Black Friday is on 27 November, and plenty of dealers will be planning price events to move stock before the year ends. Used stock hit its highest level of the year in September, and used car values fell for the first time in 2026, so there'll be a lot of cars getting cheaper over the next few weeks.
That's fine, but savings claims are easy to get wrong. This summer the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled against a national used car retailer whose "Save up to £17,000" ad didn't stand up.
More than half its cars had savings of £5,000 to £9,999, and its evidence didn't cover the time the ad ran.
6 things to get right before your Black Friday or year-end sale
Only show a "was" price that's genuinely been charged.
The ASA has ruled against a dealer group for a "was" price that had only been advertised for five days. If you show a saving, the higher price needs to have been charged long enough to be a real reference. If it hasn't, just show the new price.Make "up to" claims honest.
A significant proportion of the cars in the event need to have the headline saving, and the claim has to reflect the overall picture. The ASA says less than 10% is unlikely to count.Say what the saving is against.
If "save £5,000" means against the new list price rather than your own previous price, make that clear in the ad itself, not just on the website.Keep the evidence while the ad is running.
Used stock changes every day, so the ASA expects proof that the savings were available when the ad was seen. Keep a price history for every car in the event.Only say "ends Sunday" if it does.
Ads mustn't falsely claim an offer is only available for a limited time. If the deal carries on, don't pretend it's ending.Change the finance figures with the price.
A lower cash price means a different monthly payment and rep example. If a figure is on the website, the windscreen or social media, it needs to match the deal customers can actually get.
Lots of price changes, one set of figures
A sale means lots of price changes in a short time, and then more when it ends. That's when paper labels fall behind. A car goes on offer online, but the windscreen still shows last week's price, or the cash price gets updated and the monthly payment doesn't. A customer who sees two different figures will doubt both, and your offer may no longer be accurate.
Rallye Digital's wireless pricing displays take that risk away. Each display shows the cash price, the monthly payment and a key finance example, all taken from the same data as your website.
Change a price, discount a price and every display updates remotely, so the forecourt always matches what's online. When the event ends, prices go back just as easily, with no labels to reprint. Groups with more than one site can update every location at once.
Van Mossel Esplanade, which has Rallye Digital displays on all 75 of its used cars, reported zero pricing errors and half the time spent repricing. As Brendan Cole, Head of Business, put it: "We can rely on the accuracy of pricing."
A good price event can clear a lot of stock before the year ends. Make sure every saving you advertise is real and every price on the forecourt matches it.
Want to see it on your forecourt?
Contact Rallye Digital for a free live demo at sales@rallyedigital.com or call 01422 525432.
This article is general information for dealership teams, not legal or regulatory advice.