年半852辆入口 顾客蒙在鼓里
【明报专讯】加拿大广播公司《新闻》(CBC News)获悉，数以百计的汽车在美国定格为出厂次货，却能在加拿大的汽车代理商出售。一些顾客蒙在鼓里，可能买下有次等汽车。
其中一例是一架起亚(Kia)小型客货车，在佛罗里达州的原价是28,100美元，但它定为次货后，在拍卖会出售，以13,100美元卖给一个温尼辟汽车代理。起亚小型客货车最后送到温尼辟，最近定价24,980元出售，但汽车商没说它是出厂次货汽车。
美国有监管出厂次等汽车的法律，但是加拿大没有。安省、卑诗省、缅尼托巴省尝试制订出厂次等汽车法律，但没有结果。
施赖皮(Eric Schrepel)从佛罗里达的代理商购入那辆2006年簇新的起亚小型客货车，不出18个月，电池失灵4次，机械师不能解决问题。
施赖皮向加拿大广播公司《新闻》说：“汽车有某个地方短路，但找不出来。起亚会做好车，但我认为，这架车是次货。”
制造商依照佛罗里达的法例，买回客货车，车子后来卖给温尼辟的代理。
记者追问温尼辟代理商的营业员几次，他才肯说客货车在佛罗里达认定是次货。但他保证，客货车性能良好。
虽然各州的次货定义不同，但大多数的意思是，代理维修部多次维修，汽车仍然有严重问题。
法律规定，汽车定格次货后，制造商必须买回，但不能阻止制造商转售汽车。
虽然美国所有50个州都有次货法律，只有19个州要求次货汽车附次货警告。代理在州外出售次货汽车，往往没有附带次货称号。
加拿大广播公司《新闻》的调查发现，从2006年5月1日到2007年11月5日，852辆美国次等汽车进口加拿大，其中110多辆在加元与美金平算后进口。
U.S. lemons found on Canadian car lots
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 | 12:02 PM ET
CBC News
Hundreds of vehicles labelled lemons in the United States are turning up at Canadian dealerships where some unsuspecting customers are being offered defective cars, CBC News has learned.
In one instance, a Kia minivan that originally sold for $28,100 US in Florida was sold at auction to a Winnipeg dealer for $13,100 US after it was declared a lemon. It ended up on a Winnipeg car lot where it was recently found on sale for $24,980 and with no warnings about its history.
Unlike the U.S., Canada has no lemon laws despite attempts to establish them in British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario.
Eric Schrepel, who bought the 2006 Kia minivan brand new from a Florida dealership, said the battery died four times in less than 18 months and no mechanic could solve the problem.
“There was some sort of short that they just couldn’t locate in the car. Kia makes a very good car. But I think this one is just literally — it was just a lemon,” Schrepel told CBC News.
The manufacturer followed the letter of the law in Florida and bought back the van. It later resold it to the Winnipeg dealer.
A salesman at the Winnipeg car lot would only say the van had been designated a lemon in Florida after being asked several times. Even then he guaranteed the van would perform properly.
While the definition of lemon varies by state, it most often means that despite several trips to the dealer’s service department, a vehicle continues to have a serious problem.
Once a vehicle is declared a lemon, the manufacturer has to buy it back. But there’s nothing to stop the manufacturer from reselling it.
While all 50 states have lemon laws, only 19 require the title of a car declared a lemon to carry a warning. When a dealer sells a lemon out-of-state, the lemon designation is often not carried over.
A CBC News investigation found that between May 1, 2006, and Nov. 5, 2007, 852 American lemons were imported into Canada, with more than 110 of those crossing the border since the Canadian dollar reached parity.
