AUTO INDUSTRY GETS TOUGH ON DEALER ADS
By Adnews Staff
The Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council is cracking down on automobile dealers who promote their cars using misleading ads. The new rules, which will be in force next month, spell out what dealers must reveal about prices, lease terms and costs of borrowing. Under the plan, dealer panels in different parts of the province will watch for ads that don't comply with the new rules and ask offenders for changes. If the request is ignored, the case will be referred to a discipline committee. Penalties will include private warnings or public censure, cease and desist orders or fines. If a dealership breaks the rules, its provincial registration could be yanked and they could be put out of business. Dealers' ads must state that the price of the car doesn't include taxes, freight charges, predelivery inspections and expenses, as well as administration fees. Lease ads must include the term of the lease, the amount and frequency of payments, how much has to be paid at the beginning of the term and information not included in the monthly payments. In radio and TV ads, dealers can fulfill those requirements by referring potential buyers to newspaper ads or a toll-free number. The fine print in the ads must be at least the same size as the print in the newspaper's classified section. Dealers cannot use the word "free" and ads can't imply the dealer is going out of business unless it is true. Dealers can't claim they're the biggest unless they can substantiate the information and they cannot use terms such as "no salesperson will hassle you."