At a glance
- Who needs it
- Dealers who sell or offer more than five used vehicles in 12 months
- Where it goes
- On the vehicle, with both sides readable
- Paper and ink
- 100% black ink on white stock at least 11 in. by 7¼ in.
- Spanish version
- Required when the sale is conducted in Spanish
- Not used in
- Maine and Wisconsin, which have their own rules
- Penalty
- Up to $53,088 per violation
On this page
- What is the FTC Buyers Guide?
- How to fill out a Buyers Guide
- As Is vs Implied Warranties Only vs dealer warranty
- Which states limit or ban As Is sales?
- Who has to use a Buyers Guide?
- What's on the front and back of the Buyers Guide?
- Can you print a Buyers Guide on regular paper?
- When do you need the Spanish Buyers Guide?
- What else does a used car need before you list it?
- Where do these Buyers Guide rules come from?
- Common questions
- Sources
What is the FTC Buyers Guide?
The Buyers Guide is the window form the FTC's Used Car Rule (16 CFR Part 455) requires on used cars, light trucks and vans that dealers offer to consumers. Before anyone buys, it tells them whether the vehicle comes As Is, with Implied Warranties Only or with a dealer warranty, and what that warranty covers.
It's part of the deal, not just a sticker. The information on the final guide is incorporated into the sales contract and overrides anything in the contract that says otherwise. That's why the rule fixes the form's wording, capitalization, type sizes and layout, and why a homemade used car buyers guide template can get you in trouble.
The generator above builds the current form from the figures in the FTC's 2016 final rule (81 FR 81664), in effect since January 27, 2017: the As Is front, the Implied Warranties Only front and the back, in English and Spanish. It prints with no CarShots logo or extra wording, because the rule allows none.
How to fill out a Buyers Guide
Have the VIN, your warranty terms and your dealership details ready, then work top to bottom:
Enter the VIN
The year, make and model fill in from the VIN. Check them against the car before you print. If a decode looks off, our VIN decoder shows what each character means.
Mark one warranty box
As Is - No Dealer Warranty, Implied Warranties Only or Dealer Warranty. For a dealer warranty, check Full or Limited, enter the percent of labor and parts you'll pay, and list the systems covered and the duration.
Add other coverage, if any
Optional boxes show whether the manufacturer's original warranty still applies, a manufacturer's used vehicle warranty applies or another used vehicle warranty applies. Check the service contract box only if you offer one on this vehicle.
Complete the back
Your dealership's name, address, phone and email, plus the name and phone number of the person buyers should contact with complaints after the sale. You can add a buyer signature line.
Pick the language
English, Spanish or both. The Spanish guide is required when you conduct the sale in Spanish.
Print, hang and hand over
Print double-sided at 100% scale on white letter paper, display it on the car, and give the buyer the final version at the sale.
As Is vs Implied Warranties Only vs dealer warranty
The box you mark has to match the deal you're offering. Here's what each one tells the buyer, in the form's own words where it has them:
| Box on the form | What the buyer reads | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| As Is - No Dealer Warranty | "THE DEALER DOES NOT PROVIDE A WARRANTY FOR ANY REPAIRS AFTER SALE." | You sell with no warranty and your state allows As Is sales. |
| Implied Warranties Only | "The dealer doesn't make any promises to fix things that need repair when you buy the vehicle or afterward. But implied warranties under your state's laws may give you some rights to have the dealer take care of serious problems that were not apparent when you bought the vehicle." | Your state limits or bans As Is sales, or you choose to offer implied warranties. |
| Dealer Warranty (Full or Limited) | The percent of labor and parts the dealer pays for covered systems that fail during the warranty period, the systems covered and the duration, plus a note that implied warranties under state law may give the buyer additional rights. | You give a written warranty on the vehicle. |
Rules for the dealer warranty block (16 CFR 455.2(b)(2)):
- Name each system covered, such as "engine, transmission, differential." Shorthand like "drive train" or "power train" isn't allowed.
- Give the duration, such as "30 days or 1,000 miles, whichever occurs first."
- State the share of repair costs you pay, such as "The dealer will pay 100% of the labor and 100% of the parts."
- For vehicles made before July 4, 1975, which the Magnuson-Moss Act doesn't cover, you can cross out both Full and Limited and leave just Warranty.
Deals change at the desk. If you offered a car As Is but sell it with a warranty, cross out the As Is or Implied Warranties Only disclosure and fill in the warranty terms. If you offered a warranty but sell without one, cross out the warranty and mark the As Is or Implied Warranties Only box. The buyer gets the final version.
