Tweet
Over on the trike forum, a discussion of warranties came up.
I believe the whole issue of Honda's warranty would be good for discussion. Mind you, I don't think anyone's mind will be changed one way or another in a major way, but I think it would be an interesting discussion.
Honda offers a fantastic warranty on our motorcycles. I don't know of any other vehicle warranty that is unlimited mileage for 3 years, and can be extended to 7 years for a very reasonable fee (there may be some, but I don't know of any).
But, such a value in warranty loses its luster if we can't find dealerships that honor the warranty. Added to the confusion is the fact that there is little consistency in the way the warranties are handled. One shop will tell you that nothing on a particular motorcycle is covered, since it was converted to a trike; while another shop will sell you a brand new motorcycle that has been triked, and include the warranty. Both shops are fully authorized dealers. Common sense would say that if triking a bike completely voided all warranties on the bike (except for what the shop would offer), then Mother Honda would be stepping in and telling the dealership to stop, or they would lose their franchise.
Some shops will tell you that even having a trailer hitch voids your warranty, while other shops will gladly install the trailer hitch for you. In my case, I had the Honda rep (not local, a rep from their home offices) try to blame a luggage rack (which many 'Wing owners have) for my broken hinges. Fortunately, I had never installed a luggage rack, but seriously, why should that void a warranty? The mere presence of a luggage rack does not mean that I'm overloading the thing, or putting undue stress on it. And the fact is that the hinge mounts can break without a luggage rack, as my bike proved. (Honda eventually agreed to cover the broken hings on warranty).
Personally, I don't think there is a single solution to the gray murky waters of Honda's warranty; and I believe that this is deliberate. Honda loses if everyone drops in to a dealerhsip looking for a warranty repair for every minor thing that goes wrong on their bike. It's definitely a short term "win" for Honda if an owner just bites the bullet and fixes a problem himself, or just writes it off as "one of those things". It turns into a long term win for them if enough people do it without complaint.
On the other hand, it's a long term loss if too many people complain that Honda (and their dealerships) won't honor warranties. So, I think Honda (and the dealers) deliberately keep it a grey area; and I don't mean this in a negative way at all - just an observation on the way things are.
Here's an example. If a large dealer sells lots of bikes for Honda, and a good chunk of those bikes are triked; they lose out if Honda makes a broad statement that any triked out bike has all warranties voided. Honda wouldn't want that dealership to lose a big chunk of their sales, but at the same time, they don't want to be stuck doing repairs on a heavily modified vehicle when the modifications may have caused major problems. So, they (and the shop) remain vague about whether or not it's covered.
Then there's the "did you buy it here". Honda's warranty is valid at any authorized dealership, which is by design. Who would be interested in buying a $20,000-$30,000 motorcycle that could only be taken to one dealer? However, it's common knowledge that some dealers don't want to work on bikes that were purchased elsewhere. Some dealers also use the "we should service it" threat to lead folks to believe that if they try to save money by doing service themselves, they risk voiding their warranty. When both of these things are talked about they're done so in a vague way because both are unenforceable. No one is going to come out and say "We won't honor your warranty because you went out of state to buy it cheaper" or "you change the oil yourself instead of paying our $110 an hour shop rate"; instead, they say things "We give VIP service to those who buy here, so yours may take longer" or "yes, you can service the bike yourself, but you must document everything you've done, and it's very simple to void your warranty by missing a service".
I think the bottom line is, you need to pick your battles, and always start off being polite. Teddy Roosevelt said "speak softly and carry a big stick", and that probably applies strongly to negotiating Honda's warranty work. It probably helps to have a good relationship with your local dealer, even if it means occasionally paying a higher price for something than you'd like.
I'd be interested in hearing some of the "personal experience" stories out there about warranty issues.
I believe the whole issue of Honda's warranty would be good for discussion. Mind you, I don't think anyone's mind will be changed one way or another in a major way, but I think it would be an interesting discussion.
Honda offers a fantastic warranty on our motorcycles. I don't know of any other vehicle warranty that is unlimited mileage for 3 years, and can be extended to 7 years for a very reasonable fee (there may be some, but I don't know of any).
But, such a value in warranty loses its luster if we can't find dealerships that honor the warranty. Added to the confusion is the fact that there is little consistency in the way the warranties are handled. One shop will tell you that nothing on a particular motorcycle is covered, since it was converted to a trike; while another shop will sell you a brand new motorcycle that has been triked, and include the warranty. Both shops are fully authorized dealers. Common sense would say that if triking a bike completely voided all warranties on the bike (except for what the shop would offer), then Mother Honda would be stepping in and telling the dealership to stop, or they would lose their franchise.
Some shops will tell you that even having a trailer hitch voids your warranty, while other shops will gladly install the trailer hitch for you. In my case, I had the Honda rep (not local, a rep from their home offices) try to blame a luggage rack (which many 'Wing owners have) for my broken hinges. Fortunately, I had never installed a luggage rack, but seriously, why should that void a warranty? The mere presence of a luggage rack does not mean that I'm overloading the thing, or putting undue stress on it. And the fact is that the hinge mounts can break without a luggage rack, as my bike proved. (Honda