TCPA and AI Calls: A Compliance Guide for Car Dealers

Car dealers in the United States call a lot of people: internet leads, service customers, lease-end customers, people who asked about a trade-in. Every one of those calls sits under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and the stakes rise when the call is made by an AI voice agent. This guide covers what the TCPA is, what it means for AI calls, and the checks a dealership should run before any outbound campaign.

What is the TCPA, in short

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA, 47 U.S.C. § 227) is the federal law that restricts telemarketing calls, autodialed calls, and calls using an artificial or prerecorded voice. The FCC's rules under it (47 CFR § 64.1200) set consent requirements, calling hours, and do-not-call obligations. Since February 2024, the FCC has confirmed that AI-generated voices count as artificial voices under the TCPA.

This article is for information only and is not legal advice. TCPA rules change and state laws add their own requirements; talk to your counsel before launching a campaign.

TCPA laws in plain terms

For a dealership, these are the core TCPA rules:

• Artificial or prerecorded voice calls. A telemarketing call to a wireless number using an autodialer or an artificial or prerecorded voice needs the called party's prior express written consent. The same goes for telemarketing calls with an artificial or prerecorded voice to a residential line.
• Calling hours. No telephone solicitation to a residential subscriber before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., local time at the called party's location.
• National Do Not Call Registry. No telephone solicitation to a residential number on the national registry. The registration lasts until the consumer cancels it or the number is removed.
• Internal do-not-call list. If you make telemarketing calls, you need a written do-not-call policy, trained staff, and a list of people who asked not to be called. Those requests must be honored within a reasonable time, not more than ten business days.
• Identification. Artificial or prerecorded voice messages must state the business's identity at the start and give a phone number. Telemarketing messages must also offer an automated opt-out during the call.

Under the statute, a person can sue for actual loss or $500 per violation, whichever is greater, and a court can triple that amount for willful or knowing violations.

Prior express written consent, explained

Under the FCC rules, prior express written consent is a written agreement, signed by the person (an electronic signature counts where valid under law), that clearly authorizes the seller to deliver telemarketing calls using an autodialer or an artificial or prerecorded voice to a specific phone number. The agreement must disclose clearly that:

• the person authorizes those calls, and
• signing is not a condition of buying any property, goods, or services.

For a dealership website, that means the lead form needs its own clear consent text for automated or AI calls, separate from the privacy notice, with the phone number and a timestamp stored.

What about the FCC's "one-to-one consent" rule? In January 2025 the Eleventh Circuit vacated it in Insurance Marketing Coalition v. FCC. The FCC conformed its rules to that decision in August 2025, so the requirement to name one seller per consent never took effect. Consent still has to be clear and tied to your business.

Does the TCPA apply to AI voice calls?

Yes. In its Declaratory Ruling of February 8, 2024 (FCC 24-17), the FCC confirmed that the TCPA's restrictions on "artificial or prerecorded voice" cover current AI technologies that generate human voices. Those calls need the called party's prior express consent unless an emergency purpose or exemption applies. For marketing calls, the written-consent rules above apply as well.

In practice, an AI voice agent calling a lead about a new car, a trade-in or a service special is an artificial-voice telemarketing call. An established business relationship does not replace written consent for that kind of call. It matters for Do Not Call Registry purposes, not for the consent required for artificial-voice calls.

Sales calls vs. service calls

Not every dealership call is telemarketing, and the rules differ by purpose. Telemarketing means a call made to encourage the purchase or rental of goods or services. For AI or other artificial-voice calls, the consent level follows that line:

• Marketing calls: an offer on a new car, a lease pull-ahead, a trade-in campaign, a service special. With an AI or prerecorded voice, these need prior express written consent.
• Informational calls: a reminder for an appointment the customer booked, a recall notice, a note that the car is ready. With an artificial voice to a cell phone these still need prior express consent. Whether a customer gave it by sharing the number for that purpose is a question for your counsel.
• Mixed calls: a service reminder that also pitches an upgrade is likely to be treated as marketing. Keep informational calls informational.
• Inbound calls: when the customer calls you, the TCPA's outbound restrictions don't apply to your answer. Calling back later about something new is a new outbound call.

When in doubt, treat the call as marketing and get written consent. It costs a checkbox on the form and avoids an argument later.

The National Do Not Call Registry for dealers

The registry is run by the FTC at donotcall.gov. Under the FCC's safe harbor, a seller has to use a version of the registry obtained no more than 31 days before the call, keep written procedures, train staff, and keep records of the process.

The FCC rules also include an established business relationship exception for telephone solicitations: up to 18 months after a purchase or transaction, or up to three months after an inquiry or application. A customer's request not to be called ends that relationship for telemarketing purposes, even if they keep buying from you.

TCPA compliance checklist for car dealers

• Consent capture. Lead forms, credit apps and service check-ins have a clear consent line for automated or AI calls, separate from the privacy policy, stored with phone number, wording and timestamp.
• List scrubbing. Check numbers against the National Do Not Call Registry (version no older than 31 days) and your internal do-not-call list before each campaign.
• Calling windows. Schedule calls between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the customer's time zone, not the store's. State laws may set different windows.
• Opt-outs. Honor "stop calling me" right away across every channel and every store in the group.
• Script. Identify the dealership at the start, say why you are calling, give a callback number and offer an opt-out.
• Vendors. If a BDC agency or vendor calls for you, check their consent records and contract terms.
• Records. Keep consent records, call logs and opt-outs long enough to defend a claim.

The FCC also changed its consent revocation rules: amendments published on October 26, 2026 take effect on November 25, 2026, and the FCC is consulting on further changes. Check the current text of 47 CFR § 64.1200 before you design your opt-out flow.

State mini-TCPA laws

Several states have their own telemarketing laws, often called "mini-TCPAs", which can be stricter than federal rules on consent, calling hours or call frequency. Florida's Telephone Solicitation Act, for example, requires prior express written consent for sales calls that use an automated system to select and dial numbers or play a recorded message. If you call customers in more than one state, check every state you call into.

Call recording laws

Federal law (18 U.S.C. § 2511) allows recording when one party to the call consents. Some states require the consent of all parties. California, for example, prohibits recording a confidential communication without the consent of all parties. Since you often don't know where the person is, the safe practice is to say at the start of every call that it is recorded.

The same goes for AI calls: telling people up front that they are speaking with an AI assistant is simple and builds trust. If your group also sells in Europe, the EU AI Act adds its own transparency duties; see the guide to the AI Act for dealerships.

How MIA handles outbound AI calls

MIA's outbound AI calls and voice campaigns only call the contacts the dealership selects. MIA does not scrub against the National Do Not Call Registry for you and is not a substitute for your compliance program. The dealership checks lists and consent before a campaign. Here is what the platform does:

• Always respects each customer's voice opt-out: anyone who asked not to be called is left out of AI calls.
• Keeps a blacklist of numbers the AI must not call.
• Stores consent fields per channel on the customer record. A marketing-consent check can be enabled on each flow (it is off by default, so turn it on for promotional flows).
• Runs the dealership's own script: opening, goal, questions, offers and objection handling are set by your team, including the greeting.
• Saves a recording and transcript of every call in the inbox, and logs the outcome (interested, not interested, no answer, callback) in the CRM.

The same rules apply to sequences that mix WhatsApp, email and calls in MIA's marketing automation and to WhatsApp campaigns. For long-term follow-up, see our guide to lead nurturing for dealerships.