Hi Guys. Question... What would you do?

Bought a Honda Sportrak 90 fo my son 3 weeks ago. After planning for months we finally made it out to the desert for a 4 day trip. This was his first bike and trip to the desert... and was really excited. Turned the throttle limiter down for him so he could get use to it. Ater no more than 20 minutes the bike quit. It had no compression and the intake valve made noise when pull starting it. Our weekend with his new bike was over. When I took the bike back to the dealer they found the valve had been machined incorectly and had bent. When I asked about other damage, the tech said he would flush the crank to clean it of debris. (encouraging) I then vented my frustration to management who said the tech overstated the problem and it really wasn't that bad. Still, the bill to Honda for warranty was $700. OK guys, we still haven't really had any time on this bike. 5 days past when they said the bike was to be done, I called again and the service dept told me the cylinder was at the machine shop and would be back soon.??? Ok, new bike... bent valve... and needs machining to fix. I told the dealer I won't be using the bike until probably next season which is a couple months past the 6 mos. warranty. He offered to SELL me an extended warranty for $200. With all that has happened, I think I should be either given a new bike or have my contract cancelled. I called Honda and they said it's the dealer's problem. This is suppose to be a NEW bike. What would you do? It's still at the dealers.

Bryan

Also bought a Suzuki Z250 from the same dealer within days of the 90. My son and I spent our trip taking turns and did have a good time. At 10 though, the 250 is just too much.

 

First off, welcome to the forums...... sorry to hear about your bike that truly blows, but nothing like a dealership throwing salt in a wound....... I wouldnt have accepted my brand new bike going into service I would of demanded my money back or a new bike...... that would be unacceptable i paid good money for a good product...... customer satisfaction does not end when the contract is signed........ hope you get a good resolution to your problem....

 

Welcome to the Forums, sounds like it did more damage than they stated.. I think honda should step up and give you the extended warranty free or you should atleast get your warranty reset for 6 month from the time you get it out of the shop..

 

It's a crappy deal but that's sometimes how it happens. It's a busy time of the year so I can understand why it might take a little while to fix. If they do not fix it correctly then I'd write Honda a nice letter about your concerns. They'll get back to you.

I had a problem that drug out past the warranties 6 month period. Honda ended up fixing it out of warranty at no cost to me. It's good to have a dealer that will go to bat for you. I did and everything worked out.

You might want to write a letter now if you don't like how things are going.

 

if you write honda any letters. make sure you at leased do the adress by hand. better yet write the whole letter by hand. I have found that they are more likely to read it. i know several state reps and one congressman. they all read the letters that are written by hand first. becuase it looks like you have tooken the time to write it and not just whipped it up on the computer in ten minutes

 

DzrtRat,

Seriously, I would call a couple of lawyers. Ask about the lemon law, your questions will probaly be answered during the initial phone call by one of the lawyers. Worst case, you have to go to his office where you will probably pay a small counseling fee. But your situation needs to be looked into immediately, legally, preferrably before it is fixed and given back to you.

You can refuse to pick up the bike. The dealership will call, threaten to charge you storage fee. But if you don't take possesion of the bike, you will have a better chance.

The dealer is not going to want to give you a different bike no more than you want to accept the repaired one.

 

I can't over emphasize the importance of working with a dealer you trust. Price purchasing almost gets you into trouble... there are reasons people charge less you know... With that being said, something like this is not uncommon. If you have a faulty bike and it is going to fail, it will fail the first time you take it out. Never fails to happen that way. Usually when you are far from home. At least you were able to salvage the weekend.

Without knowing the dealer, I will give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they have to deal with machine shops etc, and may fall behind because of their schedules. Having to wait for the Honda rep to look at it and authorize the warranty repair is probably adding to the repair time too.

It never hurts to ask Handa to go ahead and extend your warranty because you did not have the benefit of using the machine while it was down for repairs. I feel that is a fair and reasonable request. Don't blame the dealer for trying to sell you a $200 dollar extended warranty, that is probably his only option... Honda has the ability to do a lot more than the dealer can... and that is where I'd be focussing my requests.

Your dealer should be able to provide you with the name and contact information of the Honda regional rep so you can discuss the issues. Let him know you are not upset with his shop, but would like to discuss the issue of extending the warranty with Honda directly.

I hate to say it, but in my experience, Yamaha has a much better reputation in matters like this, and has always offered choices, even when they obviously are not at fault. (My son ran his Blaster into a tree, Yamaha gave us a free new chassis) Clearly not their fault! But they went out of their way to help us out. I had to pay labor for switching everything over, but they bought the frame and suspension pieces. That is how a company builds loyal customers...