Vancouver Honda experience

[k3mps]

After reading that, it looks to me like Vancouver Honda did their part and more to try and resolve your situation.

Like most dealerships, wholesale vehicles get a 21 point inspection rather than a 100 point full mechanical inspection. 21 points do not include things like the PS pump..

If I liked Honda's, I would consider Van Honda

[Klobbersaurus]

i think having a leaking p/s pump and rack would cause your car to fail the out of province MVA inspection, so if thats the case, it wouldnt make your vehicle suitable for transportation in compliance with the MVA

[SSM_DC5]

Originally Posted by k3mps

After reading that, it looks to me like Vancouver Honda did their part and more to try and resolve your situation.

Like most dealerships, wholesale vehicles get a 21 point inspection rather than a 100 point full mechanical inspection. 21 points do not include things like the PS pump..

If I liked Honda's, I would consider Van Honda

As I already mentioned my car wasn't wholesale. If you plan to buy from a licensed dealer in the future, I encourage you to do your homework on what a licensed dealer is obligated to do if they want to sell a car suitable for transportation.

Originally Posted by Klobbersaurus

i think having a leaking p/s pump and rack would cause your car to fail the out of province MVA inspection, so if thats the case, it wouldnt make your vehicle suitable for transportation in compliance with the MVA

Thank you! Some one who knows something about the mva

[k3mps]

Originally Posted by SSM_DC5

As I already mentioned my car wasn't wholesale. If you plan to buy from a licensed dealer in the future, I encourage you to do your homework on what a licensed dealer is obligated to do if they want to sell a car suitable for transportation.


Thank you! Some one who knows something about the mva

I work at a dealer.

Like I said, a used car like the your Subie goes through a 21 point inspection. Those seldom include checking the PS pump but the tech would most likely write it down to try and up-sell it anyways.

Newer cars, demos, and out of province cars go through 100 points. Yes a leaking PS pump would be noted, however I don't believe you ever said that this was an out of province car needing an inspection for insurance purposes.

For a local car, or previously provincially inspected car that does not need a provincial to be insured, and for a car of your age and mileage, would NOT need that to be fixed for sale.

If every used car of around that age and mileage went through a 100 point, I'm willing to bet most of them would fail

Don't tell me to do my homework, this is the way it has been done at all of the dealers in my knowledge.

You did your homework and yet you still chose to buy this

[Jmac]

Sorry to hear you got hosed.

I may have missed someone else say it, but you can add conditions to the sale. For example, having the leak inspected and repaired. Or a PPI by an independent mechanic.

Just remember that, in most circumstances, the buyer has the power until the sale is completed.

[SSM_DC5]

Originally Posted by k3mps

I work at a dealer.

Like I said, a used car like the your Subie goes through a 21 point inspection. Those seldom include checking the PS pump but the tech would most likely write it down to try and up-sell it anyways.

Newer cars, demos, and out of province cars go through 100 points. Yes a leaking PS pump would be noted, however I don't believe you ever said that this was an out of province car needing an inspection for insurance purposes.

For a local car, or previously provincially inspected car that does not need a provincial to be insured, and for a car of your age and mileage, would NOT need that to be fixed for sale.

If every used car of around that age and mileage went through a 100 point, I'm willing to bet most of them would fail

Don't tell me to do my homework, this is the way it has been done at all of the dealers in my knowledge.

You did your homework and yet you still chose to buy this

You must have missed the second part where I said this

4) Do your homework! I was buying from a licensed dealer, I should have known BEFORE I went to see the car that buying from them means I’m getting a car that meets MVA.

I did my homework AFTER I bought the car, not before, but AFTER. So I had zero knowledge of what it meant to buy from a dealer, which wasn't smart on my part.

My homework included going to VSA's website to confirm that Vancouver Honda is licensed and registered, which they are (License Number: 40024). Then searching for what sales manager 1 was referring to when he said by law the car has to undergo a safety inspection before selling. I found this under FAQ

Q: What strict standards must dealers follow?
Dealers must declare if a vehicle has been registered out of province
Dealers must declare if a vehicle was used as a lease, rental, taxi or emergency vehicle
Dealers must declare prior damage over certain limits
Dealers must guarantee that their vehicles are free of liens
Dealers must comply with strict standards when leasing a vehicle
Dealers must offer used vehicles that meet minimum safety requirements, or
Dealers must declare vehicles as Not Suitable for Transportation and be towed from the dealership
Source: http://mvsabc.com/consumers/

Now I email VSA to find out what the minimum safety requirements are and this is their response

Hello deleted name,

If a vehicle is being sold by a dealership as suitable for transportation, it needs to comply with the vehicle standards that are set out in the Motor Vehicle Act of B.C.

The Act itself is quite detailed, so I am not sure where to refer you to find simplified information on the standards in the Act. You can try contacting the Ministry of Transportation (CVSE) (250-952-0577, or Vehicle.Safety.Standards@gov.bc.ca) to see if they can provide you with this information. Otherwise, the most qualified person to let you know if your vehicle complies with provincial standards would be a mechanic at a licensed B.C. inspection facility (you can find a directory of inspection facilities at http://www.cvse.ca/vehicle_inspections/PDF/DIFs.PDF).

Please let me know if you have any additional questions or concerns.

Thank you,



deleted name

Consumer Services Officer

Vehicle Sales Authority of British Columbia (VSA)

Tel 604.575.6168 Toll free 1.877.294.9889 Fax 604.574.5883

Home - The Motor Vehicle Sales Authority of BC

Motor Vehicle Sales Industry – Professional and Trustworthy

ok, so from this email I now know that the car should meet MVA. I go and look up power steering in the MVA. I find a whole section titled steering mechanism, which talks about power steering systems. Klobbersaurus summarized it, but you can read it for yourself if you like here. It's under clause 19.

so how can my car, which was sold to me as suitable for transportation, comply with the vehicle standards that are set out in the Motor Vehicle Act of B.C when the steering system was never inspected?


You never mentioned if the dealer you're working for is licensed. If it is licensed and your dealer is able to continue to sell vehicles without inspecting the steering mechanism then congratulations on not meeting VSA's standards.

Originally Posted by Jmac

Sorry to hear you got hosed.

I may have missed someone else say it, but you can add conditions to the sale. For example, having the leak inspected and repaired. Or a PPI by an independent mechanic.

Just remember that, in most circumstances, the buyer has the power until the sale is completed.

Thanks.
I definitely should have added conditions and done a PPI, but my love for the car and being scared someone else would buy it before me really skewed my thinking. I put too much trust that Vancouver Honda would follow whatever the law said they needed to do, so I let things slide. I even trusted the sales associate when he said that power steering won't get assessed. It was an extremely crappy feeling to find out after I've bought the car that it should have been inspected as per VSA's emails and the MVA.
To add salt to the wound, top of the engine looked pretty clean and most likely got power washed, then sales associate and sales manager 1 keeps saying it's a great car with documented service history so everything is looking great! But when I get it home and jack it up I find like a 3mm thick layer of nasty oil all over the place for example, oil pan, engine cross member, sway bar, steering rack transmission oil pan, transmission cross member, bottom of the engine block near valve cover, etc. It was the complete opposite of what the top looked like. Oh and here's some more salt! When I first got the car, it had a very strong perfume or air freshener smell to it. So strong it gave me a headache as I drove. I air out the car and take out the floor mats because they were a large source of the smell. After that, I smell something burning every time I drive. One time after I parked the car, I see a cloud of smoke coming out from under the hood.