The following statements or advertising techniques are presumptively false and misleading, and the burden of proving otherwise shall be on the advertiser/licensee:

1. (1)

   1. (A) Statements using abbreviations or shortened terms for words or initials for groups of words not commonly understood, including, but not limited to, “FTB”, “A/R”, “TOP”, and “POF” must not be used.
   2. (B) Commonly understood abbreviations, including, but not limited to, “2 DR”, “AM/FM”, “APR”, “WAC”, “DEMO”, and “EXEC” may be used;
2. (2) Statements such as “write your own deal”, “name your own price”, “pick your monthly payments”, “appraise your own motor vehicle”, or statements with similar meaning are obviously untrue and shall not be used;
3. (3) No statement or advertisement shall be worded to imply that because of large sales volume, a dealer is able to purchase motor vehicles for less than another dealer selling the same line-make of vehicles;

4. (4)

   1. (A) No motor vehicle advertisement shall contain the following statements or terms:

      1. (i) Cost;

      2. (ii) Percent or dollars over or under:

         1. (a) (a) Cost;
         2. (b) (b) Invoice; or
      3. (c) (c) Profit;
      4. (iii) Profit or invoice;
      5. (iv) Take over payments;
      6. (v) Fleet pricing;
      7. (vi) Wholesale;
      8. (vii) X pricing;
      9. (viii) Employee pricing; or
      10. (ix) Terms with similar meaning.
   2. (B) However, a dealer may utilize the phrase “employee pricing” or terms with similar meaning only when the event is a manufacturer sponsored campaign that is available to all dealers of that line-make;

5. (5)

   1. (A) A used vehicle shall not be advertised in a manner that creates the impression it is new.
   2. (B) Product nameplates and/or logos of any franchise line-make shall not be used in an advertisement that is a “used only” vehicle advertisement;
6. (6) The following statements or terms “sale”, “discount”, “savings”, “price cut”, “reduced”, “clearance”, “tent sale”, and other similar terms, without clearly and conspicuously disclosing that such “clearance” or other such terms are limited to certain vehicles and/or specific dates of the sale if it is a limited-time offer;
7. (7) Using any advertising statements or terms such as “closing out sale”, “lost our lease sale”, “forced to vacate sale”, or similar terms used to imply a court-ordered closure or to induce a belief that upon disposal of the stock of goods on hand, the business will cease and be discontinued at the premises where the sale is conducted, unless such is the case;
8. (8) Statements such as “sales tax paid” or terms with similar meaning shall not be used, unless it is truly paid by the dealer and not financed or added to the price of the vehicle;

9. (9)

   1. (A) Statements or terms implying a vehicle has been “repossessed” from an immediate former owner.
   2. (B) Neither shall a dealer advertise that a purchaser will be receiving benefits on an existing loan on a vehicle when no such benefit exists;

10. (10)

    1. (A) Statements such as “big volume buying power”, “manufacturer’s outlet”, “factory-authorized outlet”, “factory sale”, “factory approved”, “factory wholesale outlet”, or terms with similar meaning shall not be used.
    2. (B) Any term or statement that gives the consumer the impression the dealer has a special arrangement with the manufacturer or distributor as compared to similarly situated dealers is misleading and shall not be used;
11. (11) “Double rebates”, “triple rebates”, or any other amount of rebates that are not truly offered by the manufacturer are prohibited;

12. (12)

    1. (A) The statement “no reasonable offer refused”, shall not be used because what may be reasonable to the dealership may not be reasonable to the consumer.
    2. (B) As a result, the statement is almost impossible to prove;
13. (13) Terms or phrases that may be unfamiliar to a consumer must be fully defined in the advertisement; and
14. (14) Statements offering a specific trade-in allowance, i.e., “$2,500 minimum trade-in”, or a range of amounts for trade-ins, e.g., “up to $1,000” or “as much as $1,000”, including, without limitation, that the trade-in will be valued at a specific amount or guaranteed minimum amount.

Codification Notes: “2 DR” means two-door. "A/R" means after rebate "AM/FM" means the amplitude modulation (AM) and frequency modulation (FM) modulated signals for radio. "APR" means annual percentage rate. "DEMO" means demonstrator vehicle. "EXEC" means executive vehicle. "FTB" means first time buyer. "POF" means proof of funds. "TOP" means total of payments. "WAC" means with approved credit.