# Dealership Loses Franchise after selling car for $25K over Invoice



## tim330i (Dec 18, 2001)

Mazda Canada has terminated a dealership in Orangeville for breaching the company's business practices including an incident where the store sold a car to a woman for more than $25,000 above its real value.

In a rare move, the auto maker announced Thursday that it had ended the sales and service agreement for Mazda of Orangeville effectively immediately, which means the store cannot sell any new vehicles and parts to customers or make repairs.

The move comes less than a week after the Star revealed the dealership had sold a 2010 Mazda6 G6 sedan to a local woman for about $66,000 including taxes and a trade-in car but she should have paid less than $41,000.

"We informed the dealer this morning that we were terminating the agreement because he had not adhered to the business standards, under the terms of the sales and service agreement," said Greg Young, Mazda's director of corporate public relations.

Young noted the huge overpricing of a car to the woman was one example of a breach but the company conducted an investigation and found other violations.

He added there are clauses in the agreement that state the dealer must conduct business in a way that reflects favourably on the image, reputation and goodwill of the store and Mazda.

Young, who could not recall a termination for such breaches in almost two decades at Mazda, said the company has received calls from customers in recent days in response to negative publicity about the incident.

As a consequence of the termination, Mazda will buy back any new vehicles and parts from the dealership. However, the dealership could still sell and service used cars on the lot.

Sunny Bains, president and principle of Mazda of Orangeville, met briefly with company officials at corporate headquarters in Richmond Hill on Thursday and later confirmed the decision.

"You heard that, it's probably true but I got to go," Bains said before hanging up.

Bains, who has operated the medium-sized Mazda store for about three years, could seek a temporary court injunction to stop the company from ending the franchise agreement.

The Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council, which regulates new and used car dealers, charged Mazda of Orangeville and two senior sales employees recently with "engaging in unfair practice by making an unconscionable representation," contrary to the Consumer Protection Act.

The dealership faces a maximum fine of $250,000 and the two employees could receive $100,000 fines plus jail time of up two years if they are found guilty. They could also lose their provincial registrations to sell vehicles.

The Star found that the dealership sold a 2010 Mazda6 G6 to an Orangeville women for almost $66,000 or about 60 per cent more than she should have paid by charging her three times the value of extra items and saddling her with an eight-year loan. The woman should not have qualified for the loan because she is unemployed and living on a disability pension.

Furthermore, the dealership slapped several thousand dollars on the manufacturer's suggested retail price on the car which wasn't new.

Bains said he fired the two employees after the Star reported details of the deal but the regulator indicated that he has known about the questionable sale for somewhat longer.

Ex-manager "Moe" Shaihk, one of the defendants who lost his jobs, and Bains are also partners in a Suzuki dealership in Pickering.

Bains promised last week he would reimburse the customer, Madeline Leonard, so she "would not be short one penny out of her pocket." But Leonard said she has not received anything yet including Bains' promise of a new car.

Regarding Mazda Canada's decision, Leonard said if the company thinks it is fair, "it's alright with me.

"I'm the fairest person in the world," said the 56-year-old woman. "I believe everyone should be fair and honest."

_Source - http://www.thestar.com/business/art...minates-controversial-orangeville-dealer?bn=1_


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## Elias (Jun 26, 2005)

There's probably a few Dealerships in the US that could stand losing their Franchises as well!


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## 6 Brit (Jan 19, 2009)

haha that lady is DUMB!


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## Ajax (Feb 1, 2002)

All i got is WOW.

I thought Canadians were born with halos?



6 Brit said:


> haha that lady is DUMB!


:rofl::rofl::rofl:


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## jagu (Nov 7, 2006)

Why was she stupid enough to pay $66k for anything with "Mazda" written on it. She is partly to blame.


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## swajames (Jan 16, 2005)

jagu said:


> Why was she stupid enough to pay $66k for anything with "Mazda" written on it. She is partly to blame.


True, but we're all looking that these things and passing judgments without having to walk in the (sometimes desperate) shoes of others.

Irrespective of how clearly bad this "deal" was, the dealer seemingly took total advantage of the situation. Not everyone has the choices we have. Lenders are falling over themselves to lend money to me and I suspect most of us here at staggeringly low rates. I doubt this lady had those same opportunities. Mad as she may have been to sign the deal, not every buyer is as savvy as us and this dealer simply went too far. I get the personal responsibility thing, but not everyone is equally capable of exercising sound judgment. In a similar vein, I suspect most of us here have never set foot in a pawn shop nor taken a pay-day loan, but, like this car deal, others in different circumstances do things that more fortunate folks never even have to consider.


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## 01Byte (Jun 22, 2003)

two words "payment shopper"


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## blue 330ci (Jul 24, 2009)

I'm from Orangeville, i read about it in the Toronto star. Nothing has been said in the local paper...yet. I've been there before(last year) while with a salesmen, I couldn't understand what was being said between a few salesmen around me.... The owners are not canadian


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## fuz (Feb 6, 2002)

Before you pass too many quick judgments, on other sites, the woman was also reported as having various mental disabilities.

