# Autotrader Dealer Fees Included: 2026 Rules, What Changed

> Cox paused Good/Great price badges on Autotrader and KBB on May 13, 2026 and added an all-in pricing badge. The FTC wants mandatory fees in every price.

URL: https://a21social.com/us/blog/autotrader-dealer-fees-included
Author: A21 Social
Published: 2026-10-31

## Summary

Cox paused Good and Great price badges on Autotrader and KBB on May 13, 2026 and added an all-in pricing badge. Cars.com now shows the total price first, and CarGurus gives a No Rating to used listings without disclosed fees. The FTC wants mandatory fees in every price. Our recommendation, A21 Social, turns your listings into social videos.

## Key facts

- On March 13, 2026, the FTC sent warning letters to 97 auto dealership groups saying advertised prices must include all mandatory fees.
- Cox Automotive paused Good and Great price badges on Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book effective May 13, 2026.
- Since its May 2026 price stacking update, Cars.com shows the total price as the most prominent price on search results, vehicle detail pages and ads.
- CarGurus set a July 14, 2026 deadline for fee disclosure on used listings; used listings without disclosed fees get a No Rating designation.
- More than 90% of CarGurus listings included disclosed fees as of July 16, 2026.

On Autotrader, dealer fees included in the price now earn Cox's all-in pricing badge, and Cox paused Good and Great price badges on Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book from [May 13, 2026](https://www.cbtnews.com/cox-automotive-pauses-good-great-price-badging/), while Cars.com and CarGurus moved the total price to the front. Once your prices are right, our recommendation for turning those listings into social videos is [A21 Social](/us), from [$49 a month](/us/pricing). A21 Social publishes this guide.

| Site | What changed | Date | What you set |
|---|---|---|---|
| FTC (every ad) | Advertised price must be the total price, including all mandatory fees | Letters [March 13, 2026](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/03/ftc-warns-97-auto-dealership-groups-about-deceptive-pricing); [FAQs September 2026](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/automobile-industry-pricing-transparency-faqs) | Full doc fee and other required fees in every price |
| Autotrader and KBB | Good/Great price badges paused; all-in pricing badge for fee-inclusive prices | [May 13, 2026](https://www.cbtnews.com/cox-automotive-pauses-good-great-price-badging/) | Fee-inclusive prices in your feed |
| Cars.com | Total price shown as the most prominent price; Deal badge tied to fee setup | [May 2026 update](https://www.carscommerce.inc/price-stacking-itemized-fees/) | One of 3 fee setups in Dealer Dash |
| CarGurus | Used listings without disclosed fees get "No Rating"; Deal Ratings use the all-in price | [July 14, 2026](https://www.cbtnews.com/cargurus-to-require-fee-disclosure/) | Fees in the CarGurus Dashboard fee setup tool |

## What changed?

In March 2026 the FTC told dealers that every advertised car price must be the total price with all mandatory fees. Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book, Cars.com and CarGurus then changed their badges and price displays. An all-in price is the total a buyer must pay for the car, including every mandatory dealer fee, with only government-required charges left out.

Carscoops reported that Cars.com, TrueCar, CarGurus, Carfax and Autotrader all announced tools or displays "designed to better highlight all-in pricing and itemized fees" after the FTC's letters ([Carscoops, June 4, 2026](https://www.carscoops.com/2026/06/ftc-dealer-pricing-listing-sites/)). Here is old against new, site by site:

- FTC. Old: the FTC says these requirements have existed under the FTC Act for decades. New: on [March 13, 2026](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/03/ftc-warns-97-auto-dealership-groups-about-deceptive-pricing), the FTC sent warning letters to 97 dealership groups saying advertised prices must be the total price, including all mandatory fees. Its [pricing transparency FAQs (September 2026)](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/automobile-industry-pricing-transparency-faqs) add that the full doc fee belongs in the price if any buyer must pay it, and that a fee that varies by buyer should be advertised at its highest mandatory amount.
- Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book. Old: Good and Great price badges, plus [Autotrader guidelines dated July 1, 2020](https://b2b.autotrader.com/vehicle-advertisements-and-pricing-guidelines-for-dealers/) that require installed options in the price but let other fees be "either included in the price or displayed/disclosed in accordance with applicable state and other laws." New: Cox paused Good and Great badges effective [May 13, 2026](https://www.cbtnews.com/cox-automotive-pauses-good-great-price-badging/), turned off Fair Market Range badging in vAuto's vehicle workbook and launched an all-in pricing badge for fee-inclusive prices.
- Cars.com. Old: price stacking launched in [April 2026](https://www.carscommerce.inc/price-stacking-itemized-fees/) as an itemized fee breakdown. New: since the May 2026 update, the total price is the most prominent price on search results, vehicle detail pages and ads "regardless of how you send pricing through your IMS." The [listing policy updated June 23, 2026](https://www.carscommerce.inc/marketplace/vehicle-listing-policy/) requires "a complete, all-in price for each vehicle in USD, broken down to show all non-governmental fees and taxes."
- CarGurus. Old: Instant Market Value (IMV) and Deal Ratings were not based on the all-in price. New: CarGurus set a [July 14, 2026](https://www.cbtnews.com/cargurus-to-require-fee-disclosure/) deadline for fee disclosure on used listings. Shortly after, it began basing IMV and Deal Ratings on the all-in price, including disclosed fees.

