Lemon laws in Canada???
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Member
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 94
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From: BC interior, Canada
MB coupe.
Lemon laws in Canada???
I have been reading the posts on results of using the Lemon Laws. It would appear that some states have some laws with real teeth in them.
I don't know of any provinces in Canada with similar consumer protection. Anybody know of such laws in Canada??
Smoky
I don't know of any provinces in Canada with similar consumer protection. Anybody know of such laws in Canada??
Smoky
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Joined: Nov 2001
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From: Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada
2005 smart cabrio; 2008 Mercedes-Benz B 200
Loi de Citron
Bonsoir Fumée,
I don't think that we get Lemon Laws up here in the Great White North.
As the Simpson's say, Canada is "America Junior" - we have no competiton laws, no anti-combines legislation, few consumer protection laws ... the US Gov't sure does "free enterprise" in a more controlled and balanced fashion than we do.
I'd love for someone to prove me wrong and show me that there is a lemon law in BC.
There is, however, a program supported by most auto manufacturers in Canada (including Lada
) called the "Customer Arbritration Plan", which probably is our usual hollow imitation of the US law. BTW I'm proud to be Canadian and I'm leftward of what a US citizen would call "liberal", but you've got to hand it to the US, they do free enterprise well compared to us!
On the other hand, some lemon laws seem to be invoked for problems that are quite minor - e.g. check engine light comes on four times in a row - lemon - if it were my car I'd be persistent, as long as the problems were not major safety issues.
My present car (Peugeot 405) had tons of warranty work done, mostly related to the (German-made!) Bosch Motronic system, and since these issues were sorted at 60,000 km, I've driven this car 200,000 further km without any recurrence.
I don't think that we get Lemon Laws up here in the Great White North.
As the Simpson's say, Canada is "America Junior" - we have no competiton laws, no anti-combines legislation, few consumer protection laws ... the US Gov't sure does "free enterprise" in a more controlled and balanced fashion than we do.
I'd love for someone to prove me wrong and show me that there is a lemon law in BC.
There is, however, a program supported by most auto manufacturers in Canada (including Lada
) called the "Customer Arbritration Plan", which probably is our usual hollow imitation of the US law. BTW I'm proud to be Canadian and I'm leftward of what a US citizen would call "liberal", but you've got to hand it to the US, they do free enterprise well compared to us!On the other hand, some lemon laws seem to be invoked for problems that are quite minor - e.g. check engine light comes on four times in a row - lemon - if it were my car I'd be persistent, as long as the problems were not major safety issues.
My present car (Peugeot 405) had tons of warranty work done, mostly related to the (German-made!) Bosch Motronic system, and since these issues were sorted at 60,000 km, I've driven this car 200,000 further km without any recurrence.
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From: Laguna Niguel, CA
On the other hand you pay way less for MB cars than we do so while we get a better warranttee and better consumer protection laws we are paying for it anyway. I can tell you that if it weren't for lemon laws and service loaners I would not buy another MB. I've had 4 so far, 1 lemon law buyback (12 times in 1st year for same problem), 1 very close to lemon law buyback, 1 used one that was pretty good, 1 2002 C230 that is 3/4 of the way to a lemon law buyback (3 check engine light for coolent temp sensor, 3 stereo problems). My parents thought it was just me so they went ahead and got one despite my problems. Their first and last MB caught on fire while they were driving it so the insurance company took the place of the lemon law. I never had anywhere near the problems with North American made cars but they are not as much fun to drive and have poor resale value and no loaners.
Member
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 154
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From: D/FW Texas
C230K
Smoky
My $0.02
I had a C230K, bought Nov 03, 2001. Got rid of it on April 3, 2002. I felt I had a really strong lemon law case, as, amongst other things, it had spent more than 30 days in the shop. I took advice from an attorney, and I found out (as Buellwinkle said) that DaimlerChrysler wants to be sued, they deduct miles and it can take 6 months, during which time you keep paying for the car. I took my car to Volvo, and they marked down an S60 2.4T by the difference between trade-in and what I owed on the C230K, so all I really lost was the $2000 down payment. If I factor in the potential of 6 months and lawyers and mentally challenged MB service managers, the thought of missing out on all that joy was worth every penny of the $2000. My wife and I love our Volvo - what she wanted in the first place.
The lemon law is a good thing, but there are alternatives.
Bye
Raymond
My $0.02
I had a C230K, bought Nov 03, 2001. Got rid of it on April 3, 2002. I felt I had a really strong lemon law case, as, amongst other things, it had spent more than 30 days in the shop. I took advice from an attorney, and I found out (as Buellwinkle said) that DaimlerChrysler wants to be sued, they deduct miles and it can take 6 months, during which time you keep paying for the car. I took my car to Volvo, and they marked down an S60 2.4T by the difference between trade-in and what I owed on the C230K, so all I really lost was the $2000 down payment. If I factor in the potential of 6 months and lawyers and mentally challenged MB service managers, the thought of missing out on all that joy was worth every penny of the $2000. My wife and I love our Volvo - what she wanted in the first place.
The lemon law is a good thing, but there are alternatives.
Bye
Raymond
