Every medium is an ad
The DMV's advertising regulations, 13 CCR 255.00 to 262.09, govern the advertising of every dealer it licenses (255.04). They define an advertisement as any statement, representation, act or announcement intentionally communicated to the public to arouse a desire to buy (255.00). Vehicle Code 11713(a) reaches a statement made in a newspaper, by public outcry or in any other manner whatever, and Business and Professions Code 17500 names the internet. So the rules cover a windshield price, a curb sign, a listing on a listing site, a text quoting a payment and a radio spot. Each statement has to be clear and based on fact (260.00), and a qualifier such as "plus fees" has to be large enough, and shown long enough, for an average reader to take it in (262.09). Since October 1, 2026, the California Combating Auto Retail Scams Act, Civil Code 1784.20 and following, sits on top of those rules (1784.28). It counts an internet listing that shows a price as an advertisement you keep for two years (1784.44(a)(1)), and it adds the total price duty below. The DMV announced it in industry memo OLIN 2026-10.
Say that you are a dealer
Every ad names the dealer, by the name you do business under or by a name that identifies you to the public and to the DMV (13 CCR 262.08). On a listing site, the account and the ad text carry the dealership's name, not a first name and a phone number. The reason is the rest of this course: a dealer's sale carries a Buyers Guide, a smog certificate, a report of sale and a three-day right to cancel, and an ad that reads like a private owner's hides all of that from the buyer. It also reads like curbstoning to the DMV investigator who finds it; the unlawful-activities lesson covers what that costs.
Identify the car
An ad for a specific vehicle gives its model, its model year, and either its license number or the part of the VIN that sets it apart from every other car of the same make, model and year (Vehicle Code 11713.1(a)). The model year may be left off only while the car is a current model; for a used car, print it, and print the full VIN.
The picture has to be the year, make and model offered, without equipment or a design not sold at the advertised price (Vehicle Code 11713(s)). Equipment named in the ad is installed and working when the ad runs (13 CCR 260.05). Statements of condition match the condition you know, and photos show the car as it is (260.03). What you say about the car's past must be accurate (260.02(a); Vehicle Code 11713(u)), and a former taxicab, rental car, publicly owned vehicle, insurance salvage or revived salvage vehicle is identified as such when you know it (260.02(b)). A car your own dealership used as a demonstrator, loaner, rental or lease vehicle says so, and no used car is ever advertised as new (Vehicle Code 11713(t) and (d)).
State every term, and the whole price
An advertised total price includes every cost the buyer pays at the sale except the ones Vehicle Code 11713.1(b) lists: taxes, registration fees, the California tire fee, an emission testing charge up to $50 plus the state's certificate fee, finance charges, the dealer document processing charge and the electronic filing charge. Everything else is in the number: a charge for work done before delivery (13 CCR 262.03), any dealer price adjustment, and anything installed on the car when the ad runs (Civil Code 1784.31(j)(2)). A rebate is not subtracted from it; advertise the rebate beside the price (1784.31(j)(3); 1784.41(f)).
The ad also says those excluded items will be added. Vehicle Code 11713.1(c) gives wording that satisfies it, with no abbreviations: "Plus government fees and taxes, any finance charges, any dealer document processing charge, any electronic filing charge, and any emission testing charge." The statement is required in a print ad of two or more columns, or one column over seven inches, and on any page of your own website that displays a price (11713.1(c)(3)). Never call the document processing charge, the electronic filing charge or the smog charge a government fee (11713.1(d)). The document processing charge is capped at $85 for a dealer who is a DMV private industry partner and $70 for one who is not (Vehicle Code 4456.5(a)(1), read 2026-10-22).
The CARS Act adds where the total price must appear: in any ad that references a specific vehicle, in any ad that states a dollar amount or a financing term for a specific vehicle, and in your first written reply to a consumer who asks about a specific car or about any amount or term (Civil Code 1784.41(a)). That reply is kept two years and handed over on written request (1784.41(a)(3)). An ad for a specific car that says "call for price" no longer complies, and neither does a first reply with no number. Used cars sold at auction are exempt (1784.41(g)).
The other terms have their own rules in Vehicle Code 11713.1. Nothing is "free" if it depends on buying a car (h). A price introduced by "starting at", "from" or "as low as" says how many cars are available at it (i). "Rebate" and "cash back" mean a specific dollar amount paid by the manufacturer, its finance arm, a utility or a government (j). A buyer who takes advertised credit terms pays no more than the cash price (k). A trade-in allowance is never guaranteed (l). "Invoice", "dealer cost" and "wholesale" stay out of ads (n). "Lowest prices" and "we beat any dealer" need a recent survey and records the DMV can ask for (r). "No down payment" means a qualified buyer drives off with no payment and no trade-in (Vehicle Code 11713(k)). If you advertise that a car may be returned, the ad states the terms and the buyer gets them in writing before signing (13 CCR 260.07).
Honor the price, even for a buyer who never saw the ad
While the car is unsold, you sell it at or below the advertised total price, with only the statutory exclusions added, whether or not the buyer knows the ad exists (Vehicle Code 11713.1(e); 13 CCR 260.04(b)). The one way out is an ad that stated the price was good only for a specified time, after that time has passed. A mistyped price is still the price while the ad is up. You also have to be able to demonstrate the advertised car (260.04(b)). Misstating what a buyer can do if you refuse the advertised price is itself a violation (Civil Code 1784.40(i)).
