Note: costs mentioned below are given in US dollars as a general point of reference — actual prices vary by country, currency, and local market.
Every push notification follows a fixed format: a title of 40 characters or fewer, a body of 120 characters or fewer, one clear call to action, and delivery only within 8am-8pm in the recipient's local time zone. Non-transactional pushes are capped at 1 per day and 5 per week per account, and manipulative tactics — fake urgency, all-caps, countdown pressure — are explicitly banned.
At a glance
| Element | Rule |
|---|---|
| Title length | ≤ 40 characters |
| Body length | ≤ 120 characters |
| Send window | 8am-8pm recipient local time |
| Frequency cap | 1/day, 5/week, non-transactional |
| Banned tactics | Fake urgency, all-caps, misleading countdowns, emoji-only titles |
Why a style guide for two-sentence messages
Push notifications are the most interruptive channel True Motion Auto uses — they appear on a lock screen without being requested in the moment. That earns them a stricter standard than email: shorter, plainer, and rate-limited, so the channel stays trustworthy enough that people don't disable it entirely.
Format rules
- Title: 40 characters max, states the subject plainly (e.g., "Price drop: 2024 Model X").
- Body: 120 characters max, one fact and one action (e.g., "Down $650 at Riverside Motors. Tap to view.").
- One call to action per notification — never stack two asks in one push.
- No emoji-only titles; an emoji may supplement text but never replace it, for accessibility with screen readers.
Timing and frequency
Pushes send only between 8am and 8pm in the recipient's local time zone — never overnight, regardless of when the underlying trigger (a price drop, a comment reply) actually occurred; queued overnight events send at 8am. Non-transactional pushes (alerts, recommendations, digests) are capped at 1 per day and 5 per week per account; transactional pushes (security, order status) are exempt from the cap but still respect the send window where possible.
Tone rules
| Do | Don't |
|---|---|
| "Price drop: 2024 Model X, down $650" | "DON'T MISS THIS INCREDIBLE DEAL!!!" |
| "3 new reviews for the model you follow" | "Hurry, offer ends soon!!" (with no real deadline) |
| "Your comment got a reply" | Vague pushes like "Something new for you" |
Banned tactics
- Fake urgency or countdowns not tied to a real deadline.
- ALL-CAPS titles or bodies.
- Notifications designed to look like system alerts (fake low-battery style formatting, etc.).
- Re-sending a dismissed notification with different wording to bypass the frequency cap.
Frequency caps apply per account, not per feature — a busy week across price alerts, comments, and reviews can hit the 5/week cap collectively, and lower-priority pushes are held back to a digest rather than the cap being extended.
Frequently asked questions
How long can a push notification title be?
What hours are push notifications sent?
How many push notifications will I get per week?
Are emojis allowed in push titles?
Does this cap apply to security alerts too?
Sources & further reading
- Nielsen Norman Group — 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design
- W3C — Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
Figures, prices and policy details were current at the last-updated date above. Automotive pricing, incentives and regulations change frequently — verify time-sensitive details with the linked primary sources. Read our editorial policy and fact-checking standards.
