Va. dealer board covers advertising, Internet leads

Va. dealer board covers advertising, Internet leads

The Virginia Motor Vehicle Dealer Board discussed two issues of interest to franchised dealers at its July meeting: the use of free in advertising, and Internet sales leads.

The Boards executive director noted that use of the word free or similar language when advertising sale of a motor vehicle is prohibited in Virginia. Staff will closely monitor misuse of the terms.

Some Board members had expressed concern about the state law prohibiting solicitation or sale of a motor vehicle by an unlicensed person. The Board asked the executive director to create a new Internet task force to review the report written by the previous task force a decade ago. The question is whether enforcement changes are needed to keep up with the role of the Internet in sales.