Dealership Nightmare

[Levey]

A buddy of mine bought a 2013 CBR 250 from a dealership on Saturday. He took the weekend safety course a week or two ago and was stoked to finally be getting on the road on his own bike. He picked out a brand spanking new Repsol edition.

The bike overheated on him as he was getting home with it. He noticed that the coolant reservoir was empty. So it sounds like the bike either had a leak, or was never filled. Regardless, this is something that in my opinion is unacceptable for a brand new motorcycle. What should be done? This motorcycle overheated in the very beginning of the break-in. I would feel like it would never run as well as it should after that. I would be asking for a refund, or a brand new replacement if it were me.

[BLINGMW]

I would be asking for a refund, or a brand new replacement if it were me.

Me too no question

[.RJ]

Has he even talked to the dealership yet?

[Mike]

Has he even talked to the dealership yet?

:dunno:

[Levey]

He emailed this to the sales guy:

It's XXXXXX, who just bought the Honda Repsol CBR 250. I drove the bike home from the dealership, and along the way the motorcycle exceeded normal running temperature. I did not notice the problem until the check engine light came on. Once I got home the bike was overheating and dripping oil. Needless to say, I am extremely concerned with this issue given the very delicate break in period of the bike. Upon inspection, it appears as though the coolant reservoir was never filled. It is very frustrating because all I want to do is ride my brand new motorcycle. Not to mention the fact that we paid to have the bike "set up" which was not properly done. Let me know how we should resolve this issue.

The response was this:

The coolant reservoir is filled at the factory, not by our shop. All oil levels and fluid levels were checked and safety inspection was performed as required by law prior to presentation of the bike. We have the work documented. I have forwarded your email to the shop foreman and he will respond to asap with directions on what to do next

In my opinion, that's a shitty response from the dealer. He is supposed to hear from this foreman today.

[G.Irish]

Have your friend call the dealership and get the contact info for the regional Honda service rep ASAP. Tell him the story and send him the emails. The regional service rep is going to be far more motivated to help you, and he can bring serious heat down on that dealership. When my Duc's engine had an oil leak it wasn't until I talked to the regional service rep that stuff got moving.

My guess is that they'll probably send a replacement engine. I would ask for a loaner or some other compensation as well, as this fuck up is costing your friend time and aggravation.

Your friend can also invoke lemon law if need be.

[Levey]

Solid advice, I appreciate it.

Apparently the shop foreman is going to go check it out today. I'll keep this updated.

[G.Irish]

What dealership was this btw?

[Levey]

The Motorcycle Factory in Woodbridge. Apparently the bike was picked up, and he is waiting to be updated on what they will do. I really hope they don't say "we'll top off the coolant at no charge" and call it a day.

[.RJ]

I hate how dealership customer service has backed themselves into this corner where we all assume that we're going to get shitty service at every turn

[Levey]

It looks like the plan is to either find him another new CBR 250 Repsol to replace the one he bought, or they are going to refund him. Ideally this whole thing shouldn't have happened, but the dealer is doing the right thing here.

[Sully]

Sorry, I'm all for e-mailing because I hate talking on the phone but if this would have happened to me, I would have thrown the bike in the back of my truck (granted, I understand your friend may not have that option) and taken back up there, and pretty much thrown the bike back at them. (Of course without breaking the bike because they would then say they aren't doing anything. E-mail is not harsh enough for an offense like this. I would go the fuck off.

We bough an Arctic Cat ATV back 2005 that we had to return after several attempts of them "fixing" it. If I remember right, it was pretty much broken the day we picked it up but it was the last 2004 Limited Edition Model they had and was substantially cheaper than the 2005 model so we couldn't really just take a different one. They said they fixed it and we took it home. I'll try to remember what was actually wrong with it, but I know one of the times we had to take it back, the wheel fell off while riding it. Since it was just a mechanic forgetting to put the cotter pin back on the hub nut, it was not the final straw. But they eventually found another 04 LE in WV or some shit and had it shipped down. I was really hoping they could find one and they would have to give us an 05 LE.

Edit: It wouldn't start (with the electric starter) the day we bought it and tried to take it home, so we came back another day and it started. Then we noticed it didn't really feel like it was in 4 wheel drive when you engaged it so we lifted the rear in 4wd mode and only the back tires spun. We brought it back and when it was returned is when the wheel fell off. We did the same test again I believe after getting it back that time and still no 4wd which I think is what resulting in a new one. Before Bass Pro Shop came into the area, the arctic cat dealer networks were horrible. They were mostly hole in the wall lawn equipment shops.

Hope your friend gets this resolved, I would demand a new engine if not a new bike though, and definitely go over the dealerships head if they try anything that is not 100% satisfying.

