Canadians who bought cars between ’98 & ’17 have a week to 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 you now have less than a week to claim it.

May 12 is the deadline for newly added vehicles in the latest round of the auto parts settlement, and this is expected to be the third and final distribution of funds. Miss it, and there likely won’t be another opportunity.

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

The list of covered brands is long, and includes 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 in earlier rounds will be automatically considered.

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. In some cases, your purchase information may already be pre-filled through manufacturer data, so you might not need to dig up old paperwork.

Claims can be submitted at autopartsettlement.ca.