Open Letter to Honest Car Dealers Supporting FTC, Combating Auto Retail Scams (CARS)

Dear Honest Car Dealer,

I just got off the phone with Jamie Brooks, an attorney at the Federal Trade Commission. I called her for an update on the implementation of the FTC regulation, CARS (Combating Auto Retail Scams). As you know, this regulation was scheduled to go into effect on July 30. However, the National Auto Dealers Association (NADA) teamed up with the Texas Auto Dealers Association (TADA) to petition the Texas Federal Court to stop it. Consequently, the July 30th implementation date has been postponed.

I’m just one of many honest dealers who is supporting this regulation, according to FTC attorney Jamie Brooks. She plans to ask other honest dealers to contact me, and each other, so that we can network and assist the FTC in their fight to combat auto retail scams.

The argument against CARS made by NADA and TADA is that it will overly burden car dealers with regulations, harming their profits. They claim that all car dealers are adamantly opposed to CARS. In reality, we honest car dealers’ profits are being hurt by dishonest car dealers who routinely steal away our potential customers. They lure them in with bait-and-switch advertising of low-priced cars that they won’t sell at those prices. Our potential customers are tricked into paying hidden junk fees, dealer-installed accessories, and addendum stickers, resulting in thousands of dollars more than the advertised price.

Many honest dealers, like us, feel we have no choice but to “fight fire with fire” and reluctantly match our competition's bait-and-switch advertising and dishonest quotes of impossibly low prices. How can a car dealer sell a new or used car when his nearby competitor advertises the exact same car for $2,000 less than what he’ll actually sell it for?

If the hardcore dishonest car dealers could be stopped by the implementation of the CARS regulations, many honest dealers would breathe a sigh of relief. We could then treat our customers honestly and transparently while still making a fair profit.

Please call or text me at 561-358-1474, email me at earl@estoyota.com, or write to me at Earl Stewart Toyota of North Palm Beach, 1215 N. US-1, North Palm Beach, FL 33408. Please help me and the FTC bring honesty and transparency to the retailing of automobiles.

Sincerely,

Earl Stewart