What is a dealer addendum? A plain-English guide for dealerships

A dealer addendum is a window sticker the dealership creates and places next to the manufacturer's label. It lists the products and services the dealership has added to that specific vehicle, the price of each one, and the total adjusted price, along with any disclosure language the dealership uses.

If the factory sticker tells a shopper what the manufacturer built, the addendum tells them what the dealership added.

What goes on a dealer addendum

Most addendums follow the same basic structure:

• Vehicle identification. Year, make, model, trim, VIN, and stock number, so the sticker can't be confused with the car parked next to it.
• Dealer-installed products. Items such as paint and fabric protection, window tint, wheel locks, nitrogen-filled tires, door edge guards, or theft-deterrent etching.
• Price for each item. Every product or service listed with its own retail price.
• Totals. The manufacturer's suggested retail price, the addendum total, and the resulting dealer price.
• Disclosure language. Wording the dealership has approved, for example how optional products are handled or how pricing should be read.
• Dealership branding. Logo, store name, and contact details.

For a field-by-field breakdown, see what to include on a dealer addendum.

What a dealer addendum is not

A dealer addendum is not the Monroney label. The Monroney label is the manufacturer's sticker required by federal law on new vehicles, and it must stay on the vehicle until it's delivered to the buyer. The addendum sits beside it and should never cover, alter, or replace it. Read the full comparison.

It is also not the FTC Buyers Guide. Used vehicles offered for sale need a Buyers Guide under the FTC's Used Car Rule. A dealership may also put an addendum on a used vehicle, but the addendum doesn't take the place of the Buyers Guide.

Why dealerships use addendums

Dealers install products at the store level, and the price on the factory sticker doesn't include them. The addendum is where the dealership shows that work and its price, clearly and on the vehicle itself, before the conversation with a buyer starts.

A clear addendum helps in three ways:

1. Transparency. The shopper sees what was added and what it costs before negotiating.
2. Consistency. Every vehicle with the same package shows the same products, prices, and wording.
3. Accountability. The dealership has a record of what was printed for each vehicle, which matters when a price or product is questioned later.

Where addendum processes break down

The addendum itself is simple. The process around it usually isn't. Common failure points:

• Retyping vehicle data. Copying VINs and trim details by hand from the inventory system invites errors.
• Pricing drift. Product prices live in someone's spreadsheet or memory, so two vehicles with the same package end up priced differently.
• Inconsistent wording. Disclosure language gets edited by whoever printed last.
• Vehicles without stickers. New arrivals sit on the lot until someone notices they never got an addendum.
• Reprints from scratch. When a sticker is damaged or a price changes, the whole document gets rebuilt.

How dealer addendum software helps

Dealer addendum software replaces the spreadsheet-and-template routine with a controlled workflow. In QP Addendums, that workflow looks like this:

1. Find the vehicle in your inventory by VIN or stock number. Vehicle details come over automatically.
2. Apply your store's configuration. Products, prices, and branding are set once per store and applied the same way every time. The disclosure block is fixed, so it reads the same on every sticker.
3. Print a single addendum or a batch of up to 250 vehicles in one run.
4. Find it again. Every print is saved, so a reprint comes from history rather than a rebuild.

For dealer groups, each rooftop keeps its own products, pricing, and access, so one store's configuration never ends up on another store's vehicles.

Frequently asked questions

Is a dealer addendum required by law? No federal law requires a dealer addendum. What the law does require is that prices and add-ons be presented honestly, and some states add their own rules. If a dealership installs products and charges for them, an addendum is the most common way to show that on the vehicle. See dealer addendum disclosures in 2026.

Can a dealer addendum go on used cars? Yes. Many dealerships use addendums on used inventory to show reconditioning packages or installed products. The FTC Buyers Guide is still required separately.

Who creates the dealer addendum? The dealership does. It decides which products appear, what they cost, and what disclosure language to use, and it's responsible for making sure that content is accurate.