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Auto Companies to Get Their Day in Court

CKNW 980

VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980) - A host of auto companies have been slapped with a class action lawsuit based in BC. The lawsuit alleges car companies such as BMW and Toyota are violating the Competition Act by trying to stop Canadian cross-border auto shoppers.

Todd MacDonald who owns Westport Motor Cars, says there's not much difference between Canadian and American cars, so importers are getting dinged unfairly, "So you have to change the speedometer cluster and, get this, the heater control module. What they're doing is saying, because it reads in fahrenheit you have to change that. They charge you about 4 to 5 thousand dollars, they tie you up for weeks, and then you have to wait for another 15 to 20 days for a recall letter just so you can bring this car into Canada."

The lawyers will apply for class action certification in May.

MacDonald was speaking with guest host Jon McComb on CKNW's Christy Clark Show.