$2 Billion Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Automakers Conspired Against Cdn. Car Buyers

[Paco.]

Wednesday September 26, 2007
CityNews.ca Staff

The high Canadian dollar has demonstrated the difference between prices here and the same goods in the U.S. And now that gap may help a case wind up in court. A Toronto law firm has filed a $2 billion class action lawsuit against North American auto manufacturers, claiming they jacked up the price of new cars to discourage Canadians from buying an automobile across the border.

The suit covers anyone who bought a new car between August 2005 and August 2007 and names Honda, Nissan, Chrysler and the troubled GM in both Canada and the U.S., which is still reeling from the effects of a newly settled UAW strike. Both the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association and the National Automobile Dealers Association, a U.S. partner based in Virginia, are also cited.

Class action suits all have one thing in common - they need to have someone fronting them. In this case, the plaintiffs are four Toronto residents who claim the industry conspired to keep them from getting a better deal. They contend the automakers had a tacit pact not to honour warranties bought down south, a situation that forced consumers who wanted that coverage to pay 25 to 35 per cent more on average for a vehicle sold here.

None of the allegations have been proven in court and the case may never actually reach there. The suits need to be certified by a judge, who has to find justifiable grounds to allow them to proceed. If they get that far, they are often settled beforehand for lesser amounts before actually going to court.

[Jon]

It won't do anything. I'm just gonna keep buying my cars from the US.

[Paco.]

Im thinkin I should have done the same...I mean Brent is selling his 03 modded out for about the same price as I did for my stock 03..........

[Jon]

Originally Posted by Paco.

Im thinkin I should have done the same...I mean Brent is selling his 03 modded out for about the same price as I did for my stock 03..........

Yep.

Look at this..

Brand new base Corvette here: $69k CAD
Brand new Z06 in the States: $70k USD.

With the exchange rate it is now.... WHY would anyone buy ANYTHING up here?

My dad's looking at a C6. There is no way in hell it's going to be a Canadian car. They're going for $42k brand new in the States.

[Nels]

Yea. I have to agree. I just imported 06 Trailblazer SS for my sister from MI. I saved $6500.00. It's worth the drive south of the border. Now I'm working on importing a GTO.

Nels

[cocaines]

so what do you guys do about warranty issues, does cadillac dealer in canada cover cars bought in the us.

[4DoorGTZ]

^ Cadillac treats it like any other car after 6mo/12k km..... I guess if you were able to cannonball your diff that quick, wait the 6mo?

[cocaines]

so are you saying that if i do decided to buy a 08 cts in buffalo next year, cadillac will honour my warranty and free bi-yearly maintence... especailly since the american warranty is supossedly longer and better, or so i heard.

[Albertan]

Nels
DO NOT TRY to import the GTO. Since GM didn't sell them here GM didn't test them for transport Canada. SOOO unless you want to do a crash test etc for Transport Canada...I paid US$40,000 for my 2006 with 125 miles in Dec 2006. Same car here in Calgary new CDN$73,000! With exchange I figure I saved $23,000. I talked to a friend who is a sales manager at dealership. They aren't happy with the fact that they have to sell at much higher price, are making customers angry and losing sales.

[4DoorGTZ]

Bought mine used but still, was $15k less then 2 comprable ones for sale localy (which were bone stock) and mine has over $10k in mods (s/c being most of that)