Baton Rouge Harley Davidson, just want to let everyone know BEWARE when buying from this Harley dealership. I was on a road trip pull in to Baton Rouge Harley Davidson notice a 2017 CVO limited on sale. My 2011 Ultra limited had over 100K. Joking around with the salesman about trading my bike. So, started the process of getting details on the new CVO. At this point I was working with the Finance guy. The Finance guy was going over the warranty’s that are available. I had told him that the only warranty I was interested in was Extended service plan. But he kept on pushing the Appearance protection and Tire & Wheel. I had told him 3-times NO. He came back in the room told me they were going to give me Appearance protection and Tire & Wheel for FREE if I would give them a good recommendation. I said sure for FREE I would do that. But again, BEWARE nothing is for FREE. After signing all the papers that evening I notice a charge for Appearance protection and Tire & Wheel. When back to Baton Rouge Harley Davidson talked to Finance guy, he told me that he had to split the amount of the Extended service plan on the paperwork. So, I ask what is the cost for 84 months Extended service plan, He said about $3500 which seem high to me. Come to find out I could have gotten the Extended service plan for $2400, that price was after buying the bike. Normally if you buy the Extended service plan at the time of purchase the amount is less. After reviewing the sales paperwork, I was charged total of $4300 for all three warranty’s. So, if you see a sale price on new motorcycle BEWARE they will pull the USED CAR sales tackiest by charging more for the warranty.
Shame on me for believing in a Harley dealership that I was getting a fair deal.

 

The term buyer beware comes to mind. You took them at their word and signed without going over the contract line for line? My guess is you probably showed over excitement and they made you feel like you were their friend. It's an expensive lesson, but you'll know for next time. Also, you can most likely cancel the warranties (though they'll still be on the loan, you'll get a check as a refund) and buy the ESP elsewhere

 

Go to the state attorney general's Consumer Fraud or Automotive Fraud division, and file a formal complaint. You won't necessarily get a refund, but the paperwork will go to the dealer.

Get a copy of the filed fraud report, and forward it to the Motor Company.

Seriously. Again, you won't necessarily get your money back, but you'll be letting the dealer know that they are being outed, and you will be doing a favor to all riders that might go there.

 

Hi All,
Not sure who is to blame here took my 2013 in to Privateers in Halifax Nova Scotia June 20th of this year for service and a front shock weeping, it had been fixed in the past and is still under warranty, they were kind enough to order me a new tube as they figure there is an issue, In Nova Scotia our riding season is short on a good season 4 months, my bike has been there now for 6 weeks waiting for parts, the sad thing is no one is giving me any solid answers including Harley, I took it in 2 weeks before my vacation and my wife was going to buy her first Harley (2017 Forty-Eight) financing was approved, we backed out as they told me it would be at least 3 weeks before I would get my bike back. I really can't tell you all how disgusted I am, and the fact that my wife has turned to another type of bike. I'm to the point now that I'll spend 800.00 +/- for the whole shock assembly just to get my bike back as I have already tried to source it out, so I'M CALLING OUT TO ALL DEALERS!!!

 

Illinois Harley Davidson, Countryside IL - Service Department (Keith & RB)

OK ... I am a service writer (at an automotive dealer), so I went into this thinking "I don't want to be THAT customer", understanding everything about how things work on the other side of the service desk, and even willing to look past a lot of things to end up say this was a good experience. ... but they worked very, very hard to make sure it was not.

I usually do all my own wrenching on my bike, but for a variety of factors, that wasn't feasible.

I had an issue where the oil filter gasket blew out. Figured it was a bad gasket or some related issue, so I did an oil change and installed a new filter. I made sure everything was clean and everything went together exactly right. Fired it up, looked good. Rode a little, still OK. Rode some more, still OK. Did 300 miles, still OK. A few days later, fired it up, it idled for a couple of minutes, then it blew the oil filter gasket out the same way, in the same spot as before.

Went and talked to Keith (service writer) and explained everything. We discussed getting the bike towed over there and the diag. Everything was good.

The following week, I called and set up the tow. I explained everything that happened again and what the problem was.

