Ont. launches a new website for car buyers

Buying a car in Ontario?

Provincial goverment is inviting you to their new website for car buyers. You can also sign up for free seminars that will help you avoid scams and other pitfalls people face when purchasing a vehicle.

The Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council (OMVIC) has promised to offer 1-hour-long seminars in different languages that will be hosted at public locations: community centres, schools, librries – even malls!

“All consumers deserve to know exactly what they are getting before they decide to buy,” Sophia Aggelonitis, Consumer Services Minister, said on Monday at her recent news conference in Toronto.

Ontarian buy 1.4 million cars each year, and many of them through classified ads.

According to the provincial Consumer Ministry, around 25% of those vehicles which are sold via classifieds come from curbsiders, which the Ministry describes as “unregistered vehicle sellers in the business of selling misrepresented or stolen vehicles.”

Car purchases and repairs are consistently among the Top 10 consumer complaints, she added.

“That’s why OMVIC is introducing these new free car-buying seminars across greater Toronto and other major centres throughout the summer,” she said.

Ontario recently toughened its consumer laws on buying and selling cars.

Dealers are now obligated to disclose the true history and condition of a vehicle, including whether it was used as a taxi or police car.

The price advertised for new and used vehicles must include all costs, except tax.

Consumers can also cancel a sales contract within 90 days if a dealer has failed to disclose key items such as odometer readings or whether the vehicle has been branded as rebuilt or salvage.

Most of the information offered in the seminars is also on the website, Buy With Confidence (http://buywithconfidence.omvic.on.ca/), said Douglas Tindal of the Consumer Ministry.

But he points out that while many of the general information is applicable across Canada, the legislation is specific to Ontario car buyers.