Canadian anti-lemon law puts stickers on bad cars in car yards

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By Brett Davis | November 17th, 2010

Similar to the fuel efficiency rating sticker often placed on rental cars here in Australia, the Canadian region of Nova Scotia has applied an anti-lemon law to all second-hand car dealers. A ‘lemon’ sticker will be placed on cars that have either been in a serious accident at some point, or have a bad history of persistent mechanical problems.

Dealers who fail to display the ‘lemon’ sticker on defective cars are being warned they will receive a $1000 fine if found guilty of trying to push dodgy cars. Service Nova Scotia Minister, Ramona Jennex, said in a recent report:

“These new consumer protection measures will help Nova Scotians make informed decisions before they drive a car off the lot.”

The new law also aims to protect buyers from getting tangled into agreements involved with cars that have a history of persistent mechanical problems. Dealers will have to research vehicles to determine if a car was ever a manufacturer buyback through a database provided by the Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan.

It’s not a bad idea if you think about. Just about everyone has, or knows someone who has, bought a shoddy car from a dealer before. This system would eliminate and crack down on dodgy dealers and help bring the car salesman character out of its sleazy stereotype.

Should Australia introduce a similar system?

ABMPSV

That is what we need here!!
Hiroshimi

Yes love the idea

It would also help people with no knowledge on cars
Valet Dabess

someone put a sticker on the accelerator pedal on a toyota
Stoney!

Sucks for the person who forked out on a brand new car, which turns out to be a lemon though, resale will be crap on it! The manufacturer should be forced to cover the resale gap if something like this is brought out, or offer a full extended warranty to keep resale where it should be.

Stoney!

Hung Low

If Lemon Laws existed for new cars in Australia, you probably would have had your Lemon Golf replaced Stoney!

bangel

And every GM product would be painted yellow to match their LEMON status .

Hung Low

They are nowhere as bad as your little attempted joke there buddy!

http://internode.on.net Old Pete

And ALL Toyotas would be deemed lemons, right?

http://CarAdvice The Salesman

Great idea. All dealers should do it. A huge step towards getting unsafe clunkers off the road. Used car buyers please also note. You can receive a WOVC Certificate as well as a REVS. Always check the cars history and buy from a repeatable dealer. We should also have the same system for customer trade ins.

stuzz

v check……….

JEKYL & HYDE

won’t work there,won’t work here.like most things,its buyer beware.there are people out there who check cars for a living,you know.as for repairable write off’s,all we need is a responsable goverment,and some more responsable insurer’s,and they wouldn’t exsist…
Bold

In some big car sales websites here, I can see quite a few 7-10 years old car with a BNXXXX plate. And price is so much lower than average. Just doesn’t look right.
matt

What about all the dodgy PRIVATE sale sellers who knowingly sell siht house cars, where as the dealer may be unaware there is a gremlin lurking beneath no matter how many checks we do. As well as the dodgy trade inners that say no no no nothing wrong at all. 2c

Hung Low

I have a few simple rules, if you are spending more than $10k on a used car, obtain a REVS certificate and get it inspected by a pro whether it is selling via private seller or dealership!

If you want a quality used car, a decent owner would have its full history documented, it would be well presented for sale and little details with the condition of interior trims, paint scratches and dents should be minimal and better than expected for the given age of the car. The rego plate letters should be of the vintage of the car model, indicating it has had continual registration and not been a repaired write off etc. Finally the seller would not be giving it away for a bargain price if they genuinely pampered and respected their car 99% of the time.

I have always sold my cars way above market value, and there are private buyers out there willing to pay the extra if the car is in a genuine immaculate condition.

Haditsday

You sound like a very un-fun person

Daniel D

Well that would stuff Ford Australia.

alex

and holden

Save It for the track

Not to mention that ‘write-offs’ are allowed to be re-registered in Aus.

Hung Low

Write-offs can be a issue if they have major structural damage or water damage, but many decade old cars can be economical write off’s requiring minor panel and paint repairs only!

MisterMister

Didn’t the tag “Lemon” help sell VW Beetles in the 1960s in the US? The advert had a picture of a Beetle with the word “Lemon” on top, and that’s it. Sales skyrocketed.

Haditsday

Thats a really valid point you have there??

I think no more pulling cones tonight for you, bed time

http://www.normantaylor.com Lemonaid

I work for a lemon law attorney int he U.S. In the U.S., specifically California, the dealers must notify buyers if the vehicle was previously repurchased or branded as a lemon car. There are also tool available for buyers to investigate the vehicle’s history so long as it was reported. I think this might be the REVS previous comments are referring to.

Often, we find the people with the most problems are those that purchase vehicles from small used car lots. Also not all defective cars are formally listed as lemons.

The best thing to do is to inspect the vehicle prior to purchasing the car to protect yourself. Not all states, countries are consumer friendly- so it might be more difficult to the chase the money invested at a later date.
Nick K

Great idea… This will allow me to buy Alfas, Citroens, Peugeots, and VWs until I get a good one. A victory for Euro car buyers.
Eric

In Australia, A New car Dealer has to tell the customer IF the car has has more then 3 major panels replaced.

Eric
Yonny

That’d be the end for all those second-hand Kia Carnivals out there.