Pull the ad within 48 hours
Within 48 hours after a car sells or is withdrawn from sale, you withdraw its advertisement in writing (Vehicle Code 11713(c)). Online, that means removing or marking sold every listing of the car, on every site and feed, and keeping the confirmation that shows when you did it. The Act leans on the same rule: advertising a car as available at a price is not a misrepresentation when the ad was withdrawn under 11713(c) after the sale (Civil Code 1784.40(d)). The mirror rule is that you never advertise a car not actually for sale at your premises (Vehicle Code 11713(b); 13 CCR 260.04(a)).
Bait and switch
Vehicle Code 11713(a) bars a statement made as part of a plan not to sell the car at the advertised price or as advertised, and 11713.1(o) makes any violation of a bait and switch law a dealer violation, naming the Federal Trade Commission's guides at 16 CFR Part 238. The guides describe the pattern: an alluring offer the advertiser does not intend to honor, meant to switch the buyer to something that pays better (238.0). They list what proves it: refusing to show, demonstrate or sell the advertised car on its terms; running down the car, its warranty, its credit terms or its service; not stocking enough to meet expected demand without saying so; showing a car that is defective or unusable; and a pay plan that penalizes a salesperson for selling the advertised unit (238.3). Taking a deposit and moving the buyer to a dearer car, or delivering the advertised car late or defective, is a switch after the sale (238.4), and selling a few of the advertised cars does not clear the scheme (238.4, note). A false or misleading ad is also a misdemeanor under Business and Professions Code 17500, up to six months in county jail, a fine up to $2,500, or both.
Certified
The Car Buyer's Bill of Rights wrote Vehicle Code 11713.18. You may not advertise or sell a used car as "certified", or use any similar word implying it meets a certification program, when any one of nine things is true: you know or should know the odometer does not show actual mileage, was rolled back or was replaced with one reading fewer miles; you know or should know the manufacturer or a dealer reacquired the car under a warranty law; the title carries "Lemon Law Buyback", "manufacturer repurchase", "salvage", "junk", "nonrepairable", "flood" or a similar brand from any state; the car took impact, fire or flood damage that, after repair, substantially impairs its use or safety; you know or should know it has frame damage; you did not give the buyer, before the sale, a completed inspection report listing every component inspected; you disclaim the implied warranty of merchantability; the car is sold as is; or the word is used in any way that is untrue or misleading (11713.18(a)). The section is enforceable under the Consumers Legal Remedies Act and the Unfair Competition Law as well as by the DMV (11713.18(b)), and it does not reach motorcycles or off-highway vehicles (11713.18(d)).
Coupons, simulated checks and gifts
A simulated check is any document that is not a real check or negotiable instrument but looks enough like one, or like a prize notice, to mislead the person holding it (Business and Professions Code 22433(a)). Producing or distributing one in California is unlawful (22433(b)), and using one in an ad for the sale or lease of a vehicle is a dealer violation on its own (Vehicle Code 11713.1(w)). A coupon is judged by the same sections as any other term: a coupon for "free" merchandise that depends on buying a car violates 11713.1(h), a coupon dressed as a manufacturer "rebate" violates 11713.1(j), and a coupon taken off an inflated price is a misleading statement under 11713(a) and 17500.
What a bad ad costs
Each section above is a condition of the license. Vehicle Code 11705(a)(10) lets the DMV suspend or revoke a dealer license for violating the dealer article of the Code or any regulation under it, and 11705(a)(14) adds fraud or deceit that costs a buyer money, defined to include a misrepresentation of a material fact and an intentional failure to disclose one. The CARS Act's remedies stack on every other law (Civil Code 1784.22), and a buyer cannot waive them (1784.21). The listing with its price, the first written reply and the withdrawal are kept two years under 1784.44 and three years as business records under 13 CCR 272.00(b).
Sources
- Vehicle Code 11713, subdivisions (a), (b), (c), (d), (k), (s), (t) and (u), read 2026-10-22.
- Vehicle Code 11713.1, subdivisions (a) to (e), (h) to (l), (n), (o), (r) and (w), read 2026-10-22.
- Vehicle Code 11713.18, certified used vehicles, read 2026-10-22.
- Vehicle Code 4456.5, the document processing and electronic filing charges, read 2026-10-22.
- Vehicle Code 11705, grounds for discipline, read 2026-10-22.
- 13 CCR 255.00, 255.04, 260.00, 260.02, 260.03, 260.04, 260.05, 260.07, 262.03, 262.08 and 262.09, advertising by occupational licensees, read 2026-10-22.
- 13 CCR 272.00, business records, read 2026-10-22.
- Civil Code 1784.20 to 1784.44, the California Combating Auto Retail Scams Act (SB 766, Statutes of 2025, chapter 354), in particular 1784.21, 1784.22, 1784.28, 1784.31, 1784.40, 1784.41 and 1784.44, read 2026-10-22.
- Business and Professions Code 17500, false advertising, and 22433, simulated checks, read 2026-10-22.
- 16 CFR Part 238, the Federal Trade Commission's Guides Against Bait Advertising, read 2026-10-22.
- DMV industry memo OLIN 2026-10, Implementation of CARS Act (SB 766), read 2026-10-22.
- DMV, Lesson Plan Guidelines for Used Vehicle Dealer Education Programs, OL 2000 (rev. 12/2007).