Hidden fees | A $75 credit at your dealership

Have you purchased or leased a vehicle in recent years? Thanks to a class action settlement agreement, you could be eligible for a discount on your next car, on windshield wipers or even on the installation of your winter tires at your dealership.

On Tuesday, the Superior Court of Quebec ruled: the 150 dealers accused of having violated the Consumer Protection Act by adding hidden charges to their customers’ invoices, they will have to offer them a $75 credit.

The collective action settlement provides that customers who purchased or leased a car – new or used – between November 2017 and January 2022 at these dealerships will be able to benefit from it.

This decision affects 474,000 Quebecers. If all these people claim compensation, the amicable agreement will cost a little more than 35 million to the offending dealers, said Lambert Avocats, who led the case.

The dealers concerned

The list of 150 dealers concerned can be consulted online, on the Lambert Avocats website.

In total, the agreement concerns 24 brands, including Hyundai (15 dealers), Toyota (13), Kia (11), Volkswagen (10) and Honda (10). Around ten used car retailers are also affected by the agreement.

To benefit from the discount, the customer must go to their own dealership. He cannot benefit from it at another dealership on the list, even if he has moved. “The credit does not have an expiry date, so you will still be able to take advantage of it in five years if you are passing through,” explained M.^e Benjamin Polifort, lawyer at Lambert Avocats.

The customer can also transfer his credit to another person by notifying his dealer.

How to be entitled to it?

To be eligible, you simply need to present proof of identity to the relevant dealership.

No verification of the terms of the purchase or rental contract will be made. In other words, any customer who purchased or leased a vehicle during the period covered by the agreement can be compensated by the dealership, even if they have not discovered “hidden charges” on their invoice.

Credit

On the one hand, it is possible to use your $75 credit on the purchase or rental of a vehicle.

“But the agreement also provides that it can be used on the purchase of any good or any service that is offered by the dealership,” summarized M^e Polifort.

The credit is therefore applicable, among other things, to repairs, the annual inspection of a vehicle, its maintenance, a change of tires or even the purchase of parts. Even accessories, like caps or key chains sold by the dealership, are eligible.

The credit must be used in one go. Dealers who do not offer automotive maintenance or mechanics services will have to, at their own expense, make credit available from a third party company that offers such services.

Critics

For M^e Polifort, it is “the best possible agreement” because it compensates “100% of people without ambiguity and without exception”.

However, last June, the Consumer Protection Office intervened in the matter – a first in its history. He questioned the settlement of the agreement with “discount coupons”, which forces consumers to return to a seller who may have cheated them.

On this subject, the Court expressed doubt, in its decision, that consumers would deprive themselves of doing business with the dealership they know and which is established near them.

In conclusion, the Court considered that the agreement acts in the interest of the members, and, in addition, eliminates the competitive pressure raised by the dealers to explain their fault.

Each concession signatory to the agreement has also undertaken to respect the articles of the Consumer Protection Act which concern the setting of purchase and rental prices for its vehicles.