Forrest Gump’s mama was right – “life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get.”

Who doesn’t love the taste of a delicately handcrafted, square shaped, chocolate covered caramel - with a little sprinkle of sea salt on top? It’s divine! But when you bite into a similarly square shaped chocolate and are met with a pungent, medicinal orange flavour or a thick, white mystery filling… you can’t help but feel deceived.

Buying a car privately can sometimes leave you with a similar feeling of disappointment. Albeit, on a far greater scale, not to mention you can’t get the bad taste out of your mouth by simply disposing of the disappointment discreetly into a tissue.

Many consumers in Ontario don’t know where to turn when something goes wrong with a vehicle purchase; they mistakenly believe that car dealerships are akin to the Wild Wild West where lawlessness was commonplace and bandits plentiful. But the truth of the matter is quite the opposite. Car dealers and salespersons must be licensed and abide by the rules and regulations of the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act (MVDA), the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) and a strict Code of Ethics; and the “sheriff” administering and enforcing the laws is OMVIC – Ontario’s vehicle sales regulator.

Do you remember trick-or-treating? Can you recall the tangible excitement of running from house to house; trying not to trip, or worse, lose some of the candies stashed in your pillow case. And there was a secret communication shared by the young ghouls, witches and ghosts as they transited the neighborhood – where to find the best ”loot”…

Sending a ‘child’ off to university or college can be traumatic – for the parents of course; the kid will be just fine. So to make it easier to keep ‘em coming home for more than just Thanksgiving and spring break, some parents will head out with their teens on an elusive hunt for a decent, but cheap, set of wheels. It’s worth noting decent and cheap can be difficult to find in peaceful coexistence in the automotive jungle.

“Many consumers looking for an inexpensive vehicle assume their best bet is to buy privately,” explained Terry O’Keefe, Director of Communications and Education for OMVIC ...