In what could be a sign of the troubled times for Ontario’s auto dealers, the new car inventory of Sarnia Nissan is being put up for public auction next weekend in London.

“There are a lot of car dealers finding it difficult, especially in the border cities with the strong Canadian dollar,” said Kingsley Gardner of Gardner Auctions, handling the Sarnia Nissan sale.

It will be the first time Gardner Auctions has auctioned off brand new vehicles, Kingsley said.

Sarnia Nissan went into receivership, closing its doors Nov. 7.

Vehicle sales in Canada have gone into a skid, dropping nine per cent in November compared to a year earlier. Nissan’s dropped by 13 per cent in November.

Jeff Prossler of Probart Mazda in London, a member of the Ontario Automobile Dealers Association executive, said the high Canadian dollar has created the expectation with consumers that car prices on this side of the border will fall in the future.

“They are holding off buying because they think the Canadian prices will come down. They are stalling,” said Prossler.

Most buyers won’t actually cross the border to buy a car in the U.S. because they don’t know what they’ll really get, he said.

“Ninety per cent of them can’t go across the border because they are either leasing or financing their vehicles. You can’t finance across the border,” Prossler said.

When some Canadians look at the lower prices in the U.S., they fail to take into account the lower financing costs of vehicles here, he said.

“People want zero per cent financing or low interest rates for 60 months. You are not going to get that and a lower price on the car.

“If they want to discontinue the zero per cent financings, you might see a lower price on the car, but when you go to the bank you will be paying seven per cent,” Prossler said.

The auction of Sarnia Nissan’s inventory is set for Dec. 15 at noon.