California price advertising on your website

This page applies to you only when your dealership's primary location is in California. For every other state nothing on your website changes.

California has two rules about the price you advertise for a car, and a website listing counts as an advertisement:

• Vehicle Code 11713.1 has long said the advertised price must include every cost to the buyer except a short list of charges, and that the ad must name those charges.
• The CARS Act (SB 766), in force from October 1, 2026, says the total price must be shown clearly in any ad that names a specific vehicle, and in your first written message to a shopper about a specific vehicle. It also asks you to keep your ads for two years.

What your website does on its own

You do not switch anything on. When your primary location's state is California:

• The price on every vehicle page is labeled Total price instead of "Our price", and this sentence sits right under it: Total price. Added at the time of sale: government fees and taxes, any finance charges, any dealer document processing charge, any electronic filing charge, and any emission testing charge.
• The same sentence appears at the top of your inventory page and of every make, model, body style and price page.
• Your site footer carries it on every page, because the featured cars on your home page and the related cars on a vehicle page show a price too.
• The AI salesman on your website states the listed price as the total price the first time it mentions a specific car, says once that those charges are added, and never quotes a price net of a rebate, a discount or a trade-in.
• A sold car shows no price, so it shows no sentence.

What your listed price has to include

The price you type for a car is the total price. It has to include everything a buyer must pay for that car, for example:

• an accessory or product already installed on the car,
• a market adjustment,
• a preparation or reconditioning charge.

Only these may be added on top at the time of sale: sales tax, registration and other government fees, the California tire fee, smog and emission testing charges, finance charges, the document processing charge, and the electronic filing charge.

The warning about "other fees"

Under Settings → Deal defaults you can set an amount of other fees that is added to every deal. For a California dealership, Website settings shows a California price advertising card, and that card warns you when other fees are set. If that amount is the electronic filing charge, nothing needs to change. If it is anything else, include it in your listed prices or remove it.

The first email to a shopper about a car

California also asks for the total price in your first written message to a shopper about a specific car. When a lead asked about a car that has a listed price, AutoDealer prepares the line for you: the car, its total price, and the charges that are added at the time of sale.

• When you write the email yourself from the lead's page, the line is shown under the message box with a button that adds it to your message.
• When the assistant drafts the email, the line is already at the end of the draft you approve. You can edit it like the rest of the message, and only what you approve is sent.
• When the assistant sends one of your message templates, the line is at the end of the preview you approve.

The line is offered for the first email or text to that lead only. It is not added to messages to existing customers, and nothing is ever added to a message after you approve it.

The record of your advertised prices

California asks a dealer to keep its advertisements for two years, and a listing on your website is an advertisement. AutoDealer keeps that record for you. From the moment a car is published, the platform records the price your website shows, the stock number, the VIN and the price sentence beside it, with the date and time. When you change the price, unpublish the car, sell it or remove it, the record closes that entry with the reason and the time, and a new price starts a new entry. Nothing in the record is ever edited or deleted.

The record started in the last week of September 2026 with the cars that were published at the time, and it covers your website only. A nightly check compares the record with your website and fills in anything that is missing. Keep your own copies of ads you run anywhere else, such as marketplaces, social media, print and radio.

To see it, open any car under Inventory: the Advertised price record card lists every price your website showed for that car, from when to when, and why each entry ended. All vehicles (CSV) on that card downloads the record for your whole dealership, ready to hand over if you are ever asked what your website said about a car and when.

This page describes how the product reads the law. It is not legal advice. Ask your attorney or your dealer association how these rules apply to your store.