The Barbados Licensing Authority is not subjecting owners of Toyota cars in Barbados to any unusually “thorough interrogation” or investigation that is not standard for all applicants registering any kind of vehicle.

The comments from the senior Licensing Authority official follow the recent publication of a front page article by the Daily Nation, where it implied due to reported thefts of Toyota vehicles, owners could “expect nothing less than a thorough interrogation” when seeking to register or license a Toyota car with the Barbados Licensing Authority.

“All vehicles coming to the Barbados Licensing Authority to be registered have to be weighed; and once you present a vehicle to be weighed, the officer will check for identification including engine and chassis numbers, and details regarding history of ownership. If the vehicle is new, it will have no history until it is registered; and if it is a used vehicle being transferred to a new owner, we check the information presented to ascertain that the person selling has agreed to do so. If there are any discrepancies with the identification numbers, or with information pertaining to ownership, we ask persons to furnish us with additional information to see where those discrepancies are, and that is standard procedure,” the licensing officer stated.

“I am in full agreement with the Minister that our laws need to be modernised to keep up with the strategies of people who try to profit illegally from the vehicle trade. Toyota is the most popular brand in Barbados, and it’s an aspirational vehicle for many, including those who will break the law to achieve their desires. Our figures indicate that over the past 10 years, 80 percent of used cars imported into Barbados have been Toyotas. Our brand also remains one of the most popular in terms of new vehicle sales, and Toyota also leads the market in terms of resale value,” Hill stated.