The Federal Trade Commission recently reported two franchised dealers in Las Vegas agreed to settle charges that they used deceptive ads to promote the sale or leasing of their vehicles, including advertising heavily discounted prices that were not generally available to consumers.

According to the complaints, TC Dealership, doing business as Planet Hyundai, and JS Autoworld, doing business as Planet Nissan, violated the FTC Act by running ads that misrepresented the purchase price or leasing offers of their vehicles and the amount due at signing.

Officials pointed out their ads also violated the Consumer Leasing Act (CLA) and the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) by failing to disclose required lease terms and other credit information.

In promotions by Planet Hyundai for example, the FTC charged that the dealership misled consumers by prominently advertising a vehicle price for “$0 DOWN AVAILABLE”, and then in fine print noted that consumers must turn in a vehicle with a trade-in value of at least $2,500.

FTC officials noted the dealership also failed to disclose other information in its ads such as whether or not a security deposit was required.

Among the deceptive ads by Planet Nissan, the regulator said there were prominent offers for “PURCHASE! NOT A LEASE!” when in fact, many of the offers were for leases. Ads by the dealership also failed to disclose the amount of a down payment required, and the terms of repayment.

As part of the proposed consent orders, the dealerships are prohibited from misrepresenting the cost to purchase or lease a vehicle and are required to comply with CLA and Regulation M and TILA and Regulation Z.

The FTC vote to issue the administrative complaints and accept the proposed consent orders were 5-0. The agreements are subject to public comment for 30 days, continuing through July 29 after which the commission will decide whether to make the proposed consent orders final.