Lindsay Automotive Group Lawsuit: Refunds, Penalties, and Claims

The Lindsay Automotive Group lawsuit ended in a settlement announced on April 2, 2026 and signed by the court on April 11, 2026, requiring the dealership chain to pay a $3.1 million civil penalty to Maryland and to refund more than $75 million in overcharges to consumers who bought vehicles at three of its stores between April 1, 2020, and December 31, 2025.¹ The Federal Trade Commission and the Maryland Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division brought the case jointly. Lindsay settled without admitting or denying wrongdoing.²

Who Qualifies for a Refund

Refunds cover purchases made between April 1, 2020, and December 31, 2025, at three specific dealerships owned by the Lindsay group:³

Lindsay Chevrolet of Woodbridge, Virginia
Lindsay Ford of Wheaton, Maryland
Lindsay Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in Manassas, Virginia

Two kinds of overcharges are covered. The first is paying more than the advertised online price for the vehicle. The second is being charged for add-on products or services, such as extra service plans, tire and rim protection, or guaranteed asset protection (GAP) coverage, that you did not agree to buy or that were falsely presented as required.⁴

Eligibility isn’t identical at each store. For overpayments at Lindsay Chevrolet of Woodbridge and Lindsay Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in Manassas, only Maryland residents can claim refunds. For unauthorized or misrepresented add-on charges, the covered store is Lindsay Ford of Wheaton.⁵

The scale of the overcharging suggests many buyers will qualify. In a sample of transactions from 2020 through 2023, 88% of Lindsay customers paid more than the advertised price, and the average overcharge topped $2,000.⁴ On add-ons, 68% of consumers surveyed said they were charged for at least one product they hadn’t agreed to or had been told was mandatory.

How to Claim Your Refund

You do not have to file anything on your own initiative right now. Under the court’s order, Lindsay must hire a claims administrator within 90 days of the order being entered. The Maryland Attorney General’s office is responsible for mailing notices to consumers it identifies as potentially eligible.³

Once you receive that notice, you have 180 days from the mailing date to answer the eligibility questions and return the forms to the claims administrator. Miss that window and the claim can be denied.

If you think you were overcharged and want to check on your status, or if you have questions about the process, the Maryland Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division can be reached at 410-528-8662.⁵ It helps to have your purchase paperwork, financing documents, and any screenshots or printouts of the price you were originally quoted.

What Lindsay Was Accused Of

The complaint, filed December 27, 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, described three overlapping practices.⁶ Recognizing them may help you decide whether you were affected.

The first was bait-and-switch pricing. Lindsay posted low online prices to draw buyers to the lot, then charged significantly more once they arrived, often by claiming the buyer didn’t qualify for rebate programs that had been folded into the advertised figure. The complaint quoted Michael Lindsay, part-owner and president, saying internally, “we never deliver the vehicle anywhere near the stated price.” One buyer who traveled from Pennsylvania for a Chevrolet Camaro listed at roughly $42,500 was charged more than $5,000 above that price.⁷

The second was unauthorized add-on charges. Extra service plans, tire and rim protection, GAP coverage, and items labeled “Blue Oval” fees, “Blazer” packages, and “CPO” charges appeared on final paperwork, sometimes described to buyers as mandatory when they were not.

The third was deceptive financing. The complaint said staff told buyers they had to finance through the dealership to complete the purchase or to get the advertised price, steering them away from cheaper pre-approved loans they already had, including loans from military credit unions. Lindsay collected payments from its lending partners, and buyers ended up in higher-rate loans that cost thousands more over their term.

What the Settlement Requires Going Forward

The stipulated order permanently bars Lindsay and the three named individual defendants — Michael Lindsay, chief operating officer John Smallwood, and former general manager Paul Smyth — from misrepresenting vehicle prices, availability, financing requirements, the optional or mandatory nature of fees and products, and whether a consumer has authorized a charge.⁵

In practice, the dealerships must display the total price of a vehicle as the most prominent item in any visual advertisement, with only government charges like taxes and registration excluded. Before charging for any product or service, they must get express, informed consent in writing, and for in-person deals, oral confirmation on top of that.³

Compliance is monitored. Lindsay must file a compliance report one year after the order’s entry and keep the FTC and Maryland Attorney General updated on business changes for five years. The government can depose executives, demand documents, and send undercover testers posing as consumers without prior notice. Sales, accounting, and personnel records must be retained for five years.

The Civil Penalty and What the Settlement Doesn’t Say

The $3.1 million civil penalty is separate from consumer refunds and goes to the Maryland Attorney General’s office. It must be paid within 60 days of the order’s entry.³ That money will not be distributed to individual buyers; consumer money flows through the claims administrator process described above.

Because the settlement was entered without any admission or denial of wrongdoing, it is not a criminal conviction and does not, on its own, establish liability in any private lawsuit you might consider. If you believe your damages exceed what the refund program will cover, consulting a consumer protection attorney about your own state’s remedies is worth the call.

How This Case Fits a Broader Crackdown

The Lindsay settlement is one of several recent FTC actions against car dealers. In December 2024, the FTC and the Illinois Attorney General reached a $20 million settlement with Leader Automotive Group over similar conduct, which was at the time the largest monetary judgment the FTC had secured against a dealer.⁸ In March 2026, the FTC sent warning letters to 97 dealership groups covering more than 1,000 locations, citing the Lindsay and Leader cases by name.⁹

The agency is pursuing these cases under its general authority in Section 5 of the FTC Act after the Fifth Circuit vacated its Combating Auto Retail Scams (CARS) Rule in January 2025 on procedural grounds.¹⁰ For buyers who think they were caught up in the Lindsay case, the practical takeaway is simpler: watch your mail for a notice from the Maryland Attorney General, keep your paperwork, and act inside the 180-day window once that notice arrives.

1
Federal Trade Commission. FTC, Maryland Attorney General Secure Full Refunds, Additional Penalties Against Lindsay Auto Group
2
CarPro. Dealership Group Fined $3 Million but Final Tally Could Be $75 Million
3
Federal Trade Commission. Stipulated Order for Permanent Injunction, Monetary Judgment, and Other Relief
4
Federal Trade Commission. FTC, Maryland Attorney General Act to Stop Lindsay Auto from Falsely Touting Low Prices, Overcharging
5
Maryland Office of the Attorney General. Attorney General Brown Announces Settlement with Lindsay Dealerships and Its Owners and Officers
6
Federal Trade Commission. Complaint for Permanent Injunction, Monetary Judgment, Civil Penalty Judgment, and Other Relief
7
The Washington Post. Lindsay Automotive Group Complaint
8
Federal Trade Commission. FTC, Illinois Take Action Against Leader Automotive Group for Overcharging, Deceiving Consumers
9
Federal Trade Commission. FTC Warns 97 Auto Dealership Groups About Deceptive Pricing
10
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. National Automobile Dealers Association v. Federal Trade Commission