OMVIC fines Lebada Motors Superstore $4,000 for a Kia Soul worksheet and a daily-rental fine-print line, then refers it again over a Nissan Kicks shopped six weeks later

On December 29, 2025, OMVIC’s Discipline Tribunal fined Lebada Motors Superstore Inc. of Cambridge $4,000 on agreed facts that described a mystery shop of an orange 2021 Kia Soul, where three fees totalling $811.50 were added above the advertised cash price, and a website review that found a fine-print line reading “2019-2024 vehicles may be daily rentals. Please inquire with our team for more details.” The Panel wrote that the misleading advertisement was what lifted the penalty above the $2,500 to $2,800 it had seen for single all-in pricing breaches. Six weeks after the order, on February 12, 2026, an OMVIC representative made inquiries at the same dealership about a 2025 Nissan Kicks, according to a June 1, 2026 Notice of Referral that sent the dealer to the Tribunal a second time.

The Kia Soul: $811.50 above the cash price, admin fee waived for a $5,389 warranty

The dealer, registered since around April 2019, advertised the Soul on or before February 7, 2025 at $21,995 plus taxes and licensing. The ad said the price included a $2,000 finance rebate and carried no VIN. On February 7 an OMVIC representative posing as a member of the public attended the lot, confirmed the Soul on the ground was the advertised one, and discussed pricing with salesperson Alexander Katsambrokos and another employee. Katsambrokos handed over a worksheet showing a cash selling price of $23,995 plus three required fees: a $699 admin fee, $100 for gas and a $12.50 OMVIC fee. He also explained that buying a $5,389 warranty might bring the selling price down by $2,000 and get the admin fee waived (agreed facts, paras 5 to 10).

The parties agreed that the advertised price was not all-inclusive and that the required fees were not described in a clear, truthful, legal or ethical manner, contrary to s. 36(7) of O. Reg. 333/08 and ss. 4(1), 4(2) and 9(3) of the Code of Ethics. The OMVIC fee is the same kind of charge Autohouse Kingston was fined for adding, and the Nawab Motors order from May 2026 turns on the same kind of mandatory add-on.

The fine print: “2019-2024 vehicles may be daily rentals”

On or about February 24, 2025, a representative of the Registrar reviewed the dealer’s website advertisements and found the daily-rental line near the bottom of the ads. The agreed facts treat it as a failure to disclose whether the vehicles were former daily rentals in a clear, comprehensible and prominent manner, contrary to s. 36(5) of the regulation and the same three Code sections (paras 13 to 15). A former daily rental has to be disclosed on the ad itself, per vehicle; a blanket line inviting the customer to ask does not do it, and Pierson Motors was fined in April 2026 for failing to disclose a former daily rental.

Hany Lebada, a salesperson since around November 2006 and the dealer’s designated Person in Charge, was found personally in breach of ss. 4(1), 4(2), 6(2) and 9(3) for failing to ensure compliance; Katsambrokos, a salesperson since around July 2004, of the same four sections for the Soul transaction. Both must pass the MVDA Key Elements course at 80 percent within 180 days of the order, and the dealer must offer to fund Key Elements for every current and future salesperson. Greg Flude, the Public Member who signed the decision for a Panel that also included Registrant Members Mike Ball and Joe Malfara, tested the joint submission against the Anthony-Cook standard and accepted it, noting the agreed statement of facts, the first appearance before the Tribunal, and three comparators for a single all-in breach: Holiday Ford Lincoln at $2,500, Auto Value Hyundai at $2,800 and Autobase at $2,500. The added misleading advertisement, it wrote, called for a higher penalty, and $4,000 was “sufficient to signal to the industry that breaches of the regulations regarding advertising and all-in pricing are serious offences.”

The Nissan Kicks: a second referral over a mystery shop six weeks after the order

The June 1, 2026 Notice of Referral names the dealer, Lebada (as General Manager, Officer and Person in Charge) and a different salesperson, Prinder Singh Binning, known as Bobby, registered since around February 2012. It alleges that on or before February 11, 2026 the dealer advertised a 2025 Nissan Kicks, stock number S3827, at $32,995 plus taxes and licensing, with certification available for $795; that on February 12 an OMVIC representative posing as a member of the public was given a handwritten worksheet by Binning showing $32,995 plus a $995 “certify” fee and a $699 admin fee, for $34,689. It further alleges that the certify fee was $200 more than the $795 in the ad; that Binning offered to waive both fees if the shopper bought a $3,995 extended warranty; and that, asked whether the fees were mandatory without the warranty, Binning confirmed they were. The total is $1,694 over the advertised price.

The referral, issued under s. 14(4) by Deputy Registrar Thaya Gengatharan, acting Registrar under s. 3(3), alleges breaches of s. 36(7) and Code ss. 4(1), 4(2), 6(1) and 9(3) against the dealer, ss. 6(2), 9(1) and 9(3) against Lebada, and ss. 4(1), 4(2), 6(2), 9(1) and 9(3) against Binning. Those are allegations. OMVIC’s enforcement table entered the three rows under June 2, 2026 as Active, with no decision against any of them. The mystery shop it describes took place 45 days after the December order and inside the 180-day window Lebada had been given to complete the Key Elements course.

Two details recur across the 2025 facts and the 2026 allegations: an admin fee of $699 both times, and an offer to waive fees in exchange for a warranty purchase, $5,389 in 2025 and $3,995 in 2026. The December order is on the record. The June referral is not yet decided.