REVscene - Vancouver Automotive Forum

z3german · 09-06-2012, 12:22 PM

Hi guys, why does this bullshit happen? Am I just experiencing bad luck or did I rush into my purchase to soon or what? Fucking pissing me off...

Anyways...

I bought my bike 2.5 months ago from Vancouver BMW Ducati on grandview highway. Since I purchased my bike I would be running between the temperatures of 105c-115c quite frequently which only now I know that is a tad hotter than what is considered normal.

4 days ago I was riding and it is the first time it went to 120c and beyond (up to 130c before the traffic started moving) and after 120c the warning light flashes. I brought my bike to Bayside Performance for them to check it out the next day. This is the first time I discover the fan isnt working, but other than that issue my bike was running a little too hot in the first place.

When I got home I looked at my finance papers and joyfully found that I have a 90 day warranty from the dealership, I am currently at 6x days from the purchase of my bike. So the next day in the morning I call BMW Ducati to tell them I am bringing my bike in, and I call Bayside to tell them not to touch my bike at all because the BMW doesnt want them to look at it.

So September 5th 2012 I bring my bike from Bayside to BMW Ducati and sign off the bike. September 6 I get an email from Stewart Nowacki, the sales manager, telling me to call him. So I call him and here is what he said in a nut shell.

Since I bought the bike I have installed frame sliders, Akrapovic slipon, and was involved in a low speed hit and run. Because of these 3 reasons he will not honor the warranty because he feels that one of those are the causes of the heating/fan problem. Frame slider because I removed the fairings, slip on because the o2 sensor has been removed, and lastly the hit and run damage is well... damage...

Is this a scumbag move on their part? I called Orca Bay service and they told me the sliders and Akrapovic slip on would not cause the problem at all, and the hit and run low speed hit is very very unlikely but "in any sort of collision anything is possible".

Do I deserve to have this warranty claim stripped away from me? Or is this a bunch of BS? If its BS I am considering contacting news agencies (long shot cause this is a tiny story) because Stewart was very fucking rude to me, some fucking professional.

bcrdukes · 09-06-2012, 01:28 PM

Sorry, I have nothing of value to add to this situation because it seems a lot more complicated than it should be but my only words I can say to you is wow and good luck.

Glove · 09-06-2012, 01:52 PM

most manufactorers are like this,

my buddy bought a brand new honda fit, put coilovers on it, and they pretty much voided the warranty, even things like the muffler raddling, they would blame it on the coilovers and not cover it, they wouldnt even look at it.

pretty standard, dont put aftermarket shit on your shit until the warranty is over.

gdoh · 09-06-2012, 03:01 PM

sounds like a douche move to me.

from that accident why dont your try to claim this with it ??

CharlieH · 09-06-2012, 03:15 PM

i guess it's possible that the drop could have screwed something up but frame sliders and slip on? LOL please. the muffler on your gixxer has NO effect on the O2 sensor because its located behind the cat. if anything, shouldn't having better air flow make the bike run a little cooler?

bcrdukes · 09-06-2012, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by z3german

Since I purchased my bike I would be running between the temperatures of 105c-115c quite frequently which only now I know that is a tad hotter than what is considered normal.

I think this is a giveaway that there may have been something wrong right from the start. You may want to get a technical opinion from the guys on BC Sportbikes.

A crappy situation for sure and I hope you can come to some kind of resolution. I really hope the guys there step up to the plate and go above and beyond to resolve this rather than tell you to buzz off.

Naka San · 09-06-2012, 04:14 PM

I personally have nothing against Stewart because I bought my bike at richmond motorsports, but he should known a lot about the gixxer because he sold me one before and should be very knowledgeable on them. Now a douche move is obvious, I guess you can try to bring it to Orca bay or Modern. I heard terrible stories of Vancouver Ducati BMW Mechanics anyways...

z3german · 09-06-2012, 04:48 PM

After two emails talking about how ridiculous it is to even think a slip on and frame sliders can cause this issue, and various talk about media and speaking to higher ups, he got a technician to look at it and it was a blown fuse which they replaced.
Called Stewart right away to tell him that I appreciate the action and for him to step up to the plate .

Aside from that this transaction still a deal breaker for me, I'm not going to buy my hypermotard from here, it's just the ridiculousness of him saying FRAME SLIDERS can cause the fan to blow out.

Anyways I still need some advice, any ideas on why the radiator fuse would blow? Stewart said could be the HIDS but I talked to bayside Ben and he said that's impossible because it's an entirely different circuit board. I'm thinking it could be the 12v cigg lighter I hooked up otherwise might be an underlying issue with the bike.

Ben told me to ride the piss out of the bike and monitor the temperatures to see if there still is an issue so I'm going to do that, but my main question is how did the fuse blow? Any ideas?

gdoh · 09-06-2012, 05:18 PM

good to see that they did end up helping you, but after reading this and how they tried to weasel out of this one i will not take a bike there

good luck

Vale46Rossi · 09-06-2012, 05:34 PM

Fuck Stewart.

