I think there should be a generic rule for everything that the advertised price is something that you can actually pay and get the product. No $50 concert tickets with $75 of fees, advertising that for less than $125 should be illegal.<p>Of course I'm sure people will get creative with "optional" upsells, the $50 ticket is in the building but highly obstructed, but I think this is at least a huge step forward.
Charging customers for nitrogen filled tires that contain no more nitrogen than air (hey 78% is a lot!) reminds me of an idea I had to market regular salt as "ancient sea salt". I cracked myself up with this idea and thinking about the suckers in Whole Foods switching to it from their pink Himalayan or whatever regular sea salt.<p>Then I searched and discovered that of course some scumbag was actually doing it. Hehe
Excellent news; the nonsense that car dealers have been able to get away with since the start of the pandemic is simply ridiculous.<p>Perhaps most frustrating is the complete uselessness of posted prices, as many dealerships note in very fine print that their advertised prices are only valid for purchases financed through the dealership (no doubt at ridiculous APRs.) "Doc fees" are also something I would love to see eliminated—sometimes upwards of $500 for the dealer to submit some online forms to the DMV...
I was looking at purchasing a newer, used Land Rover a few months back from a Land Rover dealership (one that had a sterling reputation prior to a buy out). The sheet of non-negotiable fees was rolled out, which raised the price nearly $5,000. The $1895 for "Executive Concierge Fee" blew my mind, consisting of your basic $150 detail and a slew of additional items that one could buy and apply from any Pep Boys for under $100. Funny enough, when I got up to walk away I was asked if I would buy the vehicle that day if some of those $5,000 of "non-negotiable" fees were removed.<p>I contacted the sales manager to tell him why I'd never be back. They couldn't care less. It must mean that enough people fall for these scam fees or don't pay attention to the line items that they can afford to not care.<p>It looks like that rule would address this, and I'm for it.
Some carmakers are dealing with this directly. Subaru, for example, requires dealers to sell cars at MSRP...and does not allow dealers to mandate "mandatory" add-ons like extended warranties or "paint protection packages." Dealers which violate these rules get their dealer allotments reduced for desirable models/trims. (In the LA area, a dealer that was adding a mandatory $3000 protection package to certain 2022 Outback trims saw its dealer allotments quartered for those trims for the 2023 model year.)
None of these proposed bans or guidelines seem specific to cars, so why are they being narrowly targetted at them? Bans on bait-and-switch, fraudulent fees, junk fees, and requiring upfront disclosure of costs and conditions should apply to anything that you buy.
For the last couple of new cars that I bought, I emailed the "internet sales manager" at three local dealers and asked for a quote. I bought the car from the dealer with the lowest quote. I paid the quoted amount. This has been the suggested way to buy cars for like 20 years. I've not bought a new car in a while. Would this approach somehow break down now?
One of the chair dissented on these rules: <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/P204800MotorVehicleNPRMWilsonStatement.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/P204800MotorVeh...</a><p>Says these rules will stifle innovation and some car makers are doing direct sales so rule is not really needed.
It's unclear to me as to whether "Require full upfront disclosure of costs and conditions" also applies to subscription services, which is something that I'd <i>really</i> like transparency in.
Today, car ownership is a horrible value proposition. The car lobby has been all too successful in making America car-centric, which is a shame, because cars are great, but they aren't the only form of transportation out there.<p>I've been car-free for at least five years. To be fair, I live in a city that is friendly towards alternate transportation. I bike or use my own electric scooter. I plan ahead and book a rental when I know I'll need a car. So far it's been cheaper than owning, and has saved me thousands of dollars.<p>It's these sorts of shenanigans that I'm glad I don't have to deal with. Paying outrageous amounts for insurance is another. Not to mention parking headaches, the constant threat of high-speed, potentially fatal, accidents, or expensive maintenance.
hoo boy if you car owners think youre getting screwed in the recession, its been like this for motorcycles for about 30 years. "oh we just sold it" "oh that ones not on our lot" "the price is only for financing."<p>I once had a dealer advertise a two year old but new Yamaha, on paper, for six grand less than the wheelbarrow of fees that showed up after I asked for a quote in person. The "documentation" meeting was nearly an hour of upsells for special wax, special accessories, "racing nitrogen" in the tires on a touring bike, a 3000 mile care package, you name it. and each "document" was literally trying to get me to sign an agreement to purchase until the very end where I signed the receipt and state title forms.
One thing that still confuses me is that brokers/agents are very common, or practically a requirement, in other areas but not at all in vehicle shopping. I would definitely pay a handsome fee to a broker to just absorb all the shopping/haggling pain, to cut through all the BS, on my behalf.<p>I have tried this once with one of the very few brokers I could find, and it was definitely better but it was obvious there were several areas of the experience that could be massively improved. I chalked it up at the time to a lack of competition between brokers, since there really aren’t many.
If we could redirect our populism away from aggressive handouts and towards consumer protections, that could be a party I'd consider supporting. This is a great move.
A common complaint is that these (U.S) regulatory agencies are too removed from the legislative/democratic process.<p>But a quick search for “FTC” suggests this might be an agency I’m interested in supporting.<p>But how does one go about doing so? How does one go about providing some sort of support to a one-or-more level removed regulatory agency?
When I first came to America, I realized the biggest myth is that people believe it is a capitalist nation with free markets.<p>It is not. Not by a long shot.<p>From buying a car to getting medical treatment, America has a very UNIQUE template of the way people think, talk, behave and deal with each industry that is radically different from the rest of the world.<p>“Healthcare”?: They actually mean “Insurance”. The term has nothing to do with medicine, treatment, personal care or well being, but simply refers to this massive series of legislation over the decades that has enshrined government protection against competition in free markets leading to the extreme inefficiencies driving up prices.<p>“Dealerships”?: They mean Govt protected localized monopolies with the mandate to abuse said market power against any known free market ideal.<p>Energy Markets: Same story. Try building a transmission line, nuclear plant or any energy infrastructure in America and you’ll be lucky if you only go bankrupt and lose everything financially. Entities with the innovative courage to attempt such projects have terrible outcomes.<p>“Housing”: This continues to amaze me with how selective, arbitrary, corrupt and inefficient permits, zoning and all the other functions run by local governments actually are. Take a region as prominent as the SF Bay Area and regardless of your position, everyone likely has a strong opinion on inefficiencies in the market and how they don’t really need to persist in a free market.<p>In short, the biggest opportunity right now is a technological revolution in government and a challenge to the traditional form of local government that has proven so ineffective in a highly networked society.<p>This will never happen though because of the inherent self interest of the present structure in keeping things the way they are.