Harley Warranty issue - Very disapointed - PLEASE HELP

[Nancy Henson]

I love my bike (my second Harley purchase) and have put a lot of love and care and money into it. It is a 2021 Sportser XL1200X with less than 3,000 mile I purchase brand new. I recently discovered it is having valve issues and took it to Harley for a warranty repair. It's been there two weeks an each time We have called they asked for something different to verify the first oil chage at 1000 miles. We choose to do the oil change with a Harley certified machanic who owns a small shop to help support his small business. We puchsed the fluids and filter then took them to him. We only needed to purchase 3 of the 4 required quarts for the oil chage because the mechanic alraedy had one in stock. He did not mention this on his reciept because he did not charge us. Harley is now refusing to do the warranty work becuase there is no proof of purchase of the 4th quart even though the mechanic is willing to put it in writting and or talk to whom ever needs to hear it. ***, between me and my fiance we have spent a TON of money with harley in bikes, cloths updated parts only to be treated with such disrespect. Do they not stand behind their product?....I LOVE my bike but may have to sell it over this and if I do I will not go back to Harley.....CAN ANYONE HELP?

 

[dolt]

Nancy, I am afraid you are stuck at that proverbial "rock and a hard place" point. Your mortal sin was lettng someon other than the selling dealership complet the first service. I have owned several Harleys over the years but have only purchased two new and both were returned to the selling dealership for that first service and that's the last time those bikes saw the inside of the dealership. That first service is more than an oil change but "marker" that the dealerhip has serviced the bike, checked everything out and found no issue. So, both the MoCo and new owner know that any issue that develops after that first service is a legitimate issue and may be a warranty issue. Unfortnately, you are the victim of one of those dealers that looks for excuses not to pursue a warranty claim with the MoCo and is not willing to find the issue and make the repair on their dime. Back in the day, that would not have happened.

I could not sell a bike with mechanical issues without disclosing those issues to an interested buyer which means you take a major hit on the sale or can't sell unitil the repari is made. You are calling the issue a "valve" issue but intil investigated, you really don't know what the issue is. If you truly love the bike save yourself the stress and disappoinment of trying to deal with the dealership and have the independent tech investigate the issue and provide an estimat to repair.Get the bike fixed and use the independent tach for service and repair in the future. JMHO.

 

[ThunderRogue]

Is it too late to try a different dealer? Many years ago I wrote Harley Davidson and asked about service from anyone other than a dealership. I was told as long as it was a qualified mechanic or shop and I used approved fluids and filters it would not effect warranty. I had that in writing for a while. Lost it in a move unfortunately, but they said it was okay. Go to Corporate yourself.

 

[gator508]

It might be time to hire a good attorney and get sworn statements from the indy shop and go to court.The caveat here is you may spend more money on litigation etc than it costs to fix your bike. Good luck!

 

[jamesearl]

Get even,make them pay,by trading it in! Of course,that's my solution to everything.My last issue was with my 2021 Electra Glide,kept going into limp mode.Threw 3 codes,I thought they just fixed whatever the codes were,wrong! If they can't duplicate it,it didn't happen.Like the bike is just supposed to puke on you.Normally.I traded it in,after the 3rd episode of riding in limp mode.Ever ride in limp mode? Wanna piss a whole lot of people off,behind you? Try limp mode.

 

[Nancy Henson]

Thank you all for your posts and input. I have a little update, we recieved a call Saturday from the dealership and they are going to try again to get this issue handled....Hopefully I will get her back soon!!! I was literally Heart Broken thinking I might have to just let her go! We have had such good service with everything else this was a bit of a shock.

 

[Nancy Henson]

Nancy, I am afraid you are stuck at that proverbial "rock and a hard place" point. Your mortal sin was lettng someon other than the selling dealership complet the first service. I have owned several Harleys over the years but have only purchased two new and both were returned to the selling dealership for that first service and that's the last time those bikes saw the inside of the dealership. That first service is more than an oil change but "marker" that the dealerhip has serviced the bike, checked everything out and found no issue. So, both the MoCo and new owner know that any issue that develops after that first service is a legitimate issue and may be a warranty issue. Unfortnately, you are the victim of one of those dealers that looks for excuses not to pursue a warranty claim with the MoCo and is not willing to find the issue and make the repair on their dime. Back in the day, that would not have happened.

I could not sell a bike with mechanical issues without disclosing those issues to an interested buyer which means you take a major hit on the sale or can't sell unitil the repari is made. You are calling the issue a "valve" issue but intil investigated, you really don't know what the issue is. If you truly love the bike save yourself the stress and disappoinment of trying to deal with the dealership and have the independent tech investigate the issue and provide an estimat to repair.Get the bike fixed and use the independent tach for service and repair in the future. JMHO.

Unfortunately you are correct if Ihad just gone to the dealership for the first visit and oil change there would have been no question. My fiance is a small bussiness owner and we knew the gentleman we used, who by the way is the type of person who would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it even if he didnt know you, was struggling to keep his bussiness going, so we tried to do what we thought was the right thing and support him during rough times.....I made a post today and after a call this weekend it's possible they will be able to honor the warranty....I should get a call later today! Thank you for your response!

 

[dolt]

Unfortunately you are correct if Ihad just gone to the dealership for the first visit and oil change there would have been no question. My fiance is a small bussiness owner and we knew the gentleman we used, who by the way is the type of person who would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it even if he didnt know you, was struggling to keep his bussiness going, so we tried to do what we thought was the right thing and support him during rough times.....I made a post today and after a call this weekend it's possible they will be able to honor the warranty....I should get a call later today! Thank you for your response!

Well, looks like I was wrong about the dealership and they are making an effort to have the MoCo honor the claim under warranty. Success will depend on the relationship the dealer has with the MoCo and how hard the dealerhship pursues the issue with the MoCo. The true colors of a dealership come through when a valid warranty claim is submitted and pursued witht the MoCo but the MoCo fails to honor the claim; it dose happen. In that event a "good" dealership may not make the repair on their dime but may offer some sort of a "deal" to keep the cost down for the customer; maybe labor free but customer pays or parts, or something along those lines.

Good luck with the process and hope it comes to a satisfactory conclusion.