Toronto, Ontario – The Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan (CAMVAP) has announced several significant milestones that it reached at the end of 2007, as it completed its 13th year of operation. CAMVAP is the national arbitration plan, under which consumer allegations of manufacturers’ defects or improper application of the new vehicle warranty can be arbitrated, with results that are binding on both the consumer and the manufacturer.

By the end of 2007, more than 5,000 arbitrations had been held, leading to manufacturers being ordered to buy back 1,081 vehicles with a total value of $22,073,190. Manufacturers were also ordered to complete 1,770 vehicle repairs and reimburse 620 consumers a total of $837,992 for repairs initially paid by the consumers. The program also handled 102,580 consumer telephone calls requesting information.

“CAMVAP is truly unique as a dispute resolution program that operates in all provinces and territories under exactly the same rules,” said Dr. James Savary, chair of the CAMVAP board. “CAMVAP’s job is to ensure that consumers have a neutral program to resolve problems with their vehicles in an efficient and timely manner. When a consumer has a dispute with the manufacturer over allegations of manufacturing defects or the implementation of the new vehicle warranty, CAMVAP puts both parties in front of an arbitrator who will make the final decision.”

CAMVAP covers new and used vehicles from the current year, plus four model years. The program is free of charge to consumers and cases are normally handled within 70 days. All major domestic and international manufacturers participate in the program, with the exception of BMW, Mini, Mitsubishi and some higher-value vehicle manufacturers such as Maserati, Ferrari, TVR and Lotus. For more information, visit CAMVAP.ca.