jaje

Press Release

SOURCE: North American Automobile Trade Association

Honda withholds recall information - blames gray market

RICHMOND HILL, ON, Aug. 2 /PRNewswire/ - Honda Canada Inc. has advised American importers of Canadian cars that Honda will no longer provide them with recall information. Honda claims that this action is needed to stop the flow of gray market cars from Canada to the United States. Honda stopped honouring warranties on imported Canadian cars about three years ago.

United States Registered Importers are licensed to certify that Canadian vehicles meet American safety and emissions standards. Last year, U.S. Registered Importers brought in 200,074 Canadian vehicles. Registered Importers have to determine if there are any outstanding recalls on a vehicle before it can be imported into the United States.

"Withholding recall information is dangerous and foolish", says Brian Osler, President of the North American Automobile Trade Association (NAATA). "Honda is putting American car owners at great risk and is creating potential liability for itself. Honda's new policy is going to end up killing children and other innocent people.

Honda vehicles are more expensive in the United States. The dealer's cost in the United States is often higher than the retail price in Canada. American consumers try to buy cars from Canada because they can save 20 to 35 per cent on the purchase price.

"Honda, like other manufacturers, is trying to deprive American consumers from the benefits of free trade" says Mr. Osler. "Cars sold in Canada are virtually identical to those sold in the U.S.. Honda shouldn't be allowed to force people to drive around in cars with open recalls."

SOURCE: North American Automobile Trade Association

i'm inclined to agree with the NAATA b/c it does restrict free trade and potentially puts owners at risk...but this is a one sided story and i want to hear what reasons honda has for this move and what solutions it offers to its customers

jaje

Honda does not issue Canada only recalls so any gray market honda sold in the US (Canadian Honda imported here) is subject to the same recalls and owners will be notified of whether there is a recall or not...Honda is actually fostering free trade b/c importers no longer have to make sure the car has had any recalls that were made...kinda like an american used car lot doesn't have to repair any recalls

http://www.auto.com/industry/iwirc3_20020803.htm

Honda cracks down on cross-border auto sales, trade group says

August 5, 2002

BY ALAN OHNSMAN
BLOOMBERG NEWS

RICHMOND HILL, Ontario -- Honda Motor Co.'s Canadian unit will stop telling U.S. importers whether its cars sold in Canada were repaired after a recall, a strategy the automaker is using to thwart the flow of so-called gray-market cars into the U.S., a trade group said.

Automakers sell cars in Canada for less than in the U.S., where buyers are more affluent. U.S. car retailers often take advantage of the discount by importing the Canadian inventory and pocketing the extra savings.

Importers must certify the Canadian vehicles they bought for resale in the U.S. meet safety and emissions rules. The lack of information about whether recall repairs were made is expected to slow the practice. Honda is the only automaker with this strategy, said Brian Osler, president of the North American Automobile Trade Association in Richmond Hill, Ontario.

"Importers have to make sure there are no outstanding recalls on any vehicle they buy before it comes into the U.S., so this creates a situation where the importer won't know if a necessary repair has been made or not," Osler said.

Officials at Honda Canada, a unit of the No. 2 automaker in Japan, weren't immediately able to comment. Art Garner, a spokesman for the company's U.S. unit, said the automaker doesn't issue Canada-only recalls and that any such information would also be available in the U.S.

Honda stopped honoring warranties on Canadian-market autos resold to U.S. customers about three years ago, the trade group said. Last year, U.S. importers brought in 200,074 vehicles from Canada, the group said.

fastball

I tend to agree on both sides. On one hand, the Canadian dollar is much weaker than the USD, so to keep the economic ballance, Honda is trying to discourage the importing of their cars sold in Canada to the US. However, witholding valuable and important information about recalls IS dangerous. If there is a bulletin on ABS or air bags witheld, they are just asking for a lawsuit if an accident kills someone as a direct result of the system 's failure and Honda's failure to notify and correct the problem. A very sticky situation, indeed.

jaje

Actually Honda does not withhold the info from the owner (consumer) only from the importer...the US owner of a Canadian civic/accord/etc. will get the postcard for the recall in the mail as they would in Canada...i repeat the US customer is not getting a defective car b/c they are treated as every other owner is [this is proved b/c all canadian hondas are also US hondas and get the same recall treatment/process]

Honda is trying to eliminate importers from doing the recalls...though i'm not sure why it must be a $$ thing

fastball

Oh, okay. I might have been a little confused at first, not that my Prelude is Canadian, or anything (although it would be cool to have the 240 km/h in big numbers!) Thanks for straightening it out for me.