Good Morning Readers!!
Some time ago, when Toyota was still denying having any issues with their cars, I was cautioned by a family friend to never stand behind a brand. I understood what she meant but also felt that there were some brands that were failsafe.
I have promoted BCAA and their dealer inspection program quite a bit on this blog and as a partner in Winston Auto Group we have made it a central piece of our advertising.
The dealer inspection program was created to allow small dealerships to gain some credibility and provide BCAA members the service of a list of small used dealerships that would have BCAA Inspected vehicles.
BCAA runs similar programs for mechanics and travel.
As of October 1, 2010 BCAA will only do business with car dealers who own a franchise (ie new car dealers).
This is disappointing news on many levels. For dealerships that were part of the program it means that all the money they have invested promoting the program, paying for inspections and marketing themselves as a BCAA Inspected Dealership will be wasted as they will no longer be allowed to mention BCAA in their advertising - even if they continue to pay for the inspections. For BCAA members this means that BCAA will no longer provide them a list of reputable used or small dealerships to purchase from - their options will be large franchise or nothing.
Apparently this change comes due to BCAA's concerns with the risk of working with the little guy. I would suggest that given the big guys track record over the last couple of years, they're not a safe bet either.
For dealerships to continue to have their cars inspected the cost will increase by $60 per car but there will be no free memberships associated with that and dealerships won't be able to mention that the car has been inspected.
Regardless of my disappointment with BCAA and their new direction, they still offer the most comprehensive vehicle report on the market.
At Winston Auto Group we are looking at options to continue offering such extensive reporting so that you can continue to drive happy!
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