FTC All-In Advertised Car Prices: What Texas Buyers Should Check

The short answer

If a Texas dealer advertises a car price, Federal Trade Commission staff say that number should be the actual price any consumer can walk in and pay, including mandatory dealer fees such as a document fee, and excluding only government-required charges like taxes. The FTC published Automobile Industry Pricing Transparency FAQs on September 15, 2026 (announced in an FTC press release) to spell that out. Use the most prominent advertised price when you compare cars—and keep financing questions separate from the vehicle price.

What must be in the advertised price

According to the FAQs:

• The advertised price must be the actual price any consumer can walk in and pay.
• If the dealer requires a fee to purchase the car, that fee belongs in the advertised price.
• Dealers may exclude only government-required charges paid directly to a federal, state, or local agency.
• Dealer-required fees that a state authorizes but does not mandate still count as dealer-required and must be included.
• Fees the government requires the dealer to pay that the dealer passes on to consumers also belong in the advertised price.

Document fees: If a $40,000 car also carries an $85 document fee every buyer must pay, the FAQs say the advertised price must be $40,085. If some shoppers get a lower doc fee and others would be charged a higher mandatory fee, the advertised price must reflect the higher fee any consumer could be required to pay.

Where the rule applies

The FAQs list dealership and third-party websites, social media, print ads, roadside signs, and even phone calls and texts from dealership staff. On webpages that state any amount a consumer may pay—including inventory search and individual listing pages—the actual price must be the most prominent amount.

MSRP, discounts, and rebates can still appear if the actual price stays most prominent and shoppers know what they would need to pay. Prominence is not only font size. Conditional discounts (first responders, finance-only savings, and similar) must keep the price available to any consumer most prominent, with clear terms.

Optional add-ons vs. the all-in price

Dealers may offer optional products—protection packages, accessories, and similar—when they do not mislead. The FAQs flag problems such as suggesting an add-on is required when it is optional, implying an installed "option" cannot be removed so you must pay for it, misstating the cost, or charging for options you did not agree to. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's auto loan guide likewise tells shoppers to budget for optional features and dealer fees separately from the loan math.

Before you sign, line those optional lines up against the numbers on the contract. Our post on five numbers to check before signing and what you can negotiate on a Texas car loan walk through the financing side.

How Texas buyers can use this on a Saturday lot visit

1. Screenshot the listing showing the most prominent price before you drive over.

2. Ask early: "Is that the out-the-door dealer price before tax, title, and registration?"

3. Watch for new mandatory lines that were not in the advertised figure.

4. Separate optional products from the vehicle price and from the APR discussion.

5. Compare loans independently when you can—APR, term, and total finance charge—not payment alone.

6. Report problems with documentation at ReportFraud.ftc.gov if an advertised price and the required walk-in price do not match; the FAQs invite the public to include dealership details and copies of ads or contracts when possible.

Vehicles in transit or already sold

The FAQs allow advertising cars that are in transit or stored offsite when the ad clearly says the car is not physically on the lot. Advertising a car that has already been paid for and delivered just to pull shoppers onto the lot is called out as a deceptive tactic. For used cars, consumers reasonably expect the photo to show the exact vehicle, because condition varies.

How Steven Sells Cars can help

I'm Steven Wilson, Sales and Social Media & Marketing Manager at Kramer Autoplex in Livingston, TX. I help people across Houston and East Texas get financed with good credit, bad credit, thin credit, or no credit by shopping a wide lender network. Same-day answers on where you stand are typical, not a guarantee of approval. The first step is name plus phone or email—about 20 seconds—and no credit check yet; the full application comes later. Free delivery is available anywhere in Texas, with nationwide delivery outside Texas. Live inventory is on the site; I will not invent stock or prices here.

Soft next step only: if you want a clear read on what you qualify for before you fall in love with an advertised payment, start at the apply form.

Bottom line

FTC staff want the price you see in the ad to be the price you can actually pay, aside from government charges. Bring that expectation to every listing page and every F&I desk—and keep optional add-ons and the loan terms on their own lines.

See what you qualify for: Start here. Name and phone or email first—no credit check on that step.