[G.Irish]

Sorry, I'm all for e-mailing because I hate talking on the phone but if this would have happened to me, I would have thrown the bike in the back of my truck (granted, I understand your friend may not have that option) and taken back up there, and pretty much thrown the bike back at them. (Of course without breaking the bike because they would then say they aren't doing anything. E-mail is not harsh enough for an offense like this. I would go the fuck off.

We bough an Arctic Cat ATV back 2005 that we had to return after several attempts of them "fixing" it. If I remember right, it was pretty much broken the day we picked it up but it was the last 2004 Limited Edition Model they had and was substantially cheaper than the 2005 model so we couldn't really just take a different one. They said they fixed it and we took it home. I'll try to remember what was actually wrong with it, but I know one of the times we had to take it back, the wheel fell off while riding it. Since it was just a mechanic forgetting to put the cotter pin back on the hub nut, it was not the final straw. But they eventually found another 04 LE in WV or some shit and had it shipped down. I was really hoping they could find one and they would have to give us an 05 LE.

Edit: It wouldn't start (with the electric starter) the day we bought it and tried to take it home, so we came back another day and it started. Then we noticed it didn't really feel like it was in 4 wheel drive when you engaged it so we lifted the rear in 4wd mode and only the back tires spun. We brought it back and when it was returned is when the wheel fell off. We did the same test again I believe after getting it back that time and still no 4wd which I think is what resulting in a new one. Before Bass Pro Shop came into the area, the arctic cat dealer networks were horrible. They were mostly hole in the wall lawn equipment shops.

Hope your friend gets this resolved, I would demand a new engine if not a new bike though, and definitely go over the dealerships head if they try anything that is not 100% satisfying.

After 3 attempts to fix an issue you could've lemon lawed their asses

[Sully]

After 3 attempts to fix an issue you could've lemon lawed their asses

I was young(er) back then and didn't really know much about the rules. I did know that seeing a wheel roll past you, then very shortly after realizing it looks an awful lot like your wheel, is bad though.

I'm still not 100% on lemon laws but would there have been any benefit to that since they were going to give us a new one anyway? Perhaps it was due to a threat by my dad of lemon law or they saw what would come if the problem persisted. I guess lemon law is 3 times regardless if its the same issue or not. The starter was sort of unrelated (other than it being a huge flaming pile of crap) and then the wheel was human error. Technically it was returned twice for the 4wd issue. My guess is, had it been a real shop and not lawn care shops that really knew nothing about ATV's (most lawn care equip doesn't have 4wd, diffs, or transfer cases with electronic engagement) it may have been fixed correctly the first time.

[G.Irish]

Getting a new ATV was pretty much the best result, I was just saying that lemon law would've applied there.

[Sully]

Looking at the law(s), from the way I am interpreting them, the same thing has to be the problem 3 times so the starter and the 4wd system would be two separate issues and we would have had to bring it back and given them one more attempt to fix it.

Source:
http://www.yourlemonlawrights.com/12-vir...tutes.aspx

[Levey]

I agree that the bike would have been going straight back, but he didn't have a truck and bought the bike on a Saturday evening so they were closing and then closed on Sunday. The shop foreman went out to his house today (who happens to be the brother of the owner) and could tell that there was never a drop of coolant in the reservoir. He called his brother and they're trying to find another new Repsol, or they'll refund him.

I feel bad for the kid since it was his first bike purchase. The ironic part is I never had an issue close to this bad with any of the busted piles I called motorcycles in the past. Some may recall the 95 ZX6-R I had with no baffles in the exhaust and a decent amount of failed home plastic repair, or the 06 GSX-R I had which had a crack on just about every fairing but was bought after it was repo'd with a clean title since there was never insurance work.

[Levey]

Well I got an update today on this situation. My friend is out of town for work so his dad was going to take care of whatever had to be done to finish this ordeal. To their surprise, the dealer calls back today and says they cannot refund the money for the bike or replace the bike, but that they fixed the original motorcycle. Needless to say, they were livid. His dad goes down to the shop and gives them an earful only to be turned away (apparently some expletives were used).

Fast forward a couple of hours and the bike is IN THEIR DRIVEWAY. Nobody said the bike would be returned and their was no notice given. They placed a call to Honda corporate and they are checking on the issue. The GM of the dealership called and once again offered to either refund or replace. He chose the same option that I would have, which is to refund the money and move on.

As the situation sits now, he is waiting on a refund, the bike is in the driveway, and Honda corporate is aware of the situation.

As a side note, apparently whatever piece allows access to the radiator was removed but not even replaced. I told him to get on some forums and tell his story. This is absolutely absurd. When he told me the bike was back in his driveway it reminded me of horror movies when people throw shit away, burn it, and it show back up exactly where it was.