Mar 24
CKNW 980 in B.C. hosts UCanImport.com as they launch Lawsuit
CKNW 980 in B.C. hosted our friend, Zabin Somani, from UCanImport today as she, her team of lawyers and a close dealer released a lawsuit against the Car Manufacturers.
This special radio show covered the many roadblocks that the Car folks and Transport Canada are putting in place to prevent honest hard working Canadians from obtaining a fair deal.
Right after the show Glen Ringdal, President and CEO of the New Car Dealers of B.C. was interviewed. He brought along another perspective …
And we have them all here for you at Carswithoutborders.com.
Standard Podcast: 
March 24th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Nice….I’ll include myself in this class-action suit…maybe I can recover the $500.00 plus tax… BMW charged me for the Recall Clearance Letter.
March 24th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Mr. Ringal stated that one reason for higher prices in Canada is the cost to the manufacturers of warranty claims for vehicles used in Canada being higher than those of the U.S. He used the example of the cost to the manufacturer of warranty claim for a vehicle used in SanDiego versus a vehicle used in “Athabasca”..in northern Canada.
A high percentage of Canada’s population lives within 200 miles of the U.S. border with few living in “Athabasca”. When one considers the dense population of Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia which is less than 100 miles of the U.S., Mr. Ringdal using warranty claims as a reason for higher Canadian prices is a weak argument if in fact there is any argument based on warranty claims at all.
If in fact there are higher warranty claims in northern Canada, cars sold in Toronto should not bear the cost of these claims.
Mr. Ringdal used examples of different components being used in those vehicles that were destined for “Athabasca”. This Forum is replete with the experiences of Canadians who found the parts on the U.S. vehicles being the same as Canadian vehicles.
By making sure that environmental and motor vehicle safety standards that are different than those of the U.S., Industry Canada, Environment Canada, Transport Canada and the Prime Minister’s Office will enable the auto manufacturers to continue to export over $5 Billion a year in profits plucked from Canadians when the Canadians are forced to pay 15% to 40% more than Americans for motor vehicles.
Why does the Canadian government continue to let this happen?
March 24th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Great job Bob.
Ref Mr Glen Ringdal:
I believe that Mr Ringdal’s interview came across in a first class fashion.
The reason being that Mr Ringdal is a first class Liar.
He stated that various manufactured cars are slated for different
North American climates.
In that case we should be able to purchase from any of the border states
without modifications as the climates are similar.
ie: Quebec/New York/Vermont/New Hampshire, Ontario/New York, British Columbia/Washington.
These are untruths and Mr Ringdal has been Canonized but not by his church.
We all know that the cars are the same with the possible exception of block heaters.
The manuals put out by the manufacturers bear this out.
Paying $5000 to $25000 more for a block heater is a little heavy.
March 24th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
What I found interesting about Mr Ringdal’s interview was his admission about importing cars for his customers, if thats what it took to keep them happy. He did try to explain the corporate side of the issue, but it was a weak attempt at defending the manufacturers. In fact, he was at a loss to defend the car makers on all fronts. Again, I look at those crazy bumper modifications required on some vehicles at great expense because of safety concerns. Yet, the Canadian government and vehicle manufacturers accept American frontal and side crash tests without question. It does not make sense! I wish them well with the lawsuit!
March 26th, 2008 at 8:24 am
CTV News has a related video clip:
http://www.ctvbc.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20080325/BC_Car_Class_Action_080325/20080325/?hub=BritishColumbiaHome