Dec 11
Daily “Horror Story” This is getting Nasty!!
- It almost appears that the RIV should just suspend business for a couple of days. Send their folks home for a well deserved rest! Save the tax payers some money.
- Keep the managers there to handle emergencies and prepare the files for the ones stuck in hell! or sorry M. Charette , the word is “inconvenienced”
- Take a look at this story.. It will almost make you want to either cry or kick your dog.. oops! Sorry Michael Vick, we mean your “stuffed toy dog”
- we-thought-we-had-seen-it-all.pdf
December 12th, 2007 at 2:55 am
Headlines on a website are one thing. However just like with dealing with riv , or importing a car into Canada one should always check the actual source, and verify.
Yes it is true we are dealing with a banana republic in Canada as the writer of the “horror story” writes. We are dealing with a rather extraordinary situation where vehicles that are produced in Canada , with Canadian subsidies and standards , within the North American Free Trade agreement are somehow deemed as almost illegal products to be purchased to be brought back into Canada and the response of the Canadian car industry is not to deal with the issue but rather to continue to lie and apply great pressure in the United States through their corporate process to limit the product. Several years ago , due to the same currency rates in reverse , it was preferable for Americans to purchase new, as well as hordes of used cars for importation back into the U.S. Did this same industry alert their American cousins of this immoral trade ?
This is a rather foolish situation where the writer of this “horror story” does not seem to realize that this is an extraordinary situation of importing a new car into Canada from the U.S. in order to save a fair amount of cash. The buyer should of acted promptly , in fact more than promptly, in order to complete the transaction. The car was purchased in September 07. It was delivered to the dealership in mid October…. However due to “other obligations” I was not able to bring back the vehicle till early November ( actually mid November , November 9, 2007)”.
This buyer should take personal responsibility for his actions rather than trying to blame others for his foolishness , and indeed stupidity. He should of taken action to pick up the car as early as possible, indeed he or she might of seen if the dealer could not deliver a car quicker than the month time period quoted. With such a situation , the rules can change from day to day - depending on the pressure of the companies or the RIV. The writer of the letter should only look in the mirror as to who is to blame , not blame everyone else but himself for his woes.
Ultimately you have to blame Canadians for allowing such a situation to emerge. They elected the politicians who set the rules. Canadians have not stood up to the lies that they have been told both by their politicians and the car industry. Indeed Canadians have somehow allowed themselves to be bribed with their own money in terms of benefits. How many of them have told their local politicians ” If my needs are not being met , or you follow a certain path or actions ” I may well choose not to vote for you in the upcoming election”. This is a tactic and a phrase never heard from the mouths of Canadians.
Nafta rules can not be picked and chosen by industry in Canada according to the whims or preferences of industries in Canada. If the situation is extraordinary , as is the case with current currency rates, and the industry cannot lower prices greatly due to fears of a currency swing back causing great price increases the other way - then fine. Give us temporary rebates.
Don’t lie and try to intimidate us. It may of worked in the past. However the world is a much smaller place now “The world is flat”. The average ( or in this case the not so average Canadian) has the tools and the rapid , inexpensive communication tools to research , check and know otherwise.
It can be said that Canadians ” are among the stupidest people in the world” for allowing such a situation to emerge and continue. They seem to blame everyone but themselves for their plight. The writer of the letter is an example of such a case. Instead of accepting personal responsibility for closing a deal promptly , insisting on a prompt delivery and then waiting several weeks for pickup of the vehicle rather than acting more than promptly blames everyone else but him or herself.
December 12th, 2007 at 6:33 am
Thank-you for your reply, many good points. I can’t agree with you though on your final statement. The individual most likely had very good reasons for not picking up the car. But it is irrelevant, they made a deal, they followed the rules, the rules changed, then they had amnesty and the rules changed, then they said ok bring in your car, then they said don’t bring in your car.. Give Canadians heck, for allowing this situation to happen, fine! But don’t condemn someone when not all the facts are out on the table!
December 13th, 2007 at 3:58 am
I agree with Robert as well. Lot of people had ordered 2008 models. The 2008 models were not in showing up into the dealerships untill Oct/Nov and some cases even December. When Canadians made the deal all these models were admissiable but due to pressure and dirty tricks or whatever else you might want to call it the rules kept changing daily and some cases hourly. The common person is not to blame here but the politicians, TC, RIV and ofcourse the manufacturers with very deep pockets.
December 13th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
For all the trouble involved you may as well purchase a car sooner rather than later.
You can easily purchase a fine car like a Buick easily in Canada
I know one young fellow , who I have coffee with at the local Burger King.
He thinks that he is going to save a lor or money
Meanwhile he is taking the bus in the cold.
I have bet him a nice steak dinner that he will not have a car from the U.S. by March 2008
You cannot beat the Manitoba Public Auto Insurance Corporation (M.P.I.) or the North American car industry.
December 13th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
The Canadian consumer has been taken advantage of for too long.
Finally it has come to light with the high differences between the U.S. prices and what we pay her in Canada plus G.S.T. and P.S.T.
Hopefully Canadians have finally woken up.
It is amazing that somehow the Registrar of Imported Vehicles is somehow the authority and arbitrator of not only what vehicles a Canadian can import from the U.S but also on vehicle immobilizer systems.
Here in Manitoba it is amazing that the Manitoba Provincial Government sure knows how to demand the provincial sales tax not only on the actual price of the car but on the full retail price of the car for what it will sell for at retail price in Manitoba not what a buyer paid for the car in the U.S.A.
December 14th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
I didn’t know that in Manitoba you have to pay the Sales tax on the price that they think is the retail value? ( the artificial high price that car companies are charging ) That’s one more item that we will need to put on our list of fixes once we have the plates on everybody’s car - hopefully next week. Robert and I are continuously reading everyone’s comment, recommendations and we thank you for all your input. We are very powerful - all of us - as a group. There are also many recommendations of law suits etc. These take years and money - we’ve seen from our collective efforts that we got pretty quick action ( by government standards) with the power of the people and help from certain media. Stay tuned.
December 14th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
The exact quote in the Manitoba Retail Sales Brochure how R.S.T. applies to most common vehicle and sales transactions :
” For passenger cars and light trucks and vans retail sales tax (R.S.T.) is calculated on the greater of the vehicle’s purchase and its average price in the Sanford Evans Gold Book ”
http://www.gov.mb.ca/finance/taxation/bulletins/vehicle.pdf