Consumers Facing Raised Prices in BC

After what seemed like forever, a 2-year global pandemic has finally passed for the most part in British Columbia. Throughout the past 2 years, many consumers experienced price hikes across the board for almost everything. From housing, to groceries, to gas, and even the purchase of a new vehicle.

With so many issues brought about due to inflation, buying a car is the last thing you want to fork out more money for. But believe it or not, even though the prices of many things are starting to come down now, new car prices seem to continue to go up. But why?

No Regulations in BC for Preventing Car Dealership Mark Ups

Unfortunately, there is no legislation preventing dealerships from hiking up the price of a new vehicle. The MSRP is a “suggested retail price” and there is no law in British Columbia, or Canada for that matter, that prevents car dealerships from selling a car way above what is suggested by the manufacturer.

Additionally, there is nothing to prevent them from adding additional fees like documentation fees, service fees, and even pre-ordering fees. What’s worse, the additional “fees” are typically not disclosed to consumers until the very end when they are signing off on the paperwork. If you don’t read the fine print carefully, you could be overpaying for a new car substantially.

Car Dealerships in the Driver’s Seat for New Vehicle Purchases

It’s never a great experience when you shell out good money for a large purchase, only to not get what you are paying for, or what was advertised. Particularly in the case of a brand-new vehicle purchase. When you’re making a big purchase like a new car, and one that is on the more expensive side, not getting what you were told you’d be getting can be frustrating.

However, it seems to be something that is occurring more and more these days. Particularly because there is a supply shortage of new vehicles, so dealers know they have more bargaining power than they used to.

BC Man Overcharged $8,000 for New Car Purchase

What’s worse, is you could also be overcharged for it in addition to not getting what you’re paying for. Which was the case for local BC resident Richard Lim, who pre-ordered a Kia EV-6 in 2021.

He said he was told that the price of the vehicle wasn’t currently available, but that a deposit of $2,000 was required to secure the order.

He paid the money in good faith and continued to wait patiently, but heard nothing from the dealership for over 10 months.

In spring of 2022, Kia released the EV-6′s MSRP price on their website. However, when Richard went to purchase the vehicle at the dealership, they wanted $8,000 more than what Kia Canada had priced for the vehicle themselves on the website.

Dealerships Facing Scrutiny for Marking Up Vehicle Prices

When Mr. Lim asked the dealership why his vehicle that he had pre-ordered was going to cost $8,000 more than what Kia themselves were advertising the exact same vehicle for, he was told by the dealership that there is no law stating that they must sell vehicles at the Manufacturer’s Suggest Retail Price (or MSRP for short).

Richard looked over the paperwork provided to him by the dealership and noticed the additional $8,000 charge was from a “Dealer Mark Up Fee” and a “Market Adjustment Fee”. This is something that is becoming prevalent throughout British Columbia right now, and it’s because there is still lower new car inventory than there used to be.

Car Help, a BC non-profit website that helps consumers with car buying advice said there is no legislation to prevent car dealers from marking up vehicles well over the MSRP. And in British Columbia, we have fewer dealerships than we used to since the pandemic, and it limits where consumers can go to car shop. That’s why many dealerships are marking up the price of new vehicles; simply because they can.

Consumers Demand New Legislation for Car Buying in BC

The British Columbia Vehicle Authority has publicly stated that there is no legislation in BC to prevent dealerships from hiking up prices on any of the vehicles they’re selling. Also, there is no law to govern how they mark up the prices on cars. So, this means when they add additional fees, they can add whatever they want, and in any amount that they feel like.

If you live in Metro Vancouver, you’d heard or experienced gas gouging first-hand at the pumps. Well, now there is car gouging, and it’s happening more in BC than any other province in Canada.

Cash For Cars BC Is the Leader in Car Buying AND Selling

Many people know us as the best used vehicle buying service in Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, and Vancouver Island. However, we don’t just buy cars. We also sell them!

Our focus is primarily on buying used vehicles from our customers, because that is what we have based our entire business on.

Although we do offer the MOST cash for cars, we also have a great inventory and selection of used cars, trucks, SUV’s, vans, and motorcycles for sale. And because we don’t have the same overhead that local dealerships have, and don’t believe in marking up the price of cars just because we can, you know you’ll get a better deal with us than anywhere else.