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/05/10/video-mazda-dealer-responds-to-allegations-it-bilked-customer-o/

http://jalopnik.com/5533462/dealership-charges-mentally-disabled-woman-63000-for-used-mazda


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## blue 330ci (Jul 24, 2009)

btw the local paper is called the orangeville banner, it only prints twice a week. Wednesdays, Fridays. i would like to hear the dealerships version of the story in next weeks issues. The vehicle i looked at there last year was overpriced by about $6,000


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## 6 Brit (Jan 19, 2009)

fuz said:


> Before you pass too many quick judgments, on other sites, the woman was also reported as having various mental disabilities.
> 
> http://www.autoblog.com/2010/05/10/video-mazda-dealer-responds-to-allegations-it-bilked-customer-o/
> 
> http://jalopnik.com/5533462/dealership-charges-mentally-disabled-woman-63000-for-used-mazda


perhaps then she should have had someone helping make a rather big and possibly life changing decision of buying a 60K car

I can't believe a dealership would take advantage of someone to that extreme


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## Plaz (Dec 19, 2001)

mean people suck


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## Elias (Jun 26, 2005)

6 Brit said:


> perhaps then she should have had someone helping make a rather big and possibly life changing decision of buying a 60K car
> 
> I can't believe a dealership would take advantage of someone to that extreme


I wouldn't put it pass any Dealership to go to that extreme to line their own pockets, you should've been around 40 years ago the Dealerships practically wrote their own tickets. Things have changed since then, its a whole different world today than before! Ralph Nader was the first one to speak out on the consumers behalf and it still took a while for the Feds to come around to pass legislation to protect the buyer. The saying "* buyer beware"* didn't happen for no reason!:tsk:


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## Frank Rizzo (Aug 2, 2003)

Tim's quote is a little misleading:



> The move comes less than a week after the Star revealed the dealership had sold a 2010 Mazda6 G6 sedan to a local woman for about $66,000 including taxes and a trade-in car but she should have paid less than $41,000.


While autoblog says:



> The dealer sold her the car at a $45,846 CAD list price with an eight-year loan at 7.4 percent interest, bringing the grand total of the transaction to $66,000 CAD.


While certainly not admirable and in no way do I endorse what the dealership did - she was _only_ overcharged about $5k CAD, not the $25k originally indicated. Unfortunately, back in the day, I did far worse damage to people than $5k when I was selling and it was common practice BI (before the internet).... because it was hard to find the raw info on vehicle pricing.

I'm glad they are getting doinked for it. Sends a message


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## swajames (Jan 16, 2005)

Frank, it was more than just the finance. They also loaded up the car with a bunch of "dealer options", such as those bogus protection packages and the like, and seemingly marked all of those up to top dollar too.

I can picture these idiot slimeball shysters high-fiving each other as this woman drove off the lot. Karma most certainly can be a bit of bitch, can't it.


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## e46_platform (Nov 6, 2008)

somehow this dealership's website is still up
http://www.mazdaoforangeville.com/en/index.spy


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## brkf (May 26, 2003)

Lame. Many people get taken for a ride at dealerships. Part of the game.


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## KushmirKid (Mar 1, 2010)

I wish BMW NA would do this for some SoCal Dealers, not just for the sake of the customers but some of the employees with mental disabilities


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## BmW745On19's (Aug 12, 2005)

6 Brit said:


> haha that lady is DUMB!


She was reportedly mentally disabled.



Frank Rizzo said:


> Tim's quote is a little misleading:
> 
> While autoblog says:
> 
> ...


I know lots of old time dealers who did this, the internet really changed the car business, and for the better for the consumer. You could have huge variations in prices of cars due to regions and demand and no one would know about it.



swajames said:


> Frank, it was more than just the finance. They also loaded up the car with a bunch of "dealer options", such as those bogus protection packages and the like, and seemingly marked all of those up to top dollar too.
> 
> I can picture these idiot slimeball shysters high-fiving each other as this woman drove off the lot. Karma most certainly can be a bit of bitch, can't it.


Right, they charged up to 3x the amount for "paint protection" and other garbage.



blueguydotcom said:


> Lame. Many people get taken for a ride at dealerships. Part of the game.


But the point is they took advantage of a mentally disabled person. People often do get taken for a ride, but its mostly because they don't care or don't choose to do any research, the buyer here was the person who pointed out she had paid too much for the car when she went to another dealer in town and found out the car was overpriced.

Btw, the car was a dealer demo with a bunch of miles on it. Scum bags.


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## brkf (May 26, 2003)

BmW745On19's said:


> But the point is they took advantage of a mentally disabled person. People often do get taken for a ride, but its mostly because they don't care or don't choose to do any research, the buyer here was the person who pointed out she had paid too much for the car when she went to another dealer in town and found out the car was overpriced.


Shrug. She was driving a car and had enough credit to sign. This is like the excuse that college students shouldn't be given credit cards or the aged shouldn't be sold insurance policies or other non-essentials.


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