## When does it apply?

The FTC expects compliance now, and the listing-site changes took effect between May 13 and July 14, 2026. According to the FTC's FAQs, the requirements are not new under the FTC Act, so dealers are expected to comply immediately.

- [March 13, 2026](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/03/ftc-warns-97-auto-dealership-groups-about-deceptive-pricing): FTC warning letters go to 97 dealership groups.
- [May 13, 2026](https://www.cbtnews.com/cox-automotive-pauses-good-great-price-badging/): Cox pauses Good and Great badges on Autotrader and KBB.
- [May 15, 2026](https://www.carscommerce.inc/price-stacking-itemized-fees/): Cars.com updates its price stacking page; the total price has shown most prominently since the May update.
- [June 23, 2026](https://www.carscommerce.inc/marketplace/vehicle-listing-policy/): Cars.com updates its vehicle listing policy.
- [July 14, 2026](https://www.cbtnews.com/cargurus-to-require-fee-disclosure/): CarGurus fee disclosure deadline for used listings.
- [September 2026](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/automobile-industry-pricing-transparency-faqs): FTC publishes its pricing transparency FAQs.

The FTC's withdrawal of the CARS Rule took effect February 12, 2026, as our [Facebook Marketplace rules guide](/us/blog/facebook-marketplace-car-dealer-rules) explains. The fee guidance in the 2026 FAQs rests on the FTC Act itself.

## Who is affected?

Every dealer that advertises a price is affected, franchise or independent, and so is anyone else who controls the ad. The FTC's FAQs say "Everyone who has control over the advertising is responsible for making sure the ads state the actual price as the most prominent amount," and name dealers, third-party advertisers and OEMs.

The [FTC's FAQs](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/automobile-industry-pricing-transparency-faqs) list websites, social media, print, signs, calls and texts, and state: "Every one of these touchpoints is subject to the FTC Act." Your Instagram posts, TikTok clips and sales texts are covered just like your VDPs.

The letters went to [97 dealership groups](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/03/ftc-warns-97-auto-dealership-groups-about-deceptive-pricing), and the same release mentions pending cases against Lindsay Chevrolet, Leader Automotive Group and Asbury Automotive Group. Cox's Erin Lomax said: "Dealers are responsible for the prices they advertise, including any mandatory fees" ([CBT News](https://www.cbtnews.com/cox-automotive-pauses-good-great-price-badging/)).

On CarGurus, the [July 14 deadline](https://www.cbtnews.com/cargurus-to-require-fee-disclosure/) covered used-vehicle listings, not new ones. By July 16, 2026, [more than 90% of CarGurus listings](https://news.dealershipguy.com/p/more-than-90-of-cargurus-listings-now-include-disclosed-fees) included disclosed fees, with shopper labels like "price includes fees" or "no additional dealer fees."

## What do dealers need to do now?

Put one total price, with every mandatory fee in it, into your inventory feed. Then match the fee setup on each listing site and on your own channels.

