RULES OF THE ARKANSAS MOTOR VEHICLE COMMISSION 2. ADVERTISING GUIDELINES FOR SALE OR LEASE OF NEW AND USED MOTOR VEHICLES: A. General Advertising Guidelines (1) The advertised price of a motor vehicle must be the full cash price for which the dealer will sell or lease the vehicle to any consumer and shall exclude only the following charges: (a) State, county, local and other applicable taxes, (b) License fees, and (c) Title fees. Charges including but not limited to dealer service and handling fees, freight and transportation fees, and preparation fees must be included in the advertised price. (2) The price of a new motor vehicle, when advertised by a dealer, must be the price that is available to every consumer. Rebates or incentives that are available to all consumers without qualification can be deducted from the price. Limited Rebates or incentives that are only available to select or qualifying consumers shall not be deducted from the advertised price. (3) Additionally, a qualification may not be used when advertising the sales price of a vehicle such as “with trade”, “with acceptable trade”, or “with down payment”. (4) Dealers must clearly and prominently identify themselves by their dealership name or their DBA name listed on file with the Commission. Vehicles must be available to be shipped to the dealer from the manufacturer or distributor within a reasonable period of time. (5) Specific motor vehicles, new or used, or line-make of vehicles advertised for sale or lease shall be in the possession of the dealer as advertised at the address given at the time the advertisement is placed or be available to be shipped to the dealer from the manufacturer or distributor within a reasonable period of time. However, if the time between the placement and the broadcast of the advertisement to the public is excessive, the dealer must have a similar line-make new motor vehicle or an equivalent used motor vehicle to the specific motor vehicle advertised. The vehicles shall be in condition to be demonstrated, and shall be willingly shown and sold or leased at the advertised prices and upon the terms advertised. (6) Specific claims or discount offers shall only be used in connection with new or demonstrator vehicles. (7) Specific claims or discount offers must only be used to show the difference between the dealer’s current selling price and the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price. The dealer shall include dealer add-ons identified in the dealership addendum when advertising the current selling price. (8) If an advertisement discloses a rebate, cash back, discount savings claim or other incentive, the full price of the vehicle (MSRP) must be conspicuously disclosed or stated in the ad as well as the price of the vehicle after deducting the incentive(s). Rebates cannot be combined as one. B. False or misleading advertising. (1) Licensee shall not use false or misleading advertising. (2) All advertising shall be in plain language, with disclosures of material facts that are clear and conspicuous and nondeceptive. By way of example and not limitation, the following are in violation of this rule: (a) Direct statements or reasonable inferences that have the tendency to mislead consumer; (b) Advertising whose overall impression has the tendency to mislead consumers; (c) Disclaimers or disclosures that contradict, confuse, or unreasonably limit or significantly alter a principal message of an advertisement; (d) The failure to make clear and conspicuous disclosures of limitations, disclaimers, qualifications, conditions, exclusions or restrictions; (e) Statements susceptible to both a misleading and a truthful interpretation; and (f) Deceptive statements, even though the true facts are subsequently made known to the consumer. (g) Using in any advertisement, footnotes, asterisks, or various superscripted symbols which, confuse, contradict, materially modify or unreasonably limit the material terms of an advertisement. (3) No advertisement containing an offer to sell or lease a motor vehicle shall be published when the offer is not a bona fide attempt to sell or lease that specific advertised motor vehicle. Certain acts or practices that will be considered in determining if an advertisement is not a bona fide offer to sell or lease the advertised motor vehicle include: (a) The refusal to show, demonstrate, sell or lease the motor vehicle offered in accordance with the terms of the offer. (b) The failure to have available at all outlets listed or stated in the advertisement, the number of motor vehicles advertised to meet reasonably anticipated demands, unless the advertisement clearly and adequately discloses that a supply is limited the merchandise is available only at designated outlets and any other applicable restrictions, to which the advertised vehicle may be subject. (4) It is false and misleading to use, in any advertising, inaccurate photographs or illustrations when describing specific automobiles. If a vehicle description or photograph is inaccurate, the dealer must prove to the Commission, that a more acceptable photograph or description was unavailable. (5) It shall be false and misleading to advertise or represent the dealer service and handling fee charge as a required governmental fee. C. Bait and Switch Advertising. (1) Licensees shall not use bait and switch advertising. (2) No act or practice shall be engaged in by an advertiser to discourage the purchase of the advertised motor vehicle if such act or practice is part of a bait and switch scheme to sell or lease other motor vehicles. (3) Sales or leases resulting from an advertisement for a motor vehicle do not by themselves rule out the existence of a bait and switch scheme. (4) To prevent Bait and Switch Advertising from occurring, the vehicle(s) advertised must be: (a) At the advertised location as defined in Section 2, paragraph A(5); (b) In condition to be shown; (c) Willingly shown to the consumer; (d) Willingly shown under the same terms as advertised, and (e) Sold at the same terms as advertised, unless the consumer was unharmed in the transaction. D. Minimum Advertising Requirements. The following are minimum requirements needed to meet the clear and conspicuous standard as described in Section 2(B)(2): (1) In all printed media, written, typed and/or graphic advertisements: (a) Not less than 8-point type print; (b) Shall be displayed and phrased in a manner which is clear and conspicuous. (2) In broadcast commercials: (a) Terms, conditions or disclosures shall be clearly and conspicuously displayed or announced during the advertisement; (b) Shall be at a speed equal to or slower than any other statement, representation or term contained in the advertisement. (c) “See dealer for details,” shall only be used in radio broadcast commercials provided the advertisements meet the federal truth in lending guidelines as defined in Section 5(A). (3) For broadcast graphics or advertisement(s) in any other audio-visual medium the minimum height of fonts and display time should: (a) Appear on the screen for duration sufficient to allow a viewer to have a reasonable opportunity to read and understand the statement, representation or term; and (b) The broadcast graphics shall remain on the screen for a minimum display time of; (i) Three seconds for the first line of text; and (ii) One second for each additional line. E. Required Disclosures. (1) Disclosures should only be used in limited circumstances and must meet the following qualifications: (a) Must be adjacent to the advertised vehicle depicted or stated in a clear and conspicuous level in any broadcast medium. 46 | 2024 Membership Directory and Buyer’s Guide
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