By CRM Staff
Toronto, Ontario — August 20, 2018 —Car-buyers in Ontario have the right to all-in price advertising. Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council (OMVIC) is launching a campaign to to make sure car-buyers are aware that this law has been around since 2010.
All-in price advertising is referring to the advertised price dealers put on a vehicle. This price must include all of the fees that the dealer intends to collect from the customer except for HST and licensing.
According to the OMVIC car-buyers are being overcharged because they aren’t aware that this is actually a law.
“Less than half of Ontario car-buyers know they have a right to all-in price advertising,” explains John Carmichael, OMVIC CEO and interim registrar. “And this is problematic because OMVIC still finds unacceptable levels of non-compliance with the all-in pricing regulations by some dealers.”
OMVIC uncovered that 29 out of 50 new car dealers within the GTA didn’t follow this law and added some surprise fees.
“This illegal practice is not only unfair to car-buyers, it gives non-compliant dealers an unfair advantage over those dealers whose advertised prices include all fees and charges and provide transparency to consumers,” states Carmichael.
This is why OMVIC has launched its province-wide consumer awareness campaign.
The campaign promotes car-buyers in Ontario to take a picture of the advertised price of a vehicle and to take it to the dealer.
“This messaging is designed to help empower consumers,” explains Carmichael. “If they have a copy of the advertisement and understand they have a right to all-in pricing, it will help consumers protect themselves should they encounter non-compliant advertising.”
Although, additional dealer charges such as freight or administration fees are not illegal they are required to be included in a dealer’s advertised price.
To help reach new Canadians, many of whom are unfamiliar with Ontario’s consumer protection laws, radio advertisements are being broadcast in Mandarin and Cantonese, in addition to Google search ads which will appear in French, Hindi, Urdu, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, Mandarin and Russian.
