Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden and Senate colleagues today urged the Federal Trade Commission to require that auto dealers provide a comprehensive and binding “offer price” for new vehicles, do away with hidden junk fees, retain records to enable enforcement and compliance, and ensure that non-English speakers are treated fairly in the car-buying process.
“We write to support your efforts to address unfair and deceptive practices in the sale, financing, and leasing of motor vehicles by dealers,” Wyden and colleagues wrote in a letter to Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan. “We agree that the practices of some motor vehicle dealers impose substantial financial costs on consumers, and the problems you have identified in the automobile financing market are serious, harmful, and widespread. These practices also hurt honest dealers, making it more difficult and costly for them to compete. The [Federal Trade Commission] should move forward with its rulemaking proceeding […] and adopt a final rule to address these pressing issues.”
Wyden and colleagues urged the Federal Trade Commission to include three key components in its final rule, including language that would require auto dealers to:
1. Provide a simplified, uniform comprehensive and legally enforceable “Offering Price” for new vehicles that includes all pre-installed and mandatory add-on products, given that dealers often use deceptive pricing in advertisements and mandatory and price-inflated add-ons, which increase vehicle cost and create further confusion and uncertainty about a vehicle’s final price;
2. Retain records of consumer transactions for seven years or the length of the retail installment sales contract, given that strong recordkeeping requirements better enable enforcement agencies and consumers to ensure compliance; and,
3. Provide all required disclosures and contractual agreements to consumers in the language in which the transaction was conducted, given that dealers advertise in foreign language publications, employ salespeople who speak other languages, and conduct sales with consumers in a language other than English.
“We encourage you to adopt a final rule with these and other provisions to facilitate a more competitive marketplace, address deceptive sales practices that disproportionately burden car buyers of color, and reduce headaches for consumers,” Wyden and colleagues concluded.
The letter was led by U.S. Senator Ed Markey, D-Mass. Alongside Wyden, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Cory Booker, D-N.J., Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
The text of the letter is here.
A web version of this release is here.
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