This Saturday, W5 gets behind the wheel with an up-close investigation into the world of used car sales. Conducted in partnership with the Automobile Protection Association (APA), W5’s annual hidden camera investigation turns the lens westward with a focus on Vancouver-area used car dealerships. Premiering this Saturday, March 23 at 7 p.m. ET on CTV, W5’s “ROAD TEST” uncovers misrepresentations, including hidden fees, non-disclosure of rental cars up for resale, and more frighteningly – dangerous, rebuilt cars that should never have passed a government-regulated safety inspection.
W5’s Victor Malarek takes viewers along on an undercover look at the used car industry, in a hidden camera survey of 20 Vancouver-area used car dealers, turning up a host of questionable practices that should make any buyer beware. Extra fees were found to be a common problem, with more than half of the dealers surveyed by the APA asking for more than the advertised price, after factoring in “documentation fees.” And on one lot, “No Smoking” stickers on the window of a car flag the vehicle as a former rental – confirmed by W5’s research, but a fact that the dealership claimed they had no obligation to disclose until a deal was imminent.
During this year’s survey, W5 uncovers a new, more serious problem: rebuilt cars that, according to the APA, should have never been certified as roadworthy. In B.C., as in other jurisdictions, some cars written-off by insurance companies following accidents are sold as wrecks, but can be rebuilt and put back on the road. But they cannot be resold by anyone in B.C. until they have passed two different safety inspections – one to make sure the car is structurally sound, and the other to ensure it is mechanically sound. In several instances, the APA found vehicles with incomplete repairs and other signs that the cars should have never passed the safety inspection, but did.
W5 also airs Sundays at 5 p.m. ET on CTV, and Fridays 10 p.m. ET on CTV Two. W5 can also be seen on Investigation Discovery on Tuesdays at 11 p.m. ET, and Wednesdays at 3 a.m. ET, 6 a.m. ET and 12 noon ET; and on demand at CTVNews.ca/W5, the CTV Mobile channel on Bell Mobile TV, and through video on demand partners, such as Bell Fibe TV (visit CTV.ca for local listings).
