FTC: Long Island car dealer's online special buried nearly $4,000 down payment in fine print
A Stream Auto Outlet on Sunrise Highway in Amityville is shown on Tuesday. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
The Federal Trade Commission has reached agreement with the Long Island automotive dealership group Stream Auto Outlet over alleged misleading car price advertisements.
The federal government alleges that Stream Auto’s "internet special" prices omitted down payments and other fees. The final price of a car could be thousands of dollars more than the advertised price, according to the FTC’s complaint.
The agreement, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York on Monday, requires Stream Auto ads to prominently display the actual price a consumer must pay. The proposed order does not offer reimbursement to consumers who previously purchased a car from Stream Auto. The agreement will become legally binding when it is signed by a district court judge, according to the FTC.
The auto dealership group operates three Long Island stores: in Amityville, Islip and Valley Stream. Stream Auto did not immediately respond to a Newsday request for comment.
"Buying a car is one of the largest purchases many consumers make, and they deserve clear, transparent information about what they will pay," Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a news release. "Hidden costs and deceptive pricing undermine informed consumer choice and distort competition."
Court records detail several examples of the alleged hidden costs facing consumers at Stream Auto Outlet. The dealership allegedly told one consumer that if he did not purchase a $4,000 warranty, he would be charged thousands of dollars more for the car. A screenshot of the company’s website in court records states a disclaimer that the "internet special" requires a $3,995 down payment.
The settlement agreement comes nearly 8 months after the FTC warned Stream Auto Outlet about its ads. After the March 2026 warning, court records state, Stream Auto Outlet added assurances to its website that it had a "no fees policy." But regulators said the company didn’t change its allegedly illegal business practices.
"Defendants altered certain practices only after receiving a warning letter from the FTC concerning these practices," the FTC complaint reads. "But the changes they made simply concealed the unlawful practices; they did not eliminate them."
The FTC sent warning letters to Stream Auto and 96 other auto dealerships across the country in March.
