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Motor Vehicle Manufacturers' Warranty Act, 2002
Last month, Rob Sampson, MPP for Mississauga Center, introduced in the Ontario legislature, for first reading, a private member's Bill 'The Motor Vehicle Manufacturers' Warranty Act, 2002'.
In a press release from his office he said that, if passed: A. It would be Canada's first so-called 'Lemon Law; B. It would provide remedies to a consumer who discovers a substantial deficiency in a purchased vehicle that the manufacturer is unable to fix.
Right on A, wrong on B.
Here are the facts. In Canada, if a consumer purchases a new vehicle that has defects that the manufacturer is not able to remedy over a reasonable period of time, he or she has recourse through an industry-led support program called the Canadian Automotive Manufacturers Vehicle Arbitration Plan (CAMVAP).
Introduced in 1986 by the then Liberal Government, this Ontario-originated program proved to be so successful that it was accepted by consumers and adopted by every province in Canada. In other words, a consumer in Toronto is treated exactly the same as a consumer in St. John's, Montreal or Vancouver.
The auto industry played a key role in designing this program. It covered key areas such as safety, noise and structural defects. At the time, the current U.S. Lemon Laws were considered, but a faster arbitration process was deemed to be much better than lengthy and costly court litigation that, in the end, would only make the lawyers rich.
Was Mr. Sampson not aware of CAMVAP' I guess what I'm upset about, is that no one consulted with our industry in the first place. Does government not realize that dealerships are the front lines of the auto industry' Our staff deal, day in and day out, with every conceivable customer complaint, real or factious. Not only do we know what car owners expect as consumers, but also how the manufacturers expect their products to perform.
If the product does not perform to the expected level, dealerships are charged with the mandate of correcting the problems. In cases where the problems are not repairable at the dealership level, the manufacturer normally attempts to negotiate with the consumer. If a negotiated settlement cannot be arrived at, the alternative is CAMVAP.
Supporters of the U.S. Lemon Law point out that last year in California, some 6,000 vehicles were replaced by the manufacturer because of some defect. What they conveniently don't mention is that this figure includes vehicles replaced by manufacturers on their own volition. I have no idea, then, what the true figure is.
In Canada, buy backs by manufacturers outside of CAMVAP are not recorded, so there is no accurate figure available here either.
We can't support this legislation, pure and simple. It's redundant and unnecessary. We've got a good system in place now. What will lemon laws do for the consumer that CAMVAP can't do' If it's not broken, why try to fix it'
This Bill is a solution looking for a problem ' the problem is, there is no problem. Drive safely.
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