Dealers Want Clarity on the Real-World Details
CBT’s Fair Pricing & Compliance Summit made one thing clear: dealers are looking for more guidance.
Not because they are trying to avoid transparency, but because the details are complicated.
The FTC has made pricing transparency a priority, and the industry is responding. But many dealers are still trying to understand how broad expectations apply to daily retail realities, especially when several parties influence what the customer sees.
In-Transit Inventory Remains a Big Question
One area that came up repeatedly was in-transit inventory.
Dealers want to know how to advertise vehicles that are on the way but not yet physically on the lot. Customers often want to reserve or inquire about those vehicles, and dealers do not want to remove useful inventory information from their websites.
At the same time, the FTC has raised concerns about advertising vehicles that are unavailable or nonexistent. The industry needs a practical standard that protects consumers without creating confusion around legitimate in-transit units.
OEM Advertising and Third-Party Platforms Add Complexity
Another open issue is control.
Who is responsible when an OEM pushes advertising content to a dealer website? What happens when a third-party marketplace ranks listings in a way that rewards lower advertised prices but does not account for fees consistently? What if a vendor platform is not built to display pricing the way regulators expect?
NADA’s Brian Bennett said the association continues to engage with the FTC on these questions. That work matters because dealer compliance does not happen in a vacuum. It happens inside a network of OEM rules, vendor systems, marketplace formats, and state-level requirements.
What Dealers Can Do While They Wait
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Dealers should not treat unanswered questions as permission to pause. The better move is to document what they are doing, identify areas of uncertainty, and communicate with the partners involved.
That means asking vendors for updates, saving those communications, reviewing how vehicles and fees appear across platforms, and keeping leadership informed when technology or OEM requirements create tension with compliance expectations.
The dealers in Washington were not asking for loopholes. They were asking for a roadmap.
Until that roadmap gets clearer, the best available tools are consistency, documentation, and visible good-faith effort.
Huge thanks to Force Marketing for making our cover again possible.
