Fix Your Pricing Before the FTC Does: What Every Powersports Dealer Needs to Know Right Now | Anne Gambardella, VADA

The rule everyone was scared of got struck down. The enforcement did not. And the people who watch this closely believe powersports dealers are next.Anne Gambardella is the General Counsel and Executive Vice President at the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association. She has spent years helping dealers navigate advertising and pricing compliance, and she came on to break down exactly what the FTC wants, what it is going after, and what a dealer needs to do about it this week. In plain English, with real steps you can take at your store.This one is tactical. We get past the headlines and into what actually has to change on your website, your third-party listings, and even your salespeople's social media posts.What we cover:Why the CARS Rule getting struck down did not make dealers safe, and how the FTC enforces one dealer at a time under its existing authorityThe core rule in one sentence: the most prominent price in your ad has to include every fee except government chargesWhat actually comes out of the price, only tag, title, and registration, and what has to stay in, freight, setup, and doc or processing feesWhy the low-advertised-price game that has run for 30 years is now the thing that gets you flaggedHow rebates work now: you can list them, but you cannot pull a rebate most people do not qualify for out of the advertised priceThe 97 warning letters, what they really mean, and why a dealer who did not get one is not safe, just not on the list yetWhy this is not really a new rule in many states, and how it may already be illegal where you operateThe powersports reality: freight and setup fees the dealer did not create but still has to include in the priceWhy "call for price" is not the loophole dealers think it is, and how lying on the phone is still a deceptive practiceThe social media trap: how one salesperson posting a price can become an advertising violation for the whole storeWhy your price has to match everywhere, your site, third-party listings, and social, and how to document your pricing updatesThe trust numbers that prove customers want this: 86% worry about hidden fees, 76% do not trust dealer pricing, 29% walk to another dealer over price doubtThe real cost of getting caught: penalties north of $50,000 per violation, plus state action, franchise risk, and reputation damageWhy transparency is a competitive edge, not a loss, and the exact three moves to fix your pricing this weekWatch on YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit⁠Learn more (VADA, FTC resources): ⁠https://www.vada.com⁠Connect with Jacob: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry/⁠Follow the Fixit Online: ⁠https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit⁠MotoHunt for Dealers: ⁠https://dealers.motohunt.com⁠Get $20 off your Dealer Connect 2026 registration with code "MOTOHUNT20"