TYSONS, Va. (Oct. 4, 2023)—Today, Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) introduced the bipartisan “FTC REDO Act,” a bill which stops the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) costly and rushed proposed “Vehicle Shopping Rule” and lays out the basic process the FTC must follow if it opts to “redo” that proposal. If adopted in its proposed form, the FTC’s rule would overwhelm car buyers with added and unnecessary paperwork, a longer car buying process, and billions of dollars in increased costs.

“NADA applauds Sens. Moran and Manchin for introducing the “FTC Redo Act,” which sets the process for the agency to redo its unworkable and untested “Vehicle Shopping Rule” that would otherwise make car buying worse and not better,” said Mike Stanton, president and CEO of the National Automobile Dealers Association. “The FTC REDO Act simply directs the FTC to follow basic and essential regulatory safeguards that the agency did not follow or did incorrectly before proposing its rule,” added Stanton.

The mandates contained in the FTC’s “Vehicle Shopping Rule” could cost consumers $38 billion over ten years by increasing the time car buyers spent shopping for a car by two hours, according to a study by the Center for Automotive Research (CAR). The proposed rule would harm consumers and small businesses even though all the bad behaviors the FTC aims to address are already against the law, and the agency presently has sufficient enforcement authority to police any alleged wrongdoing.

In its proposed rule, the FTC also failed to conduct consumer testing of the rule’s mandates, publish an adequate cost-benefit analysis, or follow the “Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” procedure typically utilized to gather public input prior to proposing far-reaching government mandates.

The bill requires the FTC, if it opts to redo the “Vehicle Shopping Rule,” to: 1) issue an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking; 2) conduct a study on auto retailing; 3) conduct consumer testing; and 4) publish a cost-benefit analysis based on actual data. The FTC failed to perform any of these essential steps in proposing the current version of its “Vehicle Shopping Rule.” 

“The FTC Redo Act stops the FTC from cutting corners and protects American car buyers,” said Stanton. “America’s franchised dealers urge Congress to pass this important legislation as quickly as possible.”