Buying a vehicle should be a smooth, transparent, professional experience. Many groups, including the New Car Dealers Association, have been pushing for changes that will promote transparency and accountability in the industry.
On Feb. 18, the B.C. government moved to make the process even more stress-free by introducing important changes to the Motor Dealer Act that will further protect consumers.
The new legislation answers this call, giving the Vehicle Sales Authority (VSA) the ability to regulate currently unlicensed parts of the car-buying process.
The VSA is in charge of licensing all our province's vehicle dealerships and salespeople, as well as making sure they follow important regulations in the Motor Dealer Act created to protect buyers.
As a consumer, you may contact the VSA if you experience a problem while buying a car from a licensed dealer that can't be worked out through talking with the dealer. Typical complaints involve allegations that important facts were not disclosed or that the salesperson made unsupported claims.
Though these incidents are rare, the VSA ensures you have a place to go if something like this happens.
Once the proposed legislative amendments are passed, if you purchase a car from a broker-agent, you will also be covered.
When you're buying a vehicle, a broker can negotiate with the dealer on your behalf. Their industry knowledge and buying clout can sometimes help them get larger discounts than the average customer. But, broker-agents are currently not licensed, so there's nothing in place to ensure the broker isn't getting money from both you and the dealer, which is a conflict of interest.
It will also create a category for used vehicle wholesalers. Under new regulations, wholesalers will be legally bound to provide the history of any used vehicles they sell to dealers - something our New Car Dealers have been pushing for. Since dealers are accountable for knowing the history of the vehicles they sell, they can then pass this information on to their customers.
Other amendments to the act will make the consumer complaint process faster and more flexible.
For example, the VSA will adopt electronic communications and paper hearings, where previously only oral hearings were used. There will also be authority to create a code of conduct promoting responsible and professional vehicle sales practices by way of regulation.
Education plays an important role as well. The amendments lay out the creation of a new Consumer Advancement Fund, which will be used to promote industry and consumer education.
All these changes aim to help consumers have total confidence in the vehicle buying process. The auto industry has always held itself to a high standard, and the proposed amendments are just one way we will ensure that this standard is met.
Blair Qualey is President and CEO of the New Car Dealers Association of BC. You can email him at [email protected].
