BEWARE...there are UNSCRUPULOUS ATV DEALERSHIPS OUT THERE!!! Last September, I paid $1404 to the service dept of an ATV dealership in Katy, TX called Wild West Honda/Kaw. Of this total amount, $477.32 was for the replacement of my swingarm bearings (most of this charge is labor). I now have 215 miles and 19 hours on my quad since that repair job and my "new" swingarm bearings are completely gone/destroyed!

Its now obvious to me that they never replaced the swingarm bearings for the following 5 reasons: 1) new bearings should last more than 215 miles, 2) no signs that he bearing was replaced when I picked up my quad from the dealer (no excess grease on the swingarm bolts, etc., 3) the dealer gave me my old parts on the other repair work except they did not give me the old swingarm bearings, 4) my quad made the same popping noise (metal to metal sound) after this "repair" as it did before the repair, and 5) they charged me to replace the swingarm bolts...but when I dissassembled the swingarm last week, I discovered that the original bolts were still there (still has the little white paint on the edge of the bolt to show that it has not been unscrewed).

Last week, I sent this dealer an e-mail with the above complaint/explanation and let them know that they just lost a customer! I got no reply. Then I contacted the Kaw. Corp Office/Customer Service and they got in touch with this dealer today...they said that the dealer said they did in fact receive my e-mail and they chose not to respond b/c they figured it would do no good since it was apparent that they already lost me as a customer. So what does that tell you about this service dept! I guess they value their pocket book more than they do the customer!!! IMO, you should definitely avoid going to the service dept of Wild West Honda/Kaw.

PS - They also screwed up the repair work on the other part of the September repair work...but they already made it up to me by giving me a free part that I needed. Basically, I paid $1400 to this place and got completely ripped off!!!

Sorry, I had to vent!

 

Thats why I never have a dealer do anything that I can do.You need to get them to admit that they did not do your swingarm bearings and then get your money back, I hate when those places do that kind of stuff. Take pictures of the supposedly new bolt and bearings and show them to him or better yet take the quad back to him with the bill and show him, tell him he owes you $$$. Keep the pics and repair bill and tell him you will see him in small claims court if he dont reimburse you. The problem with some places is there TECHS ? yea right ,are actually learning then and there how to do a certain type of repair reading a manual so do yourself a favor just get a manual ,do it yourself , learn and save $$$$.By the look of your mods you have good mechanical abilities.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Have to tried the Better Business Bureau? Just may help.
BBB

Mike

 

Hey MikeyBoyesq,

Sorry its off the topic but what did you do for your custom spark arrestor for you nyroc muffler mod?

Have you ever been tested by the fish cops with this modification?

Did you see better performance gains with this mod?

Hope you can answer my questions...... Thanks

 

Thanx for the words of encouragement...yes, this was a valuable lesson and I will do this type of work myself from now on and skip the incompetence of the dealership mechanics whenever possible.

I plan to contact the BBB tomorrow. Thanx for the suggestion above.

The custom (home-made) spark arrestor is basically a stainless steel screen that I bought from Lowes (it was a 3" diameter, cone shaped, stainless steel wire screen that is supposed to be used as a sink drain) and I mounted it to the inside of the pipe...it works well to keep stuff from going into my muffler (sticks, rocks, and even thick mud) and (in theory) will help prevent some large hot sparks from escaping from my muffler. The openings in this screen are approx. 1/8 inch wide. There is a (fuzzy) pic of this custom spark arrestor screen on Nyroc's website...sorry that the pic was so fuzzy, but you'll get the general idea of how I attached it to the inside tip of my muffler. Hard for me to say how much perf. boost I got from the Nyroc muffler mod alone b/c I did it at the same time as the Napa hose snorkel, twin air filters and DAJs. Over all, these mods gave me a little more power at take-off (pulled wheelies easier from a dead stop) and just a little bit better throttle response all over (especially in mid-range). It was well worth the money to do these mods (but I don't recommend doing the DAJs unless you often ride at different elevations).

Happy trails...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Happy trails...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Mikey, I know what you're going through... If you're ever in the area, stay away from Adams Motorsports in Montgomery Alabama. They have screwed several people in the area out of $ and they have lost many customers because of it.They now have a referral policy LOL if you bought an ATV from them and send a friend in who also buys an ATV, they give you $50 ! I have had my dealings with them and asked to speak to management or the owner and I get the standard 'what seems to be your problem and we can let you talk to the service manager' who doesn't have a clue! I have sent emails that have gone unanswered too but when I did email Kawasaki, in 3 days I recieved the standard form letter that said checkout buykawasaki.com LMAO
I have a buddy that is going through the same thing - the owner refuses to talk to him and the sevice guys all try to hide when he calls or stops by. He has emailed unsucsessfully and called many times just to get the run-around.
I agree with you 100% - "there are UNSCRUPULOUS ATV DEALERSHIPS OUT THERE" and I love the fact that they try to turn almost any warranty issue into a 'mis-use / abuse' thing. I love my Prairie but it will never see that 'STEALER' again. GOOD LUCK with yours.

 

UPDATE:

Thanx to everyone for the words of support. Its also good to know that I'm not the only one who has endured a bad experience with a Kaw. dealership's service dept. (as they say, misery loves company).

To my surprise, I finally got a response from the dealership this morning (they e-mailed me back in response to my e-mail I sent them over a week ago). Apparently, my contacting the Kaw. corp. office was enuf motivation to make them finally respond to my e-mail message.

Anyway, they basically told me a few excuses why my "new" bearings that they allegedly installed have apparently worn out pre-maturely. They blamed it on the wet weather we had last year and said my XC racing in any of that may be been the cause. They said they don't normally return the old bearings to the owner b/c its a routine maintenance item like brake pads. They did not address my other reasons (such as hearing a continued popping sound after the "repair", and the lack of appearance that they had worked on the swing arm...no excess grease or scuff marks near the swing arm bolts). I responded and reiterated my points...I also told them about the white paint marks found on the swing arm bolts and how it lined up with the white paint marks on the frame (indicating to me that this bolt/shaft was never replaced despite them charging me to replace this part also indicating to me that they never removed this bolt/never replaced the bearings). I also asked them for a refund. We'll see how it goes.

 

MikeyBoyesq,

I would still file a complaint with the BBB, this really needs to be done. If this business is a member (it doesn't say so on their website) of the BBB, they will have to answer to your complaint. Here is a link so you can file a complaint online.

BBB Link

Mike

 

Thanx Mike. I may still go ahead and report this at the BBB if I don't get this situation resolved to my satsifaction. However, I now want to wait for a little while to see how the negotiations go (don't want to put a damper on the current negotiations/communications by making them mad via a BBB complaint). Thanx again for the link to BBB.

Happy trails...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Some dealers are all about the mighty dollar and try to stick it to us keep on em and good luck.