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Rolling back car odometers:

More than 450,000 people every year buy used vehicles with mileage gauges rolled back, spending thousands of dollars more than they should, according to a federal study of odometer fraud. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study released Thursday, found the practice is most common with fairly new vehicles that accumulate significant mileage in a short period, such as rental and company cars and leased vehicles.

Prohibited acts by dealerships:
It is an unfair or deceptive act or practice, actionable under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, for a dealer to:

(1) Represent directly or indirectly that a motor vehicle is a factory executive vehicle or executive vehicle unless such vehicle was purchased directly from the manufacturer or a subsidiary of the manufacturer and the vehicle was used exclusively by the manufacturer, its subsidiary, or a dealer for the commercial or personal use of the manufacturer's, subsidiary's, or dealer's employees.

(2) Represent directly or indirectly that a vehicle is a demonstrator unless the vehicle was driven by prospective customers of a dealership selling the vehicle and such vehicle complies with the definition of a demonstrator in s. 320.60(3).

(3) Represent the previous usage or status of a vehicle to be something that it was not, or make usage or status representations unless the dealer has correct information regarding the history of the vehicle to support the representations.

(4) Represent the quality of care, regularity of servicing, or general condition of a vehicle unless known by the dealer to be true and supportable by material fact.

(5) Represent orally or in writing that a particular vehicle has not sustained structural or substantial skin damage unless the statement is made in good faith and the vehicle has been inspected by the dealer or his agent to determine whether the vehicle has incurred such damage.

(6) Sell a vehicle without fully and conspicuously disclosing in writing at or before the consummation of sale any warranty or guarantee terms, obligations, or conditions that the dealer or manufacturer has given to the buyer. If the warranty obligations are to be shared by the dealer and the buyer, the method of determining the percentage of repair costs to be assumed by each party must be disclosed. If the dealer intends to disclaim or limit any expressed or implied warranty, the disclaimer must be in writing in a conspicuous manner and in layman's terms in accordance with chapter 672 and the Magnuson-Moss Warranty--Federal Trade Commission Improvement Act.

(7) Provide an express or implied warranty and fail to honor such warranty unless properly disclaimed pursuant to subsection (6).

(8) Misrepresent warranty coverage, application period, or any warranty transfer cost or conditions to a customer.

(9) Obtain signatures from a customer on contracts that are not fully completed at the time the customer signs or which do not reflect accurately the negotiations and agreement between the customer and the dealer.

(10) Require or accept a deposit from a prospective customer prior to entering into a binding contract for the purchase and sale of a vehicle unless the customer is given a written receipt that states how long the dealer will hold the vehicle from other sale and the amount of the deposit, and clearly and conspicuously states whether and upon what conditions the deposit is refundable or nonrefundable.

(11) Add to the cash price of a vehicle as defined in s. 520.02(2) any fee or charge other than those provided in that section and in rule 3D-50.001, Florida Administrative Code. All fees or charges permitted to be added to the cash price by rule 3D-50.001, Florida Administrative Code, must be fully disclosed to customers in all binding contracts concerning the vehicle's selling price.

(12) Alter or change the odometer mileage of a vehicle.

(13) Sell a vehicle without disclosing to the customer the actual year and model of the vehicle.

(14) File a lien against a new vehicle purchased with a check unless the dealer fully discloses to the purchaser that a lien will be filed if purchase is made by check and fully discloses to the buyer the procedures and cost to the buyer for gaining title to the vehicle after the lien is filed.

(15) Increase the price of the vehicle after having accepted an order of purchase or a contract from a buyer, notwithstanding subsequent receipt of an official price change notification. The price of a vehicle may be increased after a dealer accepts an order of purchase or a contract from a buyer if:

(a) A trade-in vehicle is reappraised because it subsequently is damaged, or parts or accessories are removed;

(b) The price increase is caused by the addition of new equipment, as required by state or federal law;

(c) The price increase is caused by the revaluation of the United States dollar by the Federal Government, in the case of a foreign-made vehicle;

(d) The price increase is caused by state or federal tax rate changes; or

(e) Price protection is not provided by the manufacturer, importer, or distributor.

(16) Advertise the price of a vehicle unless the vehicle is identified by year, make, model, and a commonly accepted trade, brand, or style name. The advertised price must include all fees or charges that the customer must pay, including freight or destination charge, dealer preparation charge, and charges for undercoating or rustproofing. State and local taxes, tags, registration fees, and title fees, unless otherwise required by local law or standard, need not be disclosed in the advertisement. When two or more dealers advertise jointly, with or without participation of the franchiser, the advertised price need not include fees and charges that are variable among the individual dealers cooperating in the advertisement, but the nature of all charges that are not included in the advertised price must be disclosed in the advertisement.

(17) Charge a customer for any predelivery service required by the manufacturer, distributor, or importer for which the dealer is reimbursed by the manufacturer, distributor, or importer.

(18) Charge a customer for any predelivery service without having printed on all documents that include a line item for predelivery service the following disclosure: "This charge represents costs and profit to the dealer for items such as inspecting, cleaning, and adjusting vehicles, and preparing documents related to the sale."

(19) Add an additional charge for predelivery service other than those shown on a conspicuous label attached to the window of the vehicle specifying any charges for predelivery services and describing the charges as predelivery services, delivery and handling, dealer preparation, or in similar terms the dealer's charge for each dealer-installed option, and a total price line.

(20) Fail to disclose damage to a new motor vehicle, as defined in s. 319.001(4), of which the dealer had actual knowledge, if the dealer's actual cost of repairs exceeds the threshold amount, excluding replacement items.

In any civil litigation resulting from a violation of this section, when evaluating the reasonableness of an award of attorney's fees to a private person, the trial court shall consider the amount of actual damages in relation to the time spent.

Fla. Stat. § 501.976 (2001)
n1 Section 30, ch. 2001-196, provides that "[s]ections 28 and 29 shall be codified as part VI of chapter 501, and applies to any vehicle sold after October 1, 2001."