Canadians who bought cars between 1998 & 2017 can still claim cash from this $50M settlement

If you bought or leased a vehicle in Canada between 1998 and 2017, you may be owed money from a class action settlement — but the deadline to claim it is only two weeks away.

May 12 is the cutoff for newly added vehicles in the latest round of the settlement, and this is expected to be the third and final distribution of funds. If you miss it, there likely won’t be another chance.

The settlement stems from a series of class action lawsuits alleging that auto parts manufacturers colluded to inflate the cost of 45 different components, which ended up driving up vehicle prices for consumers across the country. Nearly $50 million is now being redistributed to more than one million eligible Canadian vehicle owners.

The list of covered brands is long: Toyota, Honda, Ford, GM, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, BMW, Hyundai, Kia and several others. If you purchased or leased a car, SUV, van or light truck from a major manufacturer during the covered period, it’s worth checking whether you qualify.

People who filed claims in earlier rounds will be automatically considered. But if your vehicle falls into one of the newly added categories below, you need to submit a claim at autopartsettlement.ca before May 12:

• BMW and Mini Cooper: December 5, 2014 to May 31, 2017
• Ford, Lincoln and Mercury: August 1, 2015 to May 31, 2017
• Hyundai and Kia: January 1, 2007 to May 31, 2016
• Mercedes-Benz and Smart: November 29, 2004 to May 31, 2017
• Mitsubishi: July 1, 1998 to July 31, 2015
• Suzuki: July 1, 1998 to May 31, 2016

The payout won’t be life-changing. Each approved claim is estimated to pay out a minimum of $25, with final amounts depending on the total number of claims filed and the value attached to each auto part covered by the individual lawsuits. In some cases, your purchase information may already be pre-filled through manufacturer data, so you might not need to track down old paperwork.

It only takes a few minutes to check. Claims can be submitted here.