Reduce dealer sales mail after buying a car

Write to the dealership named on the sales mailers. Ask it to stop upgrade, trade-in and sales-event mail, and in the same request list the service and ownership mail you want to keep. Keep the request limited to that dealer's advertising. A lender, insurer or manufacturer needs its own contact.

By Junk Mail Magic. Updated October 2, 2026.

Build a request that keeps the right mail

Sort the pieces by what they ask you to do. Trade-in appraisals, upgrade events and new-model invitations are sales offers. Set aside anything about your loan, registration, insurance or a recall, even when the dealer's name is on it.
Check the set-aside pieces with the company that actually handles that matter, using a contact from your own paperwork or account.
Copy the name and address exactly as printed on a sales mailer's label.
Contact the dealer through its own website or the contact you used when you bought the car. Do not use a number printed only on the mailer.
Note the date and the contact you used, so you can cite them if another sales piece arrives.

Why service mail gets its own line

A request to stop all mail from a dealership can cover more than you meant, including service reminders you rely on. If you name the mail to keep, the dealer can see which part of your request covers advertising.

If a piece is about a warranty or service plan, read the sender line before you assume the dealer sent it. An FTC alert describes official-looking notices and check-like inserts that were advertising for unrelated home service contracts. When a piece claims a connection to your purchase, confirm it through a contact you already trust.

Sample dealer request

Example for your own use. Replace the bracketed details and review what you share.

Please stop printed vehicle sales and trade-in offers addressed to [name as printed] at [mailing address]. This is a marketing preference request. Please preserve required safety, recall and account correspondence through the existing channels. For optional service reminders, please tell me what choices you offer. The promotion I received was [offer and date]. Please confirm the scope recorded.

Choose the channel for reminders

Before you send the request, decide whether you want maintenance reminders and coupons on paper, by email or not at all, and put that choice in your request. If you also unsubscribe from the dealer's emails, ask what that change covers. Do not assume an email choice changed your paper mail.

Official source

FTC: How To Stop Junk Mail

Check a dealer upgrade-event invitation Keep service reminders while reducing coupon mail Keep account notices while stopping promotions Check a product recall notice before discarding it Vehicle marketing All practical mail guides

Have an unwanted advertisement ready?

Photograph one piece you are authorized to handle, with the sender and full mailing label visible. Review the details before submitting. The first request is free; the sender controls the response.

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