Pssst. Wanna make a few bucks? Try to buy a car in the U.S. – in fact, try to buy a hundred cars in the U.S., each from a different dealer. When they all turn you down because you’re Canadian, sue the bastards!
That’s what Newfoundland couple Rhonda Chancey and Allan Coombs plan to do under discrimination laws, and their lawyer seems to think they’ve got a snowball’s chance in Labrador of winning. The Canucks tried to buy a car at more than 140 dealerships in the northeastern U.S. and were systematically turned away.
“Individual dealerships claim they are not allowed or that it is illegal to sell to Canadians. But this would appear to be a patent violation of state and federal anti-discrimination statutes,” said lawyer Stephanie Jazlowiecki of Maine. In the end, the Newfoundlanders bought a car through a U.S. relative, but paid two sets of taxes as a result.
Although we’re not sure if any of the motorcycle manufacturers* are
imposing similar restrictions to their automotive counterparts, if this
type of lawsuit is successful, it should nip that idea in the bud.
BTW, be sure to log onto CMG tomorrow (Friday) for our in-depth look
at the current state of the pricing differentials between the U.S. and
Canada.
*Well, apart from Bombardier, but then is the Spyder really a motorcycle?
I told an Oregon Harley dealer I was Canadian and he told me he couldn’t sell to Canadians. He immediately turned and walked away to serve another customer. I followed him across the showroom asking why and he said he would lose his dealership if he sold to Canadians.
I ride at cayuga raceway with the sales manager from a US Honda Dealership in Buffalo. They sell new and used bikes to canadians with no issues at all.
I believe that Harley dealers have long had the policy of refusing to sell a new bike for export. If a dealer does so, he risks losing his franchise and at the very least will lose that model from his following year’s allocation.
I believe BMW has instigated this policy for motorcycles. At least that’s what a friend on mine found out in the past 10 days.
Interesting. I was told only yesterday that those restrictions only apply to new car sales…
Of course, it was a used car salesman that told me that so…
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