Tow showed up on the scheduled day and time, everything went smooth. I stopped off at the dealer, talked to Keith (the same service writer) and explained everything again (this would be the third time). I told him I also wanted them to put new tires on, front & rear. He wrote up the repair order and I left.

In my head I was thinking "If I feel they do a good job on the diag, I'll let them fix it. If it seems they're not sure on the diag, I'm just going to replace the motor" ... It's my bike, my life, right? Don't want to take chances.

Keith calls me a couple of days later to tell me they have determined I need new tires. I told him I knew that and had already asked him to take care of that, and asked about the diag. They hadn't done any diag yet, they just noted my tires were really worn and I really needed new ones. He said he'd send me a quote for the tires.

Maybe a week or so later, Keith calls to tell me they have the estimate for my repairs. They have determined that I have several gaskets that are seeping or leaking and need to be replace (rocker box gaskets, timing cover gasket, trans gasket...). He said replacing all the gaskets would be around $2,300, plus $500 for the tires. I told him I was aware of all of the above, and also the gaskets at the bottom of the jugs were seeping a bit. I asked about the diag regarding the oil filter gasket. He said "Oh yeah, we'll do an oil change too and that will take care of that"

I asked him if they determined WHY the oil filter gasket was blowing out. He said it was probably just old or a bad gasket (obviously ignoring the entire problem I had explained to him in detail THREE times). I explained the problem again, the REASON why the bike was even there at all. He said I had never told him that before and they would need to do further diag to figure that out.

At this point, I have ZERO confidence they could do a proper diag (which to me would involve tearing at least some of the motor down). I was thinking it might be the oil pressure relief valve, or the cam chain tensioners were chewed up and material had plugged up some of the oil passages ...

Being that we were already at $2,300 without even getting to the actual problem, I figured we're going to be close to the cost of a new motor anyway. So I told him to skip the diag and just put a new motor in it.

To be fair to the dealer, and in the interest of full disclosure, I did not have the money to pay for all this (and told the dealer that up front). I needed an estimate so I would know what I needed to come up with. The dealer was really cool and said I could pay they whenever I had some money and they would just hold the bike until I got it paid (with no storage fees). More than fair enough.

I get an estimate for around $5,000, and they tell me I need to come up with half ($2,500) before they will order the motor. It took me a few weeks, but I ended up paying them the entire amount in early June.

At the time I paid, Keith (the service writer) was no longer working there and RB (maybe the service manager) took over my RO. When RB took my payment, he told me it would take 2-3 weeks to get the motor from Harley. Based on that, and knowing the book time Harley give a tech to install a motor, I decided the whole thing should be done in 4-5 weeks (being generous and adding on a bit of time). I planned on getting the bike back around July 15th. I asked RB to call me when the motor got there.

2 weeks passed. 3 weeks passed. No phone call. I called. RB told me there was a delay, they had to send the lower case half from my old motor (with the VIN) to Harley, and it would be probably another week.

Another week passed. I called. No motor. I stopped in late one evening, asked parts if my motor came in. He asked my name. I told him and told him my bike was in service. Without looking it up, he responds "Oh yeah! The motor that's sitting in the back? It's been here."

I talk to RB the next day, without telling him I know the motor is there. He tells me it came in "yesterday" and the tech is going to start working on my bike. (This is on Tuesday).

I decide it should be done by the end of the week, maybe. I had one of my techs take a motor out of a car and put it back in THREE times in one day. They should be able to put a motor in a bike (the old one is already out) in 3 or 4 days, right?

Friday morning I stop in. RB tells me the bike will be done later that day, and he'll call me to come pick it up. No call. I stop in a few minutes before closing. RB tells me they got busy with some Sturgis bikes (people getting ready to head to Sturgis) and mine will be done tomorrow (Saturday). I tell him I'll stop by around 5 pm to pick it up and ask him to call me if anything changes.

No call, so, I go there around 5 to pick up my bike. He tells me it isn't done yet because they were busy with Sturgis bikes again. He takes me back to show my the bike mostly completed. They only need to put the primary on, button things up, do the tires and it's done. He tells me it will be done Monday. I ask him to call me then.

