Top 5 car-buying complaints, and how to avoid them

Top consumer complaints when buying a car Driving home in a new vehicle can be exhilarating, but buyer's remorse can soon spoil the mood. Ross McLaughlin reports.

Driving home in a new vehicle can be an exhilarating experience but sometimes buyer’s remorse can spoil the mood. You get home and take a closer look at the contract and discover the deal isn’t everything you thought or after driving the car for a while, you realize it fails to live up to expectations.

“You really need to be engaged, you need to be a responsible buyer,” explained Doug Longhurst with the Vehicle Sales Authority of B.C. (VSA).

The VSA regulates licensed car dealers, salespeople, and wholesalers and there are strict standards they must follow. The VSA can help consumers unwind deals when things go wrong but it’s much easier to do your part to prevent problems.

Last year nearly 4,000 consumers reached out to the VSA for help. 45 per cent of the consumer complaints were about just five things.

Top five car-buying complaints
 

“We actually get calls on a Monday morning saying, 'I bought a car and I can’t see to back up.' Well it’s like, 'Well, it’s hardly the car dealer’s fault if you didn’t test drive it,'” said Longhurst.

Bottom line: be a responsible buyer and do your part to protect yourself and to pay attention to the details. Take time to think about it. If they want to sell you the car on a Saturday, you can bet they’d still be willing to sell it to you on a Monday.

And if you’re looking for a better deal, try the end of a month, the end of a quarter or the end of the year when dealers are trying to make their vehicle sales quotas with the manufacturers. You might be surprised how willing they may be to give you a bargain.