Every shopper knows the feeling: you find a car online at a great price, drive to the dealership, and the number on the paperwork looks nothing like the one on the screen. That gap is exactly what regulators are chasing, and this week, one of the country's largest dealer groups agreed to close it.
The price a customer sees online is becoming the price regulators expect them to pay.
FTC Allegations and Settlement Terms in the Greenway Automotive Case
Greenway Automotive, an Orlando-based group ranked No. 23 on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups, reached a proposed settlement with the FTC over allegations of deceptive price advertising. Greenway neither admitted nor denied the allegations, and the settlement still needs court approval.
What the FTC alleges | What the proposed order requires |
|---|---|
From March 2023 to May 2026, more than 92% of customers at Greenway's Kia stores paid more than the price advertised on CarGurus and Cars.com | Stop the alleged practices |
Those customers paid an average of $3,354 more than the listed price | Submit compliance reports to the FTC |
The practices continued after an FTC warning letter in March, even as the stores added price-transparency assurances to their websites | No payment now, but potential fines of up to $53,088 per violation if the order is broken |
Mailers promised prizes that customers say weren't honored |
The FTC contends it is illegal to advertise prices that leave out mandatory dealer charges, including document fees.
"Consumers can't make informed choices when the actual price is hidden. Price transparency is critical to a properly functioning market and is a top priority for the Trump FTC." Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection
What the Greenway Case Means for Dealer Advertising Compliance
In some ways, the FTC was lenient here. There's no fine, and the group got another chance after the agency says it ignored a direct warning. But the message to the rest of the industry is hard to miss: it's going to be very difficult for any dealer to claim they didn't know.
This lands in the same week the FTC dropped its case against Asbury while reaffirming that dealer pricing remains a priority, and just days after California's CARS Act took effect. If your store has been waiting for a clearer signal before cleaning up its advertised prices, this is it.
Start with the basics: compare your online prices against your signed deal jackets. If the numbers don't match, find out why before someone else does.
The safest advertised price is the one your customers actually pay.
