1. Scope and accountability
UC Auto is responsible for personal information under its control. We designate a Privacy Officer to oversee this policy, respond to access or correction requests, and investigate privacy concerns. This policy covers this website and information the dealership receives through the website. A third-party website has its own policy when you leave UC Auto’s site.
2. Information we collect
We limit collection to information reasonably needed for the purpose identified to you. This may include:
- name, email address, phone number, preferred contact method, and the content of your message;
- vehicle interests, stock number, appointment preferences, payment target, and finance-interest notes;
- sell or trade-in details such as VIN, year, make, model, mileage, condition, ownership, lien, and accident-history information;
- request records such as consent selections, notice versions, request time, source page, and a limited anti-abuse request fingerprint; and
- technical data normally sent by a browser or hosting service, such as IP address, device/browser type, requested pages, timestamps, security logs, and cookie or similar technical identifiers where used.
If “Save my progress on this device” is enabled in the Sell/Trade questionnaire, the browser stores that draft—including vehicle, condition, financing or lien context, and contact details you enter—in this site’s local storage for up to seven days. An unfinished draft stays on that device; submitting the form sends the information to UC Auto to create a seller request for staff follow-up. You can turn draft saving off to clear it, and the site clears it after a confirmed submission or when the retention period expires. Required service or marketing consent selections are never restored. Turn draft saving off on a shared device.
Do not submit a Social Insurance Number, banking credentials, date of birth, driver’s licence image, or full credit-application information through a general website form or UCar chat.
3. Why we collect and use information
- respond to your question and create a Retail CRM lead or follow-up task;
- confirm availability, appointments, test drives, CARFAX requests, and dealership visits;
- prepare a financing conversation without performing a credit check or lender submission;
- create and follow up on a sell or trade-in request, review vehicle details, and prefill editable vehicle information;
- operate, secure, troubleshoot, and improve the website and its customer workflows;
- maintain business, fraud-prevention, audit, and legal records; and
- send future inventory or offer updates only when you provide the separate optional marketing consent.
UC Auto does not sell personal information.
4. Consent and your choices
A form’s required consent allows UC Auto to use the submitted information and contact you about that specific request. Optional marketing consent is separate, unchecked by default, and is not required for service. You may withdraw marketing consent at any time by using an unsubscribe method in a message or by contacting us. Withdrawal does not affect handling already completed on the basis of valid consent and may limit our ability to complete a request you still want us to handle.
A finance-interest form is not a credit application, pre-approval, or credit inquiry. If you later choose to apply for financing, UC Auto or a lender will provide a separate application and any required credit, identity, lender, and disclosure consents before those details are collected or shared.
5. Service providers and third-party services
We may disclose only the information reasonably needed to service providers acting for UC Auto, to a buyer or successor in a lawful business transaction, or where disclosure is required or permitted by law. Current website categories may include:
Website hosting and security
Vercel may process connection, delivery, and security data needed to host and protect the site.
UC OS and database infrastructure
When a lead workflow is enabled, UC Auto's internal UC OS and its infrastructure provider may store the request, consent record, assignment, and follow-up history.
Google services
Google Maps and Google review features may receive device, IP, location, or interaction data under Google's own terms when they load or you open them.
VIN and vehicle-history services
A VIN entered for decoding may be sent to the U.S. NHTSA vPIC service. CARFAX reports and links are governed by CARFAX's terms when used or opened.
Optional AI assistance
UCar chat content may be processed by an AI service to generate a response. The website keeps the visible conversation in tab-scoped session storage, which is cleared when that tab closes, and blocks identified sensitive finance or identity details from the normal provider path.
Lenders and finance partners
The simple finance-interest form is not sent to a lender. A later credit application may involve lenders only after separate disclosure and consent.
Social networks and external links
Instagram, Facebook, and other linked sites collect information under their own policies after you open them.
Providers may process information in Canada, the United States, or another jurisdiction where it may be accessible under local law. UC Auto uses contractual, organizational, and technical measures appropriate to the service and information involved.
6. Retention and safeguards
We retain personal information only as long as reasonably needed for the identified purpose, dealership records, dispute handling, fraud prevention, or legal obligations, then delete, anonymize, or securely dispose of it. Retention varies by record type and whether a request becomes a vehicle transaction.
We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information. No online method is completely secure, so please use the approved secure application process for sensitive financing or identity documents rather than a public form, email, or chat.
7. Access, correction, and privacy concerns
Subject to applicable law and limited exceptions, you may ask whether UC Auto holds personal information about you, request access, ask us to correct inaccurate information, withdraw consent for future optional uses, or challenge our privacy practices. We may need to verify your identity before responding.
If a concern is not resolved, you may contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia.
8. Children and policy changes
This website is intended for people able to engage in vehicle-shopping services and is not directed to children. We may revise this policy when our practices or legal obligations change. The effective date at the top identifies the current version; material changes will be highlighted where appropriate.
9. Contact the Privacy Officer
Privacy Officer, UC Auto
3891 No. 3 Rd, Richmond, BC V6X 2B8
sales@ucauto.ca
236-886-5888
For website-use rules, see our Website Terms.