A federal form on a California lot
Every used car you offer carries a Buyers Guide before a customer sees it. The Guide is the Federal Trade Commission's window form under the Used Car Rule, 16 CFR Part 455, in force since 1985 and rewritten in 2016. The current form took effect January 27, 2017, and the FTC let dealers use up the old pads until January 27, 2018 (81 FR 81664; 16 CFR 455.2(a)). The rule exists because of three sales habits that 455.1 names as deceptive: misrepresenting a car's mechanical condition, misrepresenting the warranty, and letting a buyer believe a warranty comes with a car sold without one. It names two more as unfair: failing to tell the buyer before the sale that there is no warranty, and failing to make a written warranty's terms available before the sale. A dealer who does what 455.2 through 455.5 say has met the rule.
The rule reaches anyone who sells or offers a used vehicle after selling or offering five in the past twelve months, so it reaches every licensed California dealer, and it counts the cars on your lot on consignment or under a power of attorney (455.1(d)(3); FTC, Dealer's Guide to the Used Car Rule). A used vehicle is any vehicle driven further than it took to move it or road test it, titled or not, so a demonstrator or a program car counts (455.1(d)(2)). The rule covers vehicles under 8,500 pounds gross vehicle weight rating, under 6,000 pounds curb weight and under 46 square feet of frontal area (455.1(d)(1)). It leaves out motorcycles, a vehicle sold for scrap or parts once the title is surrendered for a salvage certificate, and agricultural equipment. A public auction needs a Guide on every car; an auction closed to consumers does not.
Where it hangs
Post the Guide before the car goes on display and before a customer inspects it with buying in mind, even when the car is not yet detailed. The rule asks for a display that is prominent and conspicuous, with both sides readable (455.2(a)). The FTC's dealer guide names the places that pass: hung from the inside rearview mirror, on the outside side-view mirror, under a windshield wiper, or on a side window. A Guide in the glove box, the trunk or under a seat fails. You may take it down for a test drive and put it back after.
The form itself is fixed. Print it in black on white stock at least 11 inches by 7 1/4, in the type and layout the rule prescribes, with the wording, capitalization and punctuation exact and nothing added, not even a logo (455.2(a)(2); FTC dealer guide). Colored ink is for the blanks you fill.
The top and the back
The top takes the make, model, model year and VIN; the stock number is optional (455.2(d)). The back takes the dealership's name and address and the name or position and phone number of the person a buyer calls with a complaint after the sale (455.2(c) and (e)). A rubber stamp or a preprinted form does for both. The back also carries a list of major defects that may occur in a used vehicle, and since 2016 that list names air bags and the catalytic converter (81 FR 81664).
The as-is box
Mark the box headed "As Is - No Dealer Warranty" when you offer the car with no warranty of any kind, written or implied. The paragraph under it says the dealer provides no warranty for any repairs after sale (455.2(b)(1); Figure 1 to Part 455). California permits as-is sales, so the standard form is yours. The second version of the form, headed "Implied Warranties Only," is for states that forbid as-is sales, and for a dealer who gives no written warranty but chooses to leave the implied ones in place (455.2(b)(1)(ii)).
California adds a test of its own. Civil Code 1792.3 says the implied warranty of merchantability cannot be waived except by an as-is sale done the way 1792.4 says, and 1792.4 says the waiver works only if a conspicuous writing attached to the car tells the buyer, before the sale and in plain language, three things: that the car is sold as is or with all faults, that the entire risk as to its quality and performance is the buyer's, and that if it proves defective the buyer, not the manufacturer, distributor or retailer, pays the whole cost of servicing and repair. Read the Guide's as-is paragraph against that list. It names the as-is sale and the dealer's refusal to warrant repairs; it does not say the risk is the buyer's, and it does not name the manufacturer or distributor. The FTC's dealer guide says some states require special language or a separate document to eliminate implied warranties, and California is one. You may not change the federal form's words, so the three statements go in a separate writing attached to the car beside the Guide, and the contract's as-is clause should say the same. The next lesson says what the waiver covers and what it cannot.
One more state rule touches the box. Vehicle Code 11713.18 makes it a violation to sell a used car as "certified" when it is sold as is or when you disclaim the warranty of merchantability on it (subdivisions (a)(7) and (a)(8)). An as-is Guide and a certified sticker on the same windshield is a violation on its face.
The warranty box
Mark "Dealer Warranty" when you give any written warranty, and fill in the four facts the rule names (455.2(b)(2)). First, Full or Limited: a full warranty meets the federal minimum standards in section 104 of the Magnuson-Moss Act, 15 U.S.C. 2304, which means service for anyone who owns the car during the term, at no charge, a refund or replacement after a reasonable number of tries, and no limit on the implied warranties. A warranty that meets all of those is full; anything less is limited. Second, the percentage of labor and of parts you pay; a deductible gets an asterisk and an explanation in the systems space. Third, the systems covered, each by name: "engine, transmission, differential" passes, "drive train" and "power train" do not. Fourth, the duration, such as "30 days or 1,000 miles, whichever occurs first." If one duration covers every system, write it once.
