Is a Dealership's Advertised 'No Payments Until 2026' Promotion Binding?

Attorney Answer

You may well have a claim, but it will turn on the contract you signed and on what the dealer knew when it ran the ad — not on the advertisement alone. And before any of that, protect yourself: a missed payment can trigger default and repossession while the dispute is still open.

New Mexico's Unfair Practices Act is the right framework. NMSA 1978, § 57-12-2(D) defines an unfair or deceptive trade practice to include "a false or misleading oral or written statement, visual description or other representation of any kind knowingly made in connection with the sale, lease, rental or loan of goods or services or in the extension of credit or in the collection of debts by a person in the regular course of the person's trade or commerce, that may, tends to or does deceive or mislead any person," followed by a list of nineteen specific practices. Note the words "knowingly made" — that element is where a case like yours is won or lost, and an advertised promotion the dealer believed was accurate is a harder case than one it knew was not being honored.

Section 57-12-10(B) creates the private right of action: any person who suffers loss of money or property as a result of a practice declared unlawful by the Act may sue to recover actual damages.

On standing, you are squarely who the Act protects. In GandyDancer, LLC v. Rock House CGM, LLC, 2019-NMSC-021, 453 P.3d 434, the New Mexico Supreme Court held that the private cause of action under § 57-12-10(B) is limited to the zone of interest the Act protects — innocent consumers — and therefore does not reach a business suing a competitor for lost profits. A retail car buyer is the classic protected consumer, so that limit is not a problem for you.

One practical reality: on most vehicle purchases the financing is held by a lender, not the dealership, and the lender will enforce the first payment date printed on the retail installment contract regardless of what the dealer advertised. That is why the dealer told you it is "not on them." It does not excuse the dealer, but it does mean the lender is not going to wait for you two to sort it out.

What you can do

1. Pull the retail installment contract and find the first payment due date. That is what the lender will enforce, and it is the first thing any lawyer will ask for. 2. Preserve the advertisement now — screenshots showing the URL and date, the dealership's Facebook post, a printed copy, and any archived version. Ads get taken down. 3. Save every text, email, and voicemail from the salesperson, and write down the names of everyone you spoke to and what they said, with dates. 4. Make the December payment if you can, and say in writing that you are paying under protest and reserving your rights. A repossession and a credit hit are not undone by winning a claim later. 5. Write to the dealership's general manager and separately to the lender, describing the advertised promotion, attaching the ad, and asking that the first payment date be moved. Keep copies. 6. File a complaint with the New Mexico Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division, which handles deceptive advertising, and attach the same materials. 7. If it is not resolved, take the contract and the ad to a consumer lawyer and ask about a claim under § 57-12-10(B) for your actual damages, and about whether the "knowingly made" element in § 57-12-2(D) can be shown from how the promotion was advertised and administered.

⏱ Time limits apply. A claim under the Unfair Practices Act and an ordinary breach of contract claim each carry statutory limitations periods running from the transaction or the breach, and the applicable period depends on your specific facts and dates. There is a more immediate clock too: missing the disputed payment can trigger default and repossession remedies under your contract long before any limitations period runs.