He is an asshole.

razy · 09-06-2012, 09:20 PM

i have had nothing but bad experiences with bmw ducati
dont even get me started lol

but stewart overall is a nice guy from my experience
it's their service department that's filled with idiocy and miscommunication

parm104 · 09-06-2012, 11:37 PM

One should know that it is a general industry direction (NOT A STANDARD by any means) to void warranty or deny warranty claims if there are modifications done.

That being said, modifications to your bike do not automatically equate to a warranty being void. BMW Ducati or any company that has issued a warranty, has the onus to show and prove that the modification that you have done, has indeed caused the problem that you complain about.

A simple modification to any product, cannot simply void your warranty without a cause/effect relationship. Use your knowledge and the law as your ultimate tool of getting what is owed to you rather than threats of media (which is what I've gotten from your first post.) To sign a contract and not even realize that you have a 90 day warranty until 2 months after signing is kind of ridiculous...

I would suggest for the future, when you buy a car or motorcycle that has a factory warranty, to not do modifications until after the warranty is expired because then you are on your own for repairs anyways.

Best of luck.

z3german · 09-07-2012, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by parm104

One should know that it is a general industry direction (NOT A STANDARD by any means) to void warranty or deny warranty claims if there are modifications done.

That being said, modifications to your bike do not automatically equate to a warranty being void. BMW Ducati or any company that has issued a warranty, has the onus to show and prove that the modification that you have done, has indeed caused the problem that you complain about.

A simple modification to any product, cannot simply void your warranty without a cause/effect relationship. Use your knowledge and the law as your ultimate tool of getting what is owed to you rather than threats of media (which is what I've gotten from your first post.) To sign a contract and not even realize that you have a 90 day warranty until 2 months after signing is kind of ridiculous...

I would suggest for the future, when you buy a car or motorcycle that has a factory warranty, to not do modifications until after the warranty is expired because then you are on your own for repairs anyways.

Best of luck.

very good advice. I didnt think I had a 90 day warranty because I said no to an extended warranty, didnt know that buying from a dealer they will give you a free 90 day one. My mom was actually the one who told me LOL So yea next time I will read more in depth.

There still is an issue and I will be talking to Stewart about what you mentioned, the issue is WHY did the fuse break, do you guys have any ideas? Yesterday I rode maybe an hour total time since i picked it up and the fuse blew out again.

Stewart blamed the HIDs but it is not and I will be emailing him the schematic to show just that. Im gonna write an email to him about it, im going to get my electrical expert friend to look at it and if he cant figure it out gonna fight to get duc to fix it. I mean he replaced my fuse which means he honored the warranty already so why stop now right?

Klobbersaurus · 09-07-2012, 10:52 AM

your fan could be starting to and seize up drawing excessive amperage blowing the fuse, look at the wiring diagram and see what else is connected to the circuit and if u want to be sure, unplug the hid kit and see if the fuse blows

z3german · 09-07-2012, 11:53 AM

HID's are wired completely separate from the radiator fan, so that is an impossibility. I looked at the schematic (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/64423098/Schematic.PDF)

I replaced the new blown fuse yesterday and ran the bike for about 60 min, and the fuse didnt break, but because the new fuse broke I have cause for concern. Just emailed Stewart lets hope for the best! I mean it would be terribly inconsistent to replace a fuse under warranty, then the problem presents itself again and to not honor the warranty even when the bike is in the same condition as when they first honored the warranty. Right?

misterGinster · 09-07-2012, 12:47 PM

I'm not a bike electronics expert.

But, maybe your bike doesn't have enough headroom with the stator capacity (Hid's when they do fire up take alot of juice), maybe with HID's running, and then fan kicks in, kills the fuse?

Was it burning fuses before HID's were installed?

z3german · 09-07-2012, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by misterGinster

I'm not a bike electronics expert.

But, maybe your bike doesn't have enough headroom with the stator capacity (Hid's when they do fire up take alot of juice), maybe with HID's running, and then fan kicks in, kills the fuse?

Was it burning fuses before HID's were installed?

I had my HIDs on since aug 11 last month.

I dont think even then its the HID because it suddenly blew the fuse on sept 2-5 (stock factory fuse) then once again on sept 6 (ducati replacement fuse). If the second fuse blew a month later then it could be the HID, but with the second fuse burning so quickly i highly doubt it. Is that a reasonable assumption? Im no electrical expert either

parm104 · 09-07-2012, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by z3german

I had my HIDs on since aug 11 last month.

I dont think even then its the HID because it suddenly blew the fuse on sept 2-5 (stock factory fuse) then once again on sept 6 (ducati replacement fuse). If the second fuse blew a month later then it could be the HID, but with the second fuse burning so quickly i highly doubt it. Is that a reasonable assumption? Im no electrical expert either

No, HID's are an easy install, why don't you take them out, try this shit out n see if it still gives you problems?

How much would it cost you to replace these parts on your own?

