The Dealership Does it Again
in [Motorcycles]
|
Prev: Dog on roof
Next: Krusty Depends
From: Rob Kleinschmidt on 7 Jul 2010 12:18 On Jul 7, 7:50 am, "J. Clarke" <jclarke.use...(a)cox.net> wrote: > The car dealers are also famous for shoddy work and high prices and > never having the part you need in stock. Depends a whole lot on the individual dealer. I've had good and bad car and motorcycle dealers. Loaners are rare but do exist for both cars and bikes. I do most of my own work. When something is over my head, my first choice is a semi-retired guy who picks and chooses the work he accepts. My second choice is an independent shop about 30 miles away and my third is a dealership only a few miles away. I trust and like the owners of all of the above businesses. I tend to go with the smallest first because the owner is the most hands on of the three.
From: T.J. Higgins on 7 Jul 2010 12:26 In article <26f3fdb9-2515-4b08-b97c-43791bb5b40c(a)z8g2000yqz.googlegroups.com>, TOG(a)Toil wrote: >Insurers routinely provide hire cars while yours is being fixed. It >happens frequently with bikes as well, generally if it's a clear no- >fault claim. > >I had no idea the US differed in this respect. Honestly. Sounds like >we're a bit spoiled. Here in the US, the insurance company will provide a loaner if your vehicle is being repaired due to a claim: accident, vandalism, etc. Dealers will sometimes provide a loaner when your vehicle is being repaired due to warranty work or a recall notice. But for routine maintenance or other unscheduled repairs, it's unheard of for a dealer to provide a loaner (luxury brands notwithstanding). -- TJH tjhiggin.at.hiwaay.dot.net
From: J. Clarke on 7 Jul 2010 12:54 On 7/7/2010 11:54 AM, TOG(a)Toil wrote: > On 7 July, 16:08, Mark Olson<ols...(a)tiny.invalid> wrote: >> J. Clarke wrote: > >>> Perhaps things are different in the UK but in the US vehicle dealers of >>> all kinds are famous for shoddy work and high prices and never having >>> the part you need, no matter how commonplace, in stock. >> >> Which I believe is because motorcycles are viewed as weekend toys for >> the most part, not as serious transportation. In the UK, it is not >> uncommon for people to be given a loaner bike while their bike is in >> for service, here in the US such a concept is totally unknown. > > Seriously? No loaners at all? Blimey. > > The guy who does the serious fettling on my K (FI system, shims, and > various truly arcane tasks) always provides me with a loaner (R1150R > last time - lovely bike - and R1100RS the time before that - not so > lovely). > > My local Triumph dealer always offers a loan bike but I haven't taken > him up on it simply because he's very local (which the BMW specialist > isn't) and my wife justs lifts me home and out again. And it's not as > if I'm stuck for bikes anyway. > > Insurers routinely provide hire cars while yours is being fixed. It > happens frequently with bikes as well, generally if it's a clear no- > fault claim. > > I had no idea the US differed in this respect. Honestly. Sounds like > we're a bit spoiled. > > @Clarkey: Oh, crappy dealers exist here too, but I've always wondered > whey just about *everyone* moans about US dealer service while here > you get the occaisonal moan, sure, but it's relatively rare. Examples: The Buick dealer refused to clean my mother's fuel injectors under warranty because he claimed that the car had to be driven only with premium gas, regardless of the fact that nothing in the owner's manual or on any of the variouis informational stickers even suggested this. The Lincoln dealer on more than one occasion was paid to perform an oil change and when the Lincoln came back the oil in it was as black as Krusty's soul--"all good oil is black" he said (and it wasn't Arco Graphite, not that that was particularly good oil). The Volvo dealer somehow or other managed to drop a nut down my exhaust--he wasn't supposed to be doing anything that required that the exhaust be removed, in fact nothing that he was supposed to be doing even required that a nut be unfastened. I didn't find that out though until several years later when that dealer and three others had been unable to find the cause of the mysterious rattle that had developed after that tune-up--I changed the muffler and when I pulled off the old one the blasted nut fell out. Then there was the Chevy dealer who swapped out the rotor on a sick alternator "to save me money", and of course three days later the stator died and he tried to hit me up for a new stator, plus more labor. And the Jeep dealer again--took it in for a tune up and told him that while he was about it I wanted him to check the brake pads, and he starts arguing with me about checking the brake pads like he didn't know how to do it or something. Same dealer, I took it in with a dead temperature sensor and he had to go through his full three-labor-hour diagnostic routine before replacing the sensor (claimed that there were three temperature sensors, which there are not on that model, and he had to figure out which had the problem). And these are just the ones that occur to me off the top of my head.
From: The Older Gentleman on 7 Jul 2010 13:40 Mark Olson <olsonm(a)tiny.invalid> wrote: > in the US, bike riders are viewed > as pitiable nut cases for the most part. <looks around reeky> Yes, I can see how people might get that impression. -- BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Honda CB400F Triumph Street Triple Suzuki TS250ER GN250 Damn, back to six bikes! Try Googling before asking a damn silly question. chateau dot murray at idnet dot com
From: tomorrow on 7 Jul 2010 14:32
On Jul 7, 11:54 am, "TOG(a)Toil" <totallydeadmail...(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > On 7 July, 16:08, Mark Olson <ols...(a)tiny.invalid> wrote: > > > J. Clarke wrote: > > > Perhaps things are different in the UK but in the US vehicle dealers of > > > all kinds are famous for shoddy work and high prices and never having > > > the part you need, no matter how commonplace, in stock. > > > Which I believe is because motorcycles are viewed as weekend toys for > > the most part, not as serious transportation. In the UK, it is not > > uncommon for people to be given a loaner bike while their bike is in > > for service, here in the US such a concept is totally unknown. > > Seriously? No loaners at all? Blimey. > > The guy who does the serious fettling on my K (FI system, shims, and > various truly arcane tasks) always provides me with a loaner (R1150R > last time - lovely bike - and R1100RS the time before that - not so > lovely). > > My local Triumph dealer always offers a loan bike but I haven't taken > him up on it simply because he's very local (which the BMW specialist > isn't) and my wife justs lifts me home and out again. And it's not as > if I'm stuck for bikes anyway. > > Insurers routinely provide hire cars while yours is being fixed. It > happens frequently with bikes as well, generally if it's a clear no- > fault claim. > > I had no idea the US differed in this respect. Honestly. Sounds like > we're a bit spoiled. > > @Clarkey: Oh, crappy dealers exist here too, but I've always wondered > whey just about *everyone* moans about US dealer service while here > you get the occaisonal moan, sure, but it's relatively rare. It also depends on the whiner, erm, consumer. I have had a very, very few bad experiences with dealers, whereas I have had lots of good experiences. |