule would have required the dealer to disclose the total amount the consumer will pay, including all charges, preventing last-minute surprises in the finance office. Even in its paused state, the rule’s principles are shaping how the FTC enforces existing law and what car buyers across the country can now reasonably expect from any dealership.

5. All-In Pricing Means Every Mandatory Charge Must Show

FTC: The only requirement for an all-in price. (Photo by Paul Sakuma / AP) The only FTC requirement to advertise an all-in price is that the most conspicuous price is all-inclusive. This means that no part of your price will be left out-even dealer preparation, documentation fees, electronic filling costs and other surcharges added without being disclosed in the original offer.

What must be in the price:

• Documentation and dealer prep fees
• Required protection package costs
• Anti-theft etching and nitrogen tires
• Market adjustments and addendum stickers
• Any fee you cannot refuse

It may also represent any optional equipment, such as security packages, anti-theft etching, tires filled with nitrogen, or any other feature the dealer isn’t willing to pull from the deal. Any market adjustments or window stickeradd-ons also count. “There’s a really easy test for that,” he said. “If you can’t drive that vehicle off the lot paying a certain fee, that fee must be reflected on the sticker price you see.”

6. Tax Title and Registration Are the Only Exceptions

There is really only one type of fee that the FTC has decided can be stripped from the headline advertised price: a mandatory, non-dealer fee imposed by state and local governments such as the state sales tax, registration with the DMV paid on the consumer’s behalf and state/local registration and title fees. Because the dealership cannot influence these fees the prices fluctuate based on location, they’re seen as the most logical, generally accepted carve-out to regulators’ broad, mandated, all-in pricing rules for car sellers.

The only allowed carve-outs:

• State and local sales tax excluded
• Title fees can be separate
• DMV registration fees excluded
• All other fees must show
• Government charges vary by location

Recognize That Difference It’s crucial to understand the difference any consumer buying a car when looking at an offered price for any reason. Above the required federal government-mandated taxes and fees, every bit else has to be itemized for you up front. The test works and is as strong as anything: You know the window price is not correct and is possibly in violation of the FTC requirements, if you can tell the dealer, here’s that price, write me up.

7. How to Protect Yourself at the Dealership

Armed with this knowledge and these regulations that have already taken effect, you can proceed through a car buying experience with so much more confidence than you may have previously been capable of. As soon as you start to visit the car lot, resolve to ask for a car’s “offering price” before any other parameters are considered. The new rules of professional practice indicate dealers ought to offer this figure with no trouble.

Your new buyer’s game plan:

• Request offering price in writing
• Review every finance office charge
• Decline any unwanted add-ons
• Ask for total payment disclosure
• Save all quotes and screenshots

Once you’re at the finance office, double check absolutely every line item on your contract, and make sure the finance manager will review with you in detail every add-on product. You are now protected by law and the federal government, and you are empowered to determine which add-on products, if any, you would like to agree to purchase. Once it’s time to sign the final purchase order, always have your salesperson confirm the total final cost to you.

8. How to Report a Dealer Who Breaks the Rules

You have an obligation to do something if you think you’re a victim of any dealer violation of this pricing. You can complain not only to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov but also file your complaint with your state’s Attorney General’s Office at the same time. Filing these reports is part of what will get these new protections properly enforced, as opposed to if the agencies just happen to stumble upon them on their own.

Fight back and get heard:

• File complaint at reportfraud.ftc.gov
• Contact your state attorney general
• Document all written communications
• Save emails texts and screenshots
• Each violation carries serious penalties

Documentation is your most powerful tool when reporting a violation. Save all written quotes, emails, text messages, and screenshots of advertisements from the beginning of the shopping process. This documentation can serve as clear and compelling evidence if a violation has occurred and you need to support your complaint with the FTC or any other regulatory body investigating the dealership’s practices.

9. Major Dealerships Have Already Faced Serious Consequences

But this isn’t just bluster. In recent years the FTC has filed multiple high-profile enforcement actions against dealers over fraudulent advertising that victimized car buyers. The FTC’s lawsuit, in collaboration with the Maryland Attorney General against Lindsay Chevrolet, has settled for $75 million after dealer deceptively marketed advertised a price that ballooned once a buyer arrived and saw the unwanted added-ons push up the final price by thousands.

Real penalties already handed out:

• Lindsay Chevrolet settled for $75 million
• Leader Automotive fined for hidden fees
• Asbury Automotive penalized for discrimination
• Penalties run up to $50,120 per violation
• Each customer counts as separate violation

Similar actions were taken against Leader Automotive Group in Illinois for hidden fees and discriminatory financing, and against Asbury Automotive Group for discriminatory fees. The potential penalties for violating the FTC Act are severe, running up to $50,120 per violation. With the FTC treating each deceptive advertisement and each affected customer as a separate violation, the financial risk for non-compliant dealers is enormous.

10. A Fairer Car Buying Experience Is Finally Within Reach

This new age of price transparency has fundamentally altered the transaction of buying a vehicle for the average consumer. For years, opaque transactions and concealed charges shrouded the process for car-buyers, often leaving people scratching their heads and feeling ripped off after hours spent haggling. But all-in pricing, thanks to pressure from both regulators and industry-dominating sites, has officially brought it all to an end.

The road ahead looks far cleaner:

• Decades of ambiguity finally clearing
• Buyers hold more power now
• Demand honest all-in numbers upfront
• Refuse unwanted charges with confidence
• Every transparent shopper helps others

As you embark on your next vehicle purchase, you are stepping into a marketplace that is fairer and more straightforward than ever before. The power to filter out opaque pricing, demand an honest all-in number from the start, and refuse unwanted charges is now firmly on your side as a buyer. Every shopper who demands transparency helps pave the road ahead for everyone who follows.