1. List every fee you require buyers to pay. The [FTC FAQ](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/automobile-industry-pricing-transparency-faqs) says: "If a dealer requires a consumer to pay a fee to purchase the car, that fee must be included in the advertised price." Only government-required charges may be left out, and a doc fee that varies goes in at its highest mandatory amount.
2. In Cars.com Dealer Dash, pick one of [3 setups](https://www.carscommerce.inc/price-stacking-itemized-fees/): no dealer fees, total price (fees included, itemized breakdown optional) or base price (fees excluded, and the system adds your configured fees). Set new and used fees separately, by type (doc prep, reconditioning, other) and dollar amount.
3. Scan your Cars.com listings for "$0.00" or "Contact Dealer for Pricing" and for totals that include financing incentives or loyalty discounts, which the [listing policy](https://www.carscommerce.inc/marketplace/vehicle-listing-policy/) does not allow. The Deal Badge needs an up-to-date, accurate Total Vehicle List Price and Vehicle Location.
4. Open the fee setup tool in the CarGurus Dashboard and enter your fees. If your feed already sends all-in prices, toggle on "fees included in my inventory feed" to keep your deal ratings ([Dealership Guy News](https://news.dealershipguy.com/p/cargurus-gives-dealers-july-14-deadline-to-disclose-fees)).
5. For Autotrader and KBB, confirm the price in your feed is fee-inclusive. Autotrader's [guidelines](https://b2b.autotrader.com/vehicle-advertisements-and-pricing-guidelines-for-dealers/) require charges for installed options and aftermarket equipment in the price. We found no Cox help page on the all-in pricing badge, so ask your Cox rep how it is assigned.
6. Check your own website. On search pages and individual listings, the actual price must be the most prominently displayed amount, and prominence covers location, size and visual placement. You can still show MSRP, discounts and rebates.
7. Check social posts, lot signs, texts and call scripts for the same total price. Our [Instagram captions guide](/us/blog/car-dealership-instagram-captions) has templates built around all-in prices, and our [TikTok guide](/us/blog/tiktok-for-car-dealerships) covers showing only total prices in clips.
8. Check the details with your lawyer.

### Who does the work, and how often

Make one person responsible for the fee setup on Cars.com, CarGurus and your Cox feed. They should recheck it whenever a fee changes, and once a week against a few live listings. Example: your internet manager raises the doc fee in the DMS on a Monday, updates Dealer Dash and the CarGurus Dashboard the same day, then spot-checks 5 VDPs on each site.

Social posts fall under the FTC Act too, and posting every car by hand takes time. A21 Social, our recommendation for this part, uses AI to build short vertical videos from your listing photos and details, then posts them automatically to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube. You don't film or edit anything, and you don't need an agency. It reads listings from Cars.com and CarGurus only, so fix your fee setup on those 2 sites first and the videos start from the right prices.

A21 Social does not import Autotrader listings and does not post to Facebook Marketplace, so keep those on your current process. Plans are $49, $129 or $199 a month plus applicable sales tax, listed on the [pricing page](/us/pricing).

## What happens if you ignore it?

On the listing sites, you lose deal ratings, badges and search placement. At the federal level, the FTC's March 2026 release names pending cases against 3 dealer groups.

- CarGurus: used listings without disclosed fees get a "No Rating" designation and [rank lower in search](https://www.cbtnews.com/cargurus-to-require-fee-disclosure/).
- Cars.com: dealers who configure fees become [eligible for the Deal badge](https://www.carscommerce.inc/price-stacking-itemized-fees/) and get better placement in Best Match, where price competitiveness is a ranking factor. If you skip the setup, you give that up.
- Autotrader: its [2020 guidelines](https://b2b.autotrader.com/vehicle-advertisements-and-pricing-guidelines-for-dealers/) say Autotrader may remove badges or price comparisons, such as Price Advisor or Good/Great Price, from listings that don't comply.
- FTC: the [March 13, 2026 release](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/03/ftc-warns-97-auto-dealership-groups-about-deceptive-pricing) mentions pending cases against Lindsay Chevrolet, Leader Automotive Group and Asbury Automotive Group. Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Christopher Mufarrige said: "The FTC will remain focused on monitoring auto dealerships to ensure that the market functions efficiently and competitors are transparently competing on price."

The listing sites are under pressure as well. New York City sued CarGurus on October 15, 2026, alleging more than 2,000 violations tied to deal labels shown on prices that left out fees, as our [CarGurus vs Cars.com comparison](/us/blog/cargurus-vs-cars-com-dealers) reports. None of the FTC pages we used put a dollar figure on penalties for leaving fees out of a price.

If competitors advertise inaccurately, the FTC's FAQs point to ReportFraud.ftc.gov, where the FTC encourages the public to report potential violations.