Which states limit or ban As Is sales?
The FTC doesn't publish a list. Its guidance for dealers says that in some states the As Is Buyers Guide may be legally enough to remove implied warranties, while in others As Is sales are allowed only if you take specific steps or use certain language. Where state law limits or bans As Is sales, that law overrides the federal rule and you use the Implied Warranties Only version instead.
Some states limit or ban As Is sales. Check with your state attorney general before using the As Is version.
Two states sit outside the federal form: the Used Car Rule applies in every state except Maine and Wisconsin, which have their own used car disclosure rules. Pick Maine or Wisconsin as your dealership's state and the generator tells you to use your state's form instead of printing the FTC version.
Who has to use a Buyers Guide?
You do if you sell or offer for sale more than five used vehicles in a 12-month period. Banks and financial institutions, businesses selling vehicles to their own employees, and lessors selling a leased vehicle to its lessee are excluded. At public auctions, both the dealer and the auction company have to comply.
A vehicle has to be under all three of the rule's limits to be covered: a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) under 8,500 pounds, a curb weight under 6,000 pounds and a frontal area under 46 square feet. Heavy-duty trucks and vans rated at 8,500 pounds GVWR or more fall outside the rule.
| Covered | Not covered |
|---|---|
| Used cars, light-duty trucks and light-duty vans | Motorcycles |
| Demonstrators and program cars | Agricultural equipment |
| Sales at public auctions | Auctions closed to consumers |
| Vehicles under all three size limits | Vehicles sold only for scrap or parts, with the title surrendered and a salvage certificate issued |
What's on the front and back of the Buyers Guide?
Besides the warranty boxes, the front carries fixed lines you can't change: a warning that spoken promises are difficult to enforce, a suggestion to ask whether the buyer's mechanic can inspect the vehicle on or off the lot, a pointer to vehicle history reports and open safety recalls, and a sentence in Spanish telling shoppers to ask for the Spanish guide if the sale is conducted in Spanish. The vehicle line holds the make, model, year and VIN.
The back lists some major defects that may occur in used vehicles, grouped by system: frame and body, engine, transmission and drive shaft, differential, cooling system, electrical system, fuel system, inoperable accessories, brake system, air bags, steering system, suspension system, tires, wheels and exhaust system. It's a reference for the shopper; nothing there gets checked off.
Below the list go your dealer name, address, telephone and email, and who to contact for complaints after the sale. If you add the optional signature line, the rule requires this sentence next to it: "I hereby acknowledge receipt of the Buyers Guide at the closing of this sale."
Can you print a Buyers Guide on regular paper?
Yes. The rule calls for 100% black ink on white stock no smaller than 11 inches high by 7¼ inches wide, and standard 8½ by 11 inch letter paper clears that. Print it at 100% (actual size), not fit to page, so the type sizes stay as the rule sets them. Colored ink is allowed only to fill in the blanks, and nothing else can go on the form: no logos, symbols or extra wording.
How to display it and hand it over:
- Put it on the vehicle prominently and conspicuously, where both sides can be read. A guide in the glove box, the trunk or under a seat isn't in plain sight, so it doesn't count.
- You can take it off for a test drive. Put it back as soon as the drive is over.
- At the sale, give the buyer the final guide, or an accurate copy that reflects the warranty you agreed on.
- Put this sentence in every consumer sales contract: "The information you see on the window form for this vehicle is part of this contract. Information on the window form overrides any contrary provisions in the contract of sale."
- Keep your written warranty and the Buyers Guide as two separate documents.
When do you need the Spanish Buyers Guide?
When you conduct the sale in Spanish. The window form and the contract statement both have to be in Spanish for that sale, and you can display the English and Spanish guides on the same vehicle. Our Spanish Buyers Guide page walks through the Guía del Comprador box by box.
What else does a used car need before you list it?
The Buyers Guide covers the warranty. For the rest of the window, there's the dealer window sticker maker. When the car sells, most model year 2011 and newer vehicles need a written mileage disclosure; the odometer disclosure statement page covers who signs and which vehicles are exempt.
And the car needs photos before it can sell online. CarShots turns photos you shoot on any phone into studio-quality listing photos on a clean backdrop, about 20 seconds each, with no booth or lighting kit. See it on one of your own cars.
Where do these Buyers Guide rules come from?
This is general information, not legal advice. Check your state's requirements too. The rules above come from the FTC's Used Car Rule, 16 CFR Part 455, the 2016 final rule that set the current form and its figures, and the FTC's Dealer's Guide to the Used Car Rule. The penalty amount is in 16 CFR 1.98.