Below the dealer box sits "Non-Dealer Warranties for This Vehicle," with three boxes you may mark: the manufacturer's original warranty still applies to some components, a manufacturer's used vehicle warranty applies, or another used vehicle warranty applies (455.2(b)(2)(v)). The FTC draws the line here: if the buyer pays anything for that manufacturer coverage, it is a service contract, not a warranty, and the warranty box stays blank. A written warranty of your own also brings in the Magnuson-Moss rules: the warranty is a separate document, available to the buyer before the sale, and the Guide's summary does not stand in for it (FTC dealer guide). In California, giving any express warranty on a used car also attaches an implied warranty of merchantability of 30 days to three months (Civil Code 1795.5), which is what the form's line about implied warranties under state law points at. The next lesson covers the duties that follow.
The service contract box
If you offer a service contract on the car, mark the "Service Contract" box, and the paragraph under it stands: a service contract is available for an extra charge, ask about coverage, deductible, price and exclusions, and a contract bought within 90 days of the car may give the buyer added rights under state implied warranty law (455.2(b)(3)). The federal rule drops the box only where offering the contract is the business of insurance under state law. California regulates vehicle service contracts under Insurance Code 12800 and following, and 12805 says a contract sold by a dealer with a compliant obligor is not insurance, so in California the box is marked.
The Spanish Guide
When you conduct the sale in Spanish, the Guide on the car and the contract sentences in the next section must be in Spanish (455.5(a)). Figures 4 through 6 to Part 455 carry the Spanish form, and the rule itself gives the Spanish text of the Implied Warranties Only paragraph, the Service Contract paragraph and the signature line (455.5(b) to (d)). You may hang both the English and the Spanish Guide on one car. The language of the deal decides, not the buyer's surname: a salesperson who negotiated in Spanish owes a Spanish Guide even if the buyer can read the English one.
The buyer signs it and takes it home
At the sale, give the buyer the Guide or a copy of it, showing the warranty terms you settled on (455.3(a)). Where the deal moved during negotiation, the Guide moves with it: cross out the old disclosure, write the new terms, and give the buyer the corrected form. The federal rule makes the signature line optional, but it fixes the words beside it, "I hereby acknowledge receipt of the Buyers Guide at the closing of this sale," placed in the complaint-contact space (455.2(f)), with a Spanish version for a Spanish sale (455.5(d)). The DMV's lesson outline for this course lists the buyer's signature and the buyer's copy as steps of a California used car sale (OL 2000, topic 17), and the signed Guide in the deal jacket is the only proof you have that the buyer received it. Treat the signature as required and keep a copy with the deal.
When the Guide and the contract disagree
The Guide is part of the sales contract. Section 455.3(b) makes the final window form's information a term of every consumer sale and says that where the contract and the form disagree, the form wins. The contract must say so, in two sentences the rule prescribes: that the information on the window form for this vehicle is part of this contract, and that information on the window form overrides any contrary provisions in the contract of sale. Check your contract form for them. The consequence runs both ways. A Guide marked as-is beside a contract clause promising 30 days on the engine is a conflict the form resolves against the promise; a Guide promising 50 percent of parts beside a contract saying as-is holds you to the 50 percent. Section 455.4 closes the last gap: no statement, spoken or written, may alter or contradict what the Guide discloses. You may negotiate the coverage, but the final terms go in the contract and on the Guide the buyer takes home.
What a violation costs
The Used Car Rule is a trade regulation rule, and the FTC collects a civil penalty for each violation, adjusted for inflation; since January 17, 2025 the figure is up to $53,088 per violation, and the FTC's dealer guide still carries it (16 CFR 1.98(d); FTC dealer guide, read 2026-10-22). A lot of twenty cars without Guides is twenty violations. The FTC enforces in federal court, and its dealer guide notes that state and local officials check for the Guide too and may fine or sue. In California the DMV reaches the same conduct through the license: a warranty statement that is untrue or misleading violates Vehicle Code 11713(a), and an as-is car sold as certified violates 11713.18, each a ground for action against the license.
Sources
- 16 CFR 455.1 to 455.5, the Used Motor Vehicle Trade Regulation Rule (law.cornell.edu), read 2026-10-22.
- 81 FR 81664 (Nov. 18, 2016), the final rule amending Part 455, with Figures 1 to 6, effective January 27, 2017, read 2026-10-22.
- 16 CFR 1.98(d), civil penalty for a rule violation, as adjusted at 90 FR 5581 (Jan. 17, 2025), read 2026-10-22.
- FTC, A Dealer's Guide to the Used Car Rule, ftc.gov, read 2026-10-22.
- Civil Code 1792.3, 1792.4 and 1795.5, waiver of implied warranties and used goods sold with an express warranty, read 2026-10-22.
- Vehicle Code 11713(a) and 11713.18, misleading statements and certified used vehicles, read 2026-10-22.
- Insurance Code 12800 and 12805, vehicle service contracts and what is not insurance, read 2026-10-22.
- DMV, Lesson Plan Guidelines for Used Vehicle Dealer Education Programs, OL 2000 (rev. 12/2007), topic 17.