## What is still open?

Cox has not said, in any help page we found, whether Good and Great badges will return or how its all-in pricing badge is assigned. Several other points are also unsettled:

- Cox said it is evolving its Good Price/Great Price badging to reflect transparent pricing standards ([CBT News, June 3, 2026](https://www.cbtnews.com/cox-automotive-pauses-good-great-price-badging/)). That report gives no return date.
- Autotrader's dealer guidelines page is dated [July 1, 2020](https://b2b.autotrader.com/vehicle-advertisements-and-pricing-guidelines-for-dealers/), before the FTC letters. It lets fees be disclosed separately under state law, while the FTC FAQs say mandatory fees belong in the advertised price.
- CarGurus' [July 14 deadline](https://www.cbtnews.com/cargurus-to-require-fee-disclosure/) applied to used listings. We found no source on a deadline for new-vehicle listings.
- CarGurus' own fee-update blog returned an error, so the CarGurus details here come from trade press.
- The New York City lawsuit against CarGurus is pending, per our [CarGurus vs Cars.com comparison](/us/blog/cargurus-vs-cars-com-dealers).

## How we checked this guide

In October 2026 we read the FTC's [press release on the 97 dealer groups](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/03/ftc-warns-97-auto-dealership-groups-about-deceptive-pricing) and its pricing transparency FAQs, the dealer guidelines and policy pages from Autotrader and Cars Commerce, and trade press from CBT News, Dealership Guy News and Carscoops. We could not find a Cox or Autotrader help page on the all-in pricing badge or the status of Good and Great badges, Autotrader's consumer page would not load, and CarGurus' own fee blog returned an error. Every figure in this guide links to its source the first time it appears in a section. Nothing here is legal advice.

If your fees are set and you want every Cars.com or CarGurus listing posted as a video without filming, try A21 Social. Plans start at $49 a month on the [A21 Social pricing page](/us/pricing).

## FAQ

Q: Does Autotrader include dealer fees in price?
A: Cox Automotive says dealers are responsible for the prices they advertise on Autotrader, including any mandatory fees. Autotrader's dealer guidelines require charges for dealer-installed options and aftermarket equipment to be in the price. In 2026 Cox launched an all-in pricing badge for vehicles listed with fee-inclusive pricing.

Q: What does dealer fees included mean on Autotrader?
A: It means fee-inclusive pricing: the listed price already contains the dealer's mandatory fees. Cox launched an all-in pricing badge for these vehicles in 2026. Under the FTC's pricing FAQs, only government-required charges may be left out of an advertised price.

Q: Why did Autotrader remove the Great Price badge?
A: Cox Automotive paused Good and Great price badges on Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book effective May 13, 2026. Its dealer notice said the pause was to support a consistent experience across Cox Automotive solutions during a period of industry transition. Cox also said it is evolving the badges to reflect transparent pricing standards.

Q: Is the KBB Good Price and Great Price badge gone in 2026?
A: The badges were paused on Kelley Blue Book listings, along with Autotrader, as of May 13, 2026. Cox described the pause as temporary. We found no Cox help page that says when or whether the badges come back.

Q: Does the FTC require the doc fee in the advertised price?
A: Yes. The FTC's pricing transparency FAQs say the advertised price must include the full document fee if the dealer requires any consumer to pay it. If the fee varies from buyer to buyer, the FAQs say the ad should use the highest mandatory fee.

Q: What fees can dealers leave out of the advertised price?
A: The FTC's FAQs say dealers may leave out only government-required charges. Any fee a dealer requires a consumer to pay to buy the car must be in the advertised price. Cars.com's listing policy likewise lets governmental fees, taxes and other legally excludable costs be omitted from the total.

Q: How do I set up fees in Cars.com price stacking?
A: In Dealer Dash you pick one of three setups: no dealer fees, total price with fees included, or base price with fees excluded so the system adds your configured fees. You set fees separately for new and used vehicles, by type such as doc prep, reconditioning or other, and by dollar amount. Since the May 2026 update, the total price shows as the most prominent price either way.

Q: What does No Rating mean on CarGurus when fees are not disclosed?
A: Since the July 14, 2026 deadline, used-vehicle listings on CarGurus without disclosed fees get a No Rating designation and rank lower in search. The deadline covered used listings, not new ones. CarGurus now bases Instant Market Value and Deal Ratings on the all-in price, including disclosed fees.

Q: How do I add dealer fees on the CarGurus dashboard?
A: CarGurus dealers use the fee setup tool in the CarGurus Dashboard. If your inventory feed already sends all-in prices, toggle on the fees included in my inventory feed setting to keep your deal ratings. Shoppers then see labels such as price includes fees or no additional dealer fees.

Q: Do Facebook Marketplace car ads have to include the doc fee?
A: The FTC's pricing FAQs say social media, websites, print, signs, calls and texts are all subject to the FTC Act. The same FAQs say a doc fee that any buyer must pay belongs in the advertised price. Dealers have not been able to list vehicles on Marketplace from a business Page since January 30, 2023.