Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo last week announced settlements with four Hudson Valley car dealers that misled consumers by promising certain vehicle offers but hid specific qualifiers in the fine print or untenable disclaimers.
The four dealerships must pay fines and reform their practices to be in compliance with advertising guidelines for automobile dealerships.
Brands included General Motors, Nissan and Suzuki and fines across the board total $32,500.
Middletown Pontiac, Buick, GMC and Saturn of Newburgh ”“ owner of Saturn of Poughkeepsie and West Nyack ”“ had mailed flyers to thousands of Hudson Valley residents offering a minimum value for any vehicle the consumer traded in ”“ regardless of its condition. The dealerships attempted substantially to modify these offers in the footnotes, Cuomo had alleged, but failed to address the primary misleading offer in the body of the ad.
The Saturn dealerships were also cited by Cuomo for announcing in their flyer that the recipient was pre-approved for a $25,000 credit ”“ another offer that was significantly modified in a footnote with the restriction that the consumer must have a credit score of 760 or above ”“a “gold-plated” credit rating held by only a small percentage of consumers.
Cuomo said Newburgh Nissan advertised new vehicle prices as “below invoice” on its flier. Invoice is generally understood as the dealer”™s total cost. However, a footnote at the bottom of the flier limits the offer by explaining the invoice does not reflect actual dealer invoice, meaning “invoice price” is not the total cost. This flier is deceptive as the footnote altered the facts of the dealer”™s offer, Cuomo asserted.
Brag Suzuki in Middletown was cited by Cuomo for two misleading radio commercials. One commercial offered consumers 100 percent of the original MSRP on any vehicle traded in ”“ regardless of its condition. However, in a disclaimer at the end of the commercial spoken so fast that it is virtually indecipherable, Brag Suzuki considerably altered the offer by stating that there would be a deduction from the MSRP of $0.35 for each mile on the vehicle and an unspecified reconditioning charge for vehicles more than a year old.
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In the second radio spot, Brag Suzuki offered to beat any competitor”™s price or pay the consumer $5,000. This offer was also changed at the end of the commercial by requiring the consumer to prove the lower price of a competitor by bringing in a signed purchase order from the competing dealer ”“ an unreasonable requirement in Cuomo”™s eyes.
Each of the dealers has agreed to discontinue the practices cited by the attorney general”™s office and to pay fines for the violations. Middletown Pontiac, Buick, GMC is paying $10,000; Saturn of Newburgh is paying $10,000; Newburgh Nissan is paying $5,000; and Brag Suzuki is paying $7,500.
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