Lawsuit accuses car industry of inflating prices

[treg50]

A class-action lawsuit launched in Toronto accuses major automakers and dealers of violating competition and consumer protection laws by conspiring to artificially inflate car prices in Canada.

Full article: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...hub=TopStories

[Jason Lange]

Wow glad to hear someones standing up to the auto manufacturers. I recently purchased a 2007 f350 and found out I could have saved thousands if I'd bought in the states. Wonder how this will turn out.

[HondaRice]

yeah this lawsuit is do years years ago. its canadians fault they choose to buy vehicles and always say there we getting a good deal. bs

[Aleks]

It was only a matter of time.

[Skyline_Addict]

would be nice if I didn't absolutely have to go down to the US to get my next car..

[phreezee]

Right on! It's not against the law to charge higher prices, but it is if the companies put in measures to keep you from buying for a lower price.

[Xtrema]

What are they using as evidence?

Do you want your car to have a lower resale value?

Lower resale value = higher lease returns next few year which will make dealer/manufacturers lose a shit load of money.

As much as I like to see cheaper cars, if we leave it to market forces, it will probably take a few years before it happens. Not every manufacturer have a nice big margin to reduce price by 8% like Porsche did.

[4doorj]

[benyl]

http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/0...assaction.html

The lawsuit covers anyone who bought a vehicle in Canada between August 2005 and August 2007. It requires court approval to get certified as a class action.

Among other things, the lawsuit alleges that the defendants reduced competition by:

* requiring buyers to agree not to export their vehicles
* failing to honour warranties in Canada if vehicles were bought in the U.S.
* threatening or penalizing dealers who failed to follow the automakers' rules

The statement of claim's allegations have not been proven in court. In addition to $2 billion in general damages, the suit seeks $100 million in punitive damages.

Five years ago, when the Canadian dollar was worth 62 cents US, the cross-border price differential was reversed. Canadian car prices then were often thousands of dollars cheaper than U.S. prices, after the exchange rate was factored in.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by benyl
http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/0...assaction.html

Don't get your hopes up. American did a similar lawsuit 5 years ago when $cdn is cheap. It just reach the court now which is already an non-issue. Expect the same in our case.

[SilverRex]

well you just can never know what will happen, but its nice to see someone or some group is doing something.

just wait, if the loonie starts to hover more than the dollar, then things will move quicker. because now it wont be just 30% gap, it may be 40+%

given how dam close we are to the US cities, that is just insane difference.

Sure maybe you will never see prices equate on the same scale because of all the import taxes and crap.

but something will be done,

more discount coming,

[CivicTunr]

they dont really care about canada.
our car market isnt even as big as california's so why keep us happy? yah its quite a bit of money, but even if you take out california, they still have like 50 more states to sell cars too.

[autosm]

Let the market forces decide .

Cast your vote by buying in the USA . I for one am tired of being a second class society .You go just about anywhere in the US and no one drives POS cars .When you can buy a brand new Cavalier for $9000.00 Why not get a new car every 3 years ?

07 Maxima full load is 8k cheeper down there .Not to mention the gst saved on 8000.00$ pays for the travel .

Hyundai has a 10 year war down there and are 25% cheeper??

They say its because the cost of doing business in Canada is more . I am sure the car dealers in Alberta are having a hard time . T&T honda and country hills Toyota must be hurting ???????

I read that when our doller was @ 63c US .That year 2 million cars went to the USA from Canada . What do you think it did to our used car prices ? The prices were inflated . So not only did we pay more for new ,used were also more .

Cars just got 20% cheeper for us and used cars in the USA are even cheeper

350z 2006 with 8000miles for $22000.00

[benyl]

Porsche would be out of business if you removed the California market. California is major business for car makers.

[KRyn]

Canada doesn't have enough people for items like cars to cheap. Makes sense why the price is higher here than it's in the U.S.A.

[gpomp]

Originally posted by KRyn
Canada doesn't have enough people for items like cars to cheap. Makes sense why the price is higher here than it's in the U.S.A.

[Redlyne_mr2]

So ridiculous.. people involved in this lawsuit are morons who know nothing about the auto inudstry.

[gpomp]

Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2
So ridiculous.. people involved in this lawsuit are morons who know nothing about the auto inudstry.

those lawyers might not know anything about the auto industry but they know the law and blocking competition is illegal.

[Redlyne_mr2]

The prices in Canada have always been higher... this has been ongoing for decades.. now all of a sudden because of the hype with the US dollar people seem to think that auto manufacturers in Canada are pocketing more cash. In certain instances yes.. with US manufacturers and vehicles made in north america however the prices are based on supply in demand. I'm not sure why they would go after dealers.. they arent the ones controlling the prices.

[euro_racer]

as good as this lawsuit may be for people who want to save a couple grand buying brand new cars, it would end up hurting everyone else in the end with the re-sale value...i for one would hate to see that happen

Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2
I'm not sure why they would go after dealers.. they arent the ones controlling the prices.

this is true, the mark-up for cars are only like 500-1000$ from the dealer, manufacturer sets the price mostly and dealer makes money on upselling warranty, pro-pack etc...