What a Buyer's Guide actually is
The Buyer's Guide on a used-car window is not a sales sheet. It is the FTC Used Car Rule form: AS IS, a dealer warranty, or implied warranties only, and it is part of the contract.
Is the paper on a used-car window the same thing as a Monroney? No. The Monroney is the factory sticker on a new car. This one is a federal form. The Federal Trade Commission calls it a Buyer’s Guide. The Used Car Rule says a dealer has to fill it out and put it on the vehicle before you buy.
The top of the sheet is the same on every copy: BUYERS GUIDE, then the make, model, year, and VIN. Below that the dealer has to pick a box. One box says AS IS – NO DEALER WARRANTY. If that box is marked, the dealer is not promising to fix anything after you drive off. The next box is DEALER WARRANTY. If that one is marked, the dealer has to write what systems are covered, for how long, and whether the warranty is full or limited. A third version of the form drops the first two boxes and prints IMPLIED WARRANTIES ONLY. That one means the dealer is not adding a written warranty of its own. State law still may.
The header is not decoration. Spoken promises are difficult to enforce, it says. Ask the dealer to put them in writing. Keep this form. The back lists major defects that can show up in a used vehicle — frame, engine, transmission, brakes, air bags — so you know what to look for. Below that is the sentence that matters after the keys change hands: the information on this form is part of any contract to buy this vehicle. The rule also makes the sales contract say the window form overrides anything in the contract that says otherwise.
That is why the sheet stays in the window until the deal is done. It is not a brochure. It is the warranty answer, written where you can read it before you sign.