Weigh our the cost of spending time dealing with this issue with BMW Ducati vs how much it would cost you to simply go to BaySide or *plug*Imperial Motors*end plug* to get them replaced.

rk604 · 09-09-2012, 11:37 AM

Brought my bike there once and I will never go there again.

Sales wise, their sales guy's are pretty cool, but that's their job right? How else they gonna make sales if they're a douche.

Service wise, its fucking garbage...I had a ICBC claim for my bike earlier this season and thought "Hey, why don't I just go to Vancouver Ducati, I wasn't the one paying the bills in the end anyways"(Labour is more expensive than other smaller shops). I understand that parts for Ducati take 2-3weeks, but every time i try to get a hold of them, I get no one picking up the phone calls. When they finally picked up, they say the person I was dealing with was busy, and that they will call me back shortly. I am not exaggerating, but it literally took me THREE consecutive days of calling them before I could get a hold of them. That's fucking garbage...yet when I brought my paperwork to do the claim, I was able to get helped right away. Their communication is awful...I will never go back there ever again.

If you need to purchase, sure why not, but service, I'd bring it to Imperial...Alfie is a G. Hands down!~

bcrdukes · 09-09-2012, 10:43 PM

^
If I could touch on that...

Personally (I really emphasize this that it's my personal opinion too) If I'm going to spend money on an item somewhere, be it clothes, electronics, cars, motorcycles, a slab of butter or a stalk of celery, I want to be assured that I can go back to have the store's full support if and when something goes wrong.

In the case of your experience, I'd hate to do any kind of business with Vancouver BMW Ducati. Where the hell is John Valk when you need the guy? He didn't become a well-known dealer by being a douchebag.

And shops wonder why people buy from the US or online.

razy · 09-11-2012, 12:40 AM

everything you said in this happened to me
my bike sat there a total of a good 5 months over 2 incidents when i should've gotten it back a LOT sooner

imperial ftw

Quote:

Originally Posted by rk604

Brought my bike there once and I will never go there again.

Sales wise, their sales guy's are pretty cool, but that's their job right? How else they gonna make sales if they're a douche.

Service wise, its fucking garbage...I had a ICBC claim for my bike earlier this season and thought "Hey, why don't I just go to Vancouver Ducati, I wasn't the one paying the bills in the end anyways"(Labour is more expensive than other smaller shops). I understand that parts for Ducati take 2-3weeks, but every time i try to get a hold of them, I get no one picking up the phone calls. When they finally picked up, they say the person I was dealing with was busy, and that they will call me back shortly. I am not exaggerating, but it literally took me THREE consecutive days of calling them before I could get a hold of them. That's fucking garbage...yet when I brought my paperwork to do the claim, I was able to get helped right away. Their communication is awful...I will never go back there ever again.

If you need to purchase, sure why not, but service, I'd bring it to Imperial...Alfie is a G. Hands down!~

6793026 · 09-11-2012, 07:33 AM

I don't really understand why this is a huge issue. I am sure if you did this to your car, that you got a new muffler + nice head lights and maybe say new tires, it is NOT a surprise if your car dealership says no because you have made modifications + you got into an accident.

It is what it is and you're talking to the guy in sales. His job is to sell you the bike not service it, (which is why mostly he rejected you). If you bought the bike in, he would have to get yelled at by his manager / service department for accepting a bike with mods and having to do a service on it.

If they did take your bike back and it turns out to be the head light, what should they do? The tech doesn't have proper parts if they fuck up on your parts while diagnosing your bike = won't touch your bike if it's under warranty unless it's a stock bike.

The fact you got into an accident + frame sliders, I would totally NOT touch your bike at all cause if they remove the fairings and IF everything falls out, you have every right to say. "WTF did you do, when i gave you the bike, it was fine and after you touched it, it won't start anymore" That alone itself is a huge no no from the service department.

To be honest, i'm sure the ocntact somewhere says they would only give warranty on a stock bike if you read it carefully.
let us know how it turns out.

fT-z33wor · 09-11-2012, 07:54 AM

The guy OP has been dealing with from the beginning was in fact the sales manager at Vancouver Ducati. His bike was previously backed up into by accident while parked in the stall. The person who did it tried to hit and run him, so it was due to someone else's negligence and completely unrelated to anything mechanical.

OP did not replace the actual headlight unit

the only thing that was changed was an hid bulb.

that being said, having been in the industry for a short while, pre-work bike inspections are commonly done to ensure the customer and shop are on the same page before touching their bike.

Vale46Rossi · 09-11-2012, 12:06 PM

^

Exactly, also Stewart is known to sell you a bike only and after that he doesn't give a SHIT about you.

604STIG · 09-11-2012, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

Where the hell is John Valk when you need the guy? He didn't become a well-known dealer by being a douchebag.

And shops wonder why people buy from the US or online.

John Valk stepped aside a while back (not sure if he's still a minor partner or if he completely got out of the game), that's when the name of the dealership changed from "John Valk Ducati" to "Vancouver Ducati"