I own a 2004 Bombardier Outlander 400. I purchased this unit in May of 2003. I like this ATV and has been generally reliable except for a problem that turned up in August of 2004. The front struts failed after 15 months of use and only 836 miles on it. I am just an average rider and don't abuse my ATV. I was sure this would be covered under warranty since my ATV came with a three year warranty (one of the reasons I bought it), as did my dealer. The company refused to pay for the repairs. They claim this is normal wear and tear. I feel that is absurd! If you owned an automobile only 15 months old with a 36 month warranty and the struts failed I'm sure that would be covered. I would recommend that anyone considering purchasing a Bombardier product consider whether doing business with a company with this kind of ethics makes sense.

 

Well try and take your Ford/chevy/dodge back to the dealer after 15 months and try to get your Tires replaced, or your shocks replaced. They will tell you exactly what Bombardier told you, "normal wear and tear". They cant take your word for it" cause for all they know you are one of these guys that JUMP your atv off of a mountain , and then bitch about the rims bending, or the frame cracking. ( just an example)

I can see your frustration about your struts going out pre-maturely. but shocks,and tires are the one thing that get all the ause ALL the time. perhaps if your stuts would have failed after the first Month or two, Bombardier would have seen that their might have been justification in your claim.


Anyway, WELCOME to the forum.







Bigger.

 

I would think that any repairs done by the MFG after 90 days is considered frosting on the cake!

As "biggerisbetter" said Bomb probably looks at the struts as they would tires. Contact Yamaha or Honda and see if they warranty their struts for more then a year......NOT !

 

I gotta go with Bigger on this.

Honestly what the car dealers do for warranty is far and away more than most other industries.

In industrial sales the equipment comes with a warranty usually but if it fails it is the owners responsibility to pull it out, ship it to the factory for evaluation and pay for return shipping. . . . using the car example. . . could you immagine if you bought a new car and 1-month later the tranny went. . .dealer says, "go ahead and pull the transmission out, package it up and ship it to Detroit. . . they'll either re-build it or send you a new one. . . oh, be sure you send your credit card number too because they need something to charge their labor for tear-down against if they find you didn't do proper maintenance or you abused it. When they get done, the'll charge the return freight to your credit card and ship it back to you."

I find it amazing the warranties that industrial equipment receives when you look at what kind of warranty a car comes with.

Oh, industrial warranties are usually only 12-mos. . . and thats from the date it leaves the factory!!!

 

Both struts went bad? that seems strange. What happened to them? I don't know anything about the machine in question but I think if Bombardier replaced your struts it would be an industry first unless virtually all bikes like yours had failing struts. Try to find out why they went bad i.e. riding in salt water or ash or something worked its way past the seals. I assume they leaked right? Sometimes shock covers can buildup moisture causing the crome to pit and ruining your seals. I don't run them but if you are getting smacked with gravel it's a good idea.

 

Like bigger said my 2000 f150 had the rear end go out on it at 45000 miles. i have the bumper to bumper extended warranty and all of a sudden bumper to bumper does not include the rear end. 1000 $ warranty that does not cover anything plus 1300$ to fix it. sometimes life just grabs you by the *****

 

general wear items on cars/trucks are belts,blades,brake pads,clutch,tires....pretty much everything else is covered under the 3/36000 or whatever std warranty...and EVERYTHING is covered for 1year/12000
if a company says it has a 3 year warranty the struts should be covered,but it seems atv companys only cover what they want.yamaha just calls it abuse