WINNIPEG – The advertised price of a car has to be the full cost before sales taxes and the vehicle has to be available before a dealer can offer it for sale.
They may seem like self-evident marketing rules, but the car sales industry hasn’t always followed them. However, dealers will now be forced to stick to them under new provincial regulations.
“Clearer, more transparent pricing and advertising practices benefit both consumers and businesses,” Consumer Protection Minister Ron Lemieux said in a news release Thursday.
Members of the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association support the new rules, chairman Steve Chipman said.
“Our members want to ensure there is a level playing field for both consumers and for dealers,” he said in the news release.
Car ads often leave out additional fees, charges or conditions from prices, Lemieux said. Other misleading or confusing practices will also be outlawed.
The new rules state dealers’ ads must:
- indicate the full price of a vehicle, excluding only the provincial sales tax and goods and services tax;
- state that late-model used vehicles have been used;
- only include vehicles currently in inventory;
- indicate how long limited-time offers will apply;
- say how many vehicles are available at a specific price if the number is limited;
- not set out payment information more prominently than the price; and
- disclose whether the vehicle was ever declared salvage or used as a short-term rental or emergency vehicle.
The Consumer Protection Office will oversee compliance and enforcement of the new rules and have the authority to impose administrative penalties, Lemieux said.
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