In the past and almost up to the 1980s, most of the motor vehicles imported into Guyana were new. Most vehicles were imported from western countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany. During the times of extreme foreign currency shortages in the 1970s and 1980s, under special arrangements, Lada vehicles were imported from Russia and large Tata buses were imported from India. Before Guyana tried the Socialist experiment where the state took over the ownership and control of the national economy, three or four of the largest companies including Bookers were the main motor vehicle importers. Since the vehicles imported were almost all new, they gave warranties for a year and since they had mechanical workshop facilities, they were easily able to repair faults and damages to vehicles. They also carried an adequate supply of spare parts; the situation today is very different from the picture we have described. The nearest to these colonial companies at the present time is Beharry Auto Sales.

When the Socialist experiment was abandoned and the free market was reasserted, the milieu of the importation of motor vehicles changed. The big companies were nationalised during the Socialist experiment and had ceased to exist and their place was taken by a plethora of one-man companies which imported vehicles from Japan. The Japanese vehicles imported were second hand, refurbished or reconditioned but never new. In Japan itself, there grew up a large number of exporters of these second-hand vehicles, and some of these companies were weaker than others. The Guyanese importers’ concern and watchword was price and not quality and this accounted for a large number of basically defective motor vehicles dumped on the unsuspecting Guyanese customer. The customer had been socialised by the country’s past experience of importing only new Western-made vehicles into thinking that buying an imported vehicle entailed no risk. It came as a revelation, therefore, when the purchasers of these second-hand Japanese vehicles found their new purchases often defective in many ways.

These importers of used Japanese vehicles kept no mechanical workshops nor did they stock spare parts as the older companies did. Further, their business practices were not as transparent as the older companies had been. Since price rather than quality was their guiding principle, they inevitably imported vehicles which had either major or minor defects and themselves were none the wiser. The ultimate sufferer was the customer.

Car ownership over the last twenty-five to thirty years had expanded to a remarkable degree and a large proportion of the new owners were young people who were owning a car for the first time. Many of these young people are unaware of the interstices of the business of buying and selling cars or even of the quality of a car engine or car body and as such, they are open to being exploited by the unfair practices of sellers.

Many of these new car owners are devastated when they discover that they cannot find needed spare parts to have their cars running and that they have to find derelict vehicles from which to quarry parts or go to the one or two shops where the owners strip derelict vehicles and sell the parts at high prices. Another worry to car owners is the fact that all cars are now controlled by a number of electronic devices and most Guyanese mechanics have not been trained in this field.

This milieu has resulted in a large number of consumer complaints of the iniquities of the companies from which they purchased their cars. The consumer bodies which receive complaints are the Guyana Consumers Association, the Consumer Division of the Ministry of Business headed by Ms Cheryl Tinnis and the Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission(CCAC) headed by Ms Dawn Holder. The CCAC has published its statistics of the complaints for 2018.

We will mention three of the most common complaints against car dealers: Dealers quite often mislead purchasers as to conditions and also what they are purchasing. This inevitably results in misunderstandings and a concatenation of disputes. Another complaint is that dealers try to unfairly re-possess the vehicles. Such complaints fall within the ambit of the Consumer Protection Act. The other complaint is concerning warranties. Most dealers give three-month warranties which are too short. They would have wished to give no warranties, but if no warranties are given, a six-month warranty becomes obligatory by the Consumer Protection Act. Even the three-month warranty is not honoured since a dealer would often defer taking action until the warranty almost runs out.

The imperative of bringing about a more normal and equilibrial situation in the used car trade is being addressed. In the first place, the State has already passed legislation limiting the age of vehicles which could be imported. In the second place, the requirements of the Consumer Protection Act are being more widely disseminated among consumers as well as among used vehicle dealers. This would result in both consumers and dealers knowing their rights and duties and there would be less infringement of the Law and a great deal of the misunderstanding and disputes would not occur. And lastly, a used vehicle standard is being evolved. The major responsibility for this lies with the Bureau of Standards. A wider knowledge of the Consumer Protection Act and its stronger and more active enforcement as well as a “Used Vehicle Standard” would protect consumers and establish normality in the trade.