Market adjustment (ADM): how to avoid paying it

No. A dealer can ask for it, but it's part of the price. You can negotiate it, ask to have it removed, or buy from a dealer that doesn't charge one.

MSRP is the price the carmaker suggests the dealer offer the car for, the CFPB explains. It isn't a cap. Rhode Island's attorney general, for example, says a dealer there can advertise and sell a car above MSRP to meet demand, unless it advertised MSRP as the price. Rules vary by state.

So the real question isn't whether the dealer may ask. It's whether the total is worth paying, compared with written offers from other dealers.

Yes. The CFPB lists dealer fees, including market adjustments and other fees that raise the price over MSRP, among the costs you can negotiate. What you can't negotiate are taxes, title, and registration fees set by your state and local government.

Your best leverage is a competing written offer. Ask several dealers for an itemized out-the-door quote on the same year, trim, and options. Then ask each one to beat the lowest total.

1. Email first. Before you drive over, ask for the out-the-door price on a specific VIN (the car's 17-character ID number). The FTC suggests getting that price in writing before you leave home. Save the reply and any conditions.
2. Get every charge on its own line. Ask for the markup and each add-on separately, and ask whether installed extras can come off.
3. Compare like with like. Keep the year, trim, options, rebates, fees, and timing the same. Ask which rebates you actually qualify for. The FTC warns that some advertised discounts are only for certain buyers.
4. Set your ceiling. Pick your maximum total before you go. The dealer's urgency doesn't change your limit.
5. Check the contract. Before you sign, the FTC says to compare the price in your paperwork with what the dealer sent you. If they don't match, ask why, and be ready to leave.

Here's how to ask for an out-the-door price. If the salesperson starts juggling price, trade-in, down payment, and monthly payment on one sheet, see how to handle the four-square worksheet.

Ask for the advertised price. FTC staff guidance from September 2026 says an advertised price must be the actual price any shopper can walk in and pay. Every charge the dealer requires belongs in it. Only charges the government makes you pay, like taxes, can be left out. A dealer can also show MSRP, but the actual price has to be the most prominent number in the ad.

In March 2026, the FTC warned 97 dealership groups that advertised prices must include every mandatory fee. Its letters list requiring buyers to purchase items not reflected in the advertised price as an illegal practice.

Save the ad and the new quote. If the dealer won't honor the ad, report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. See what to do about a bait and switch.

Since October 1, 2026, California's CARS Act adds these rules:

• A dealer must show a car's total price in any ad for that specific car and in its first written reply to you about it. That total has to include any dealer markup and anything already installed on the car. It can leave out taxes, government fees, finance charges, the doc fee, and a few other charges the law lists.
• The dealer must keep a copy of that first written reply for two years and give you a copy if you ask in writing.
• A dealer can't mislead you about whether a car is available at the total price it gave you.

A separate state law says a dealer must sell an advertised car at or below its advertised total price while it's unsold. Taxes, registration, the doc fee, and a few other charges can be added. The exception: the ad said the price was good only until a set time, and that time has passed. Together, these rules mean a markup can't be tacked onto a total price the dealer advertised.

See what the CARS Act says about total prices.