Monday, no call. I call him. They didn't work on it again.

Tuesday, no call. I call him. He tells me a part from my old motor isn't right in the new motor and they have to get one from another dealer. They will have it Wednesday morning and it will all be done by Wednesday evening. I ask him to call me when it's done.

No call Wednesday. I didn't bother calling him.

No call Thursday. I didn't bother calling him.

Friday morning I stop in. He says the bike is all done, the tech took it for a test ride. They just need to do the new tires and it's done. I can pick it up in the evening. He'll call me when it's done.

You would probably be surprised to learn I didn't get a phone call. I stop in right before close. He tells me they didn't get it done because they were working on a bike for a guy heading to Sturgis.

Mount, balance and install 2 tires, couldn't get done. Seriously?

I tell him I will be back Saturday evening to pick up my bike. He promises it will be done. I ask if I will owe him anything more. He says there may be a "couple hundred dollars" for miscellaneous gaskets and stuff.

I go in Saturday around 4:30 and ... It's DONE! They're bringing it up from the back right now. Cool. Do I owe you anything? Yes ... $780.00. Ummm ... $780.00 for miscellaneous gaskets and stuff? No, that's for the tires. No. I paid for the tires on the original quote. Print out the RO for me so we can see the list. Yup, there it is $780.00 for miscellaneous gaskets and stuff.

OK ... whatever.

And after all this, maybe the bike would be cleaned up for me since it's been sitting for so long, right? Nope. Not even a half assed wash. Not even the dust rinsed off. It looks like the tech didn't even bother to run a rag over it to wipe off his greasy finger prints.

RB told me they checked everything over on the bike. Apparently that didn't include testing the battery. It wouldn't hold a charge (the bike had been sitting a long time and the battery was 4 years old). I replaced that myself.

There is a hose behind the rear cylinder. They end of it was ratty and it was leaking a bit. I replaced that.

I have my bike back. It runs great! (it should, it has a brand new motor) ... but, I don't see me ever bringing it into a dealer again for any work. Definitely not to THIS dealer.

 

Not sure why this posted twice. Deleted dupe.

 

I can do most stuff, and fortunately haven't had any big issues, but sometimes stuff happens that you can't handle due to time, tooling, or you just needed some expert advice. It really sucks how prevalent crappy dealers are. Like a lot of us, I had a slew of jap bikes before landing on my Limited, and I freaking love it. But I don't trust any of the dealers I my area, and I feel like they just can't wait to get you over a barrel. Last time I needed tires 2 HD dealers quoted me just shy of double what I paid the Indian dealer to do it. The tech was an HD owner, so I was pretty sure if something was amiss he'd see it. . They mounted the tires for free, had it done in a day, and treated me great. They are a very busy store, but still mamas to run a great service dept and parts counter.

Rant over.

 

I have a 2008 Road Glide the code is coming up that it needs an O2 sensor should I put a wideband O2 sensor in it to make it run cooler

 

High Octane HD in Billerica Mass.

Went in to buy a used bike in 2015. Told them I had a limit of $10k and wanted a big twin. The first few bikes they tried to sell me were in the $15k-$17k range. I said my limit was $10k. Then then tried to push me to a Sportster not a big twin.

When I said I only wanted a big twin they came back with a stripped Super Glide with a sell price of $12k PLUS dealer prep costs that added over a grand on top of the $12k. Again I said that my budget was $10k and not a penny more and here is where it went WAY OFF TRACK.....

The sales managers response was, and I quote, "Let me ask you something....is the reason that your budget is only $10k is that is all your wife will let you spend?"

For real that is what he said to me. Years ago I would have dropped him on the spot for talking to me like that.

As long as he has a job there I will NEVER buy a bike at High Octane HD.

 

if it makes you feel any better , I just gave it to them hard when buying my first Harley , got almost 5 grand for an 06 cbr that I roasted the f&$@ out of the clutch and tire on the way to trade in . Pretty much knocking like a loose screwdriver was riding on the pistons on the way in. And managed to talk them down under msrp because it was the end of the month . The bike in its condition was worth 500 bucks , they grossed about 8 on the deal . Jerks