NY Newsday reports NY State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has issued “cease and desist” orders to about 40 New York auto dealers for what he called “misleading and deceptive” newspaper ads urging buyers to take advantage of the federal Cash for Clunkers program.
Cuomo said ads, some of which were in Newsday, “omitted significant requirements that had to be met in order for a consumer to be eligible to get the [federal] rebate. These ads mislead consumers into believing that their trade-in vehicle qualifies for the program when it does not or that they are eligible for a several-thousand-dollar rebate, when they are not.”
Cuomo said the letters ordered the dealerships to “immediately modify promotions and advertisements to clearly explain how the program works.”
Dealer principals and managers who could be reached by the paper Monday said they had not intended to mislead buyers about the program, whose requirements are complex, and that they had revised the ads as soon as they received the letters from Cuomo late last month.
