Section 475.110  Definitions

            "Advertisement" (including the terms "advertise" and "advertising") means any oral, written, graphic, or pictorial statement made concerning motor vehicles by publication, dissemination, solicitation or circulation, in the course of "trade" and "commerce", as those terms are defined in this Section.  Advertisement includes any statement or representation made in a newspaper, magazine, or other publication; or on radio or television; or appearing in any notice, handbill, sign, billboard, banner, poster, display, circular, pamphlet, letter, or other printed material; or contained in any window sticker or price tag.

            "Buy-down rate" means a financing rate which, as a result of the dealer's advance payment of finance charges to a third party, is below the prevailing market financing rate.

            "Clear and conspicuous " (including the terms "clearly" and "conspicuously") means that the statement, representation or term being conveyed is in close proximity to the statement, representation or term it clarifies, modifies, or explains, or to which it otherwise relates; readily noticeable; reasonably understandable by the person(s) to whom it is directed; and not contradictory to any terms it purports to clarify, modify or explain.

            A statement, representation or term is not clear and conspicuous unless it shall:

            For printed, written, typed or graphic advertisements:

            employ abbreviations only if they are commonly understood by the public (e.g., abbreviations commonly understood – AC, AM/FM, AUTO, AIR, 2DR, CYL, MSRP, and e.g., abbreviations not commonly understood – WAC, PEG) or approved by federal or State law (e.g., terms allowed by the Federal Truth in Lending Act, 15 USC 1601, et seq., or the Consumer Leasing Act of 1976, 15 USC 1601, et seq., such as "APR");

            be of sufficient prominence in terms of print, size and color contrast, as compared with the remainder of the advertisement, so as to be readily noticeable to the person(s) to whom it is directed.  Any type size which is 10-point type or larger is deemed readily noticeable.

            For radio advertisements and the audio portion of television advertisements or advertisements in any other audio-visual medium:

            be at a decibel level equal to the highest decibel level used in the advertisement; and

            be at a speed equal to or slower than any other statement, representation or term contained in the advertisement.

            For required superimposed written copy ("super") in a television advertisement or advertisements in any other audio-visual medium:

            the minimum height of supers should be:

            capital and lower case letters:  24 video scanlines;

            capital letters only:  18 video scanlines;

            appear on the screen for a duration sufficient to allow a viewer to have a reasonable opportunity to read and understand the statement, representation or term.

            It shall be a rebuttable presumption that the super is sufficient if the super meets the following on-screen minimum display time:

            three seconds for the first line of text; and

            one second for each additional line.

            "Dealer" means a dealer as defined in the Illinois Vehicle Code and includes used car dealers, also as defined in the Vehicle Code  [625 ILCS 5].

            "Dealer's cost " (including but not limited to:  "cost", "factory invoice", "factory billing") means the actual cost or total consideration paid by the dealer to the manufacturer for the vehicle, and where no other consideration, fee or charge, including, without limitation, overhead, rebates, promotional fees, advertising, or any other consideration, has been or will be paid by the manufacturer or a third party to the dealer prior or subsequent to the purchase of the vehicle, which in any way reduces, diminishes or offsets the cost to the dealer of purchasing the vehicle.

            "Demonstrator" means a motor vehicle of a current or previous model year that has not been registered or titled to a member of the public prior to the appearance of the advertisement, and had been used by the dealership personnel for demonstration purposes.

            "Documentary service fee" or words of similar import, including, without limitation, "documentation and handling" fee or "D and H" fee, means a fee for services actually rendered to, for, or on behalf of the retail buyer in preparing, handling, and processing documents pertaining to the motor vehicle and the closing of the transaction, and shall not exceed the amount of $40; provided, however, this fee may be adjusted on January 1 of each calendar year for inflation, employing the Consumer Price Index published by the United States Department of Labor as the basis for adjustment.

            "Executive vehicle" or "official  vehicle" means a motor vehicle that has been driven exclusively by executives of the parent motor vehicle manufacturer's personnel or by an executive of an authorized dealer in the same make of car, as defined in the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act [815 ILCS 505].

            "Free" means without charge or cost, monetary or otherwise, to the recipient, and includes terms of essentially identical import, such as "give away".  A free offer in conjunction with the sale or lease of goods or services is one that conveys to customers the message that the goods or services are offered at no cost in conjunction with the purchase of other goods or services for no more than their regular price.

            "Leased vehicle " means a vehicle that has been driven for a specific period of time pursuant to a lease, as that term is defined in the Illinois Vehicle Code.

            "Limited rebate" means any payment of money to a consumer, or any payment to a dealer or third party on behalf of a consumer, on the condition that the consumer purchase or lease a motor vehicle, and that is confined, restricted, or circumscribed to a certain class of consumers, such that it is not generally available to every consumer seeking to purchase or lease the motor vehicle, including, but not limited to, on the basis of the consumer's status, sponsorship, affiliation, or association.

            "Motor vehicle " means a motor vehicle as defined in the Illinois Vehicle Code.

            "New motor vehicle " means a motor vehicle that is of the current or previous model year and that has not been previously registered or titled except to a franchised distributor or franchised new vehicle dealer.

            "Rebate" means the payment of money to a consumer or payment to a dealer or third party on behalf of a consumer on the condition that the consumer purchase or lease a motor vehicle, unless the rebate is offered through a manufacturer's rebate program or a third party independent of the dealer.

            "Rental vehicle " means a vehicle that has been offered to the public for business or personal use driving for short periods of time, such as on a daily or weekly basis.

            "Shopped area" means the geographic area where the motor vehicle advertisements are disseminated and where the shopped dealerships are located.

            "Trade" and "commerce " mean the advertising, offering for sale, sale, or distribution of any services and any property, tangible or intangible, real, personal or mixed, and any other article, commodity, or thing of value wherever situated, and shall include any trade or commerce directly or indirectly affecting the people of this State, as defined in the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.

            "Trade area" means the geographic area where the motor vehicle dealership is located and where the dealer's advertisements are disseminated.

(Source:  Amended at 27 Ill. Reg. 7960, effective April 16, 2003)