Hyundai dealership with glass front, dark roofline and blue sky overhead — Hyundai of Cumming on Peachtree Parkway is among the North Atlanta dealerships promoting offers online as automakers tighten discount advertising rules.

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Buying a new car has long begun with a familiar ritual: open five browser tabs, find the steepest discount and use it as leverage at the dealership down the road.

That may get harder.

Stellantis, the company behind Jeep, Ram, Chrysler and Dodge, is preparing tighter rules on how deeply its dealers can advertise discounts. The shift follows similar advertising-price policies at Hyundai, Kia, Toyota, Mazda and General Motors, The Wall Street Journal reported. A lower price may still be available, but the shopper may have to ask for it directly rather than spotting it in a search result.

That has a clear North Atlanta effect. Cumming shoppers have Jeep and Ram options at Troncalli on Atlanta Highway and Don Jackson North off Ga. 400. Buford buyers have Mall of Georgia Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, as well as Kia Mall of Georgia. Hyundai of Cumming sits on Peachtree Parkway, close to the South Forsyth and Johns Creek line.

The change does not mean local dealers are doing anything improper, or that negotiation is disappearing. It means the advertised number is becoming less useful as a comparison tool. A dealer may be able to advertise a price set by manufacturer rules while still discussing a different deal in person, by phone or through its internet-sales team.

That makes the written quote more important than the splashy discount. Hyundai of Cumming and Kia Mall of Georgia are both actively promoting new-vehicle offers online, including financing and model-year specials. Those offers can be valuable, but they may depend on a particular vehicle, financing arrangement, trade-in, military status, loyalty program or other qualification. Hyundai of Cumming and Kia Mall of Georgia both direct shoppers toward current inventory and specials rather than one simple universal price.

Georgia gives buyers an important protection here. The state’s auto-advertising policy says the advertised price must include required dealer fees and options, excluding government charges such as sales tax, tag and title. A dealer cannot present a vehicle at one price and then add mandatory dealer costs afterward as a separate surprise. Georgia’s consumer guidance is unusually direct on that point.

The practical move for a family shopping a Santa Fe, Sportage, Wrangler or Ram is simple: ask for an emailed out-the-door quote tied to a specific VIN. The request should state the selling price, every required dealer fee or accessory, the rebates already included, the financing assumptions and the date the quote expires. Taxes and registration can still vary, but the shopper should be able to see whether the advertised bargain remains a bargain once the deal is real.

In the old browser-tab contest, the dealer with the loudest discount often won the first round. The next version of car shopping may reward the buyer who asks the most precise question.