Buying and Owning a Car

Buying, Leasing, and Renting

Auto Trade-Ins and Negative Equity: When You Owe More than Your Car is Worth

What to expect when you owe more on your car than it’s worth.

Buying a Used Car From a Dealer

A Buyers Guide is required on used cars sold by dealers. Learn about vehicle history reports, warranties, and payment options.

Car Dealer Ads and Promotions: Know Before You Go

How to determine whether prices, discounts, and other terms in car ads are true before you go to the dealership.

Financing or Leasing a Car

Shopping for a new or used car? Learn about your financing and leasing options and what to expect at the dealership.

Renting a Car

Compare the total cost, not just the advertised rate, when shopping. Fees and options can increase the base price dramatically.

Ownership and Warranties

Auto Warranties and Auto Service Contracts

Explains auto warranties and auto service contracts and their differences. Also describes extended warranty scams and your rights.

Vehicle Repossession

What to know about when, and how, your car can be repossessed.

Related Scams

From Consumer Alerts

View all Buying and Owning a Car alerts

Consumer Alert

Did you ask for all those add-ons? Protect yourself at the dealership

Kira Krown

August 15, 2024

The signs of a good car-buying experience? Things like trust, transparency, and fairness at the dealership. The signs of a bad car-buying experience? Things like misleading ads, bogus fees, and discriminatory practices. How can you protect yourself when buying a car?

Consumer Alert

FTC wants your repair stories

Lesley Fair

April 4, 2024

When trying to get a product fixed, you might find yourself in a fix. That’s why the FTC wants to hear what happened if you recently tried to get a product repaired.

Consumer Alert

FTC and Connecticut take action against Manchester City Nissan auto dealership for illegally charging car buyers

Carol Kando-Pineda

January 4, 2024

The car shopping process can be challenging — and expensive. Deceptive and unfair practices can make the shopping process even more confusing and costly. That’s why the FTC recently passed the CARS Rule. And it’s why the FTC and State of Connecticut just sued Manchester City Nissan (MCN), its owners, and some key employees.

Consumer Alert

The new CARS Rule: What you need to know

Alvaro Puig

December 12, 2023

Whether you’re excited about buying the car of your dreams or just trying to make your budget stretch to get reliable transportation, the car buying process can be stressful. It can also be costlier than expected, because of misleading ads and hidden fees at the dealer. The FTC’s new Combating Auto Retail Scams (CARS) Rule aims to change that by stopping bait-and-switch tactics and hidden fees.