I'm having issues with a dealership, is this common?
Bike is there for repairs caused from accident. Took dealership 9 days to do estimate, dealership didn't order parts until they had check from insurance company, which is OK, but at least tell your customer because I had the check for 2 weeks and when I called to follow up on bike they told me they were waiting on check.
Bike gets put off if a warranty job comes in, which is fine if it is to get someone going that has an emergency. But if it is scheduled in it should be done by time. After all I'm a customer too, and if my bike is being put on hold to work on warranty jobs, I'm losing warranty time on my bike as it sits, so far it has been in this dealership from May06 to Aug 06. I live in Ohio so most of my riding time is gone and it is still in shop. What ticks me off is seeing how much is left to repair and knowing I could fix it in one day, but better yet taking their estimamte and adding the labor time and seeing only 3 hours left but Service Manager telling you it will be another 2 to 3 weeks.
SO PISSED OFF at DEALERSHIP that I gave the salesman that sold my bike to me the T-Shirt with their dealership back to him in front of customers telling him I would never buy another item there because of their service department. Not real happy with the contact number for Harley Davidson for dealer complaints either, all they want to do is tell you about their sales, wko the hell wants to know that, when they are calling about their loosey service?

 

Bro, I feel your pain. Really. My scoot has been in an independent shop since June 14th. Still not done with a simple upper end rebuild/head porting job. I should have just done it myself. Farmed out the machine work on the internet, and got back in the wind. But I had too many other irons in the fire and I wanted to just get it done. If I remember after that fine southern gentleman ran me over on I-75 outside of Atlanta in 2003, it took the dealer the entire summer to repair my bike. And it was just unbolting the old stuff and bolting new stuff back on. No dealer in my area does paint work, so you wait to get the correct paint from HD. This can take anywhere from a week to two months.

I've owned a HD since 1993, and numerous other bikes before that. Been riding since 1971. Not one of them ever left me stranded along the highway...Except for the Harley. And I'm really meticulous about keeping the bike serviced (I do all the oil changes, etc, myself) and I constantly keep her clean. So I know her like the back of my hand. Every nut, bolt, etc. So if something looks funny, it probably is and I fix it.

It doesn't take that long to get a car repaired. And there are a hell of a lot more of them going in for warranty work, service, and accidents. And let's face it: Even the most complex motorcycle pales in comparison to a modern automobile. I don't know what the problems with the dealers are. But I have my thoughts:

1) The product sucks. Why else would there be so many of them in for service?
2) Their service dept would rather make a fast buck doing simple oil changes and 500 (or other) mile checkups, than anything the least bit labor intensive.
3) Did I mention the product must suck? I believe HD is the equivalent of Starbucks. In my opinion, neither one has a superior product, but they get a premium for it based upon their marketing and mystic. And both seem to have a 'loyal' following of customers.
4) Everyone seems to take in too much work. Instead of just being honest with ya, they lock up your ride for the summer. It's really crappy that they would disassemble it, then set it aside. Now your stuck. What ya gonna do? Get a trailer and load up all the parts?
5) Harley corporate really, really doesn't give a damn about this issue. They should, but they don't. They think it's an individual dealer issue. Not the raging epidemic that it is.
6) Forgive me, but did I mention the product must suck? Thought I did. If you own a HD, you better keep up with all the service directives on your own. Especially during your warranty period. Your dealership's not gonna call you up, or HD corporate isn't gonna send you them on their own. Not that the automakers do either.
7) There is a lack of qualified and quality people. Hell, that's why they call them 'technicians': If they can't plug it into a computer, they can't figure out what's really wrong with it. Geez, I had one dealership tell me that they 'didn't want to work on anything older than '95'. What I think they meant was: 'There's no one here that has a clue'. Where have all the 'mechanics' gone? Oh, they went independent and opened their own shops. But when they do this they make mistake #4. They take in too much work.
8) And lastly I have to add: Oh, I already said that....

When I get mine back, I'm gonna clean it up and sell it. Enough of the HD BS. That Goldwing looks mighty fine right now. Anyone want a 1993 FLHS?

 

See # 1,2,and 3 below . . .

 

I agree with all of the above..Thast why im keeping my '92.I will never buy a new HD.When its "gone",Its gone

 

Yeah, I always figured that I'd bought my first and last Harley at the same time. Begining to sound like owning a boat. You know the two happiest days in your life: When you buy it, and when you sell it.

 

1. learn to wrench on it yourself.
layed mine down. took to the dealer and got a estimate. bought better parts and more chrome. fixxed in less time and correctly. pocketed a bit of cash as well.
2.make friends with a quality technician.
my schooling and training makes me pround to be a technician. i have worked in an auto service department for a while now and am dissapointed in hd's service.

 

Agree with #1. Hell, the original dealership service manager I bought my bike from told me to do as much as I could myself. And I have. And like most other people, there are jobs I can do and will do, then there are jobs that I could do, but would rather have someone else do. And most of us don't have a full machine shop in our garage. Like I posted, I should have just pulled it all apart myself, did some research to find a reputable machine shop...Even if I had to UPS the stuff to them across the country. Then put it back together and get on with my life. Others take note. Or sit out the riding season.

As far as #2 goes....I'm still looking for someone that fits the word: Quality. Whether it's bike shops, auto repair places (chevy dealership had my Blazer twice, ten days total, to fix oil leaks), contractors -jeez I don't even wanna start that rant, etc.

And again: I don't think HD corporate really cares about the dealers service departments. Only how they can continue to sell $900 worth of their Indonesian Leathers to some newbie fender bunny because the old man just laid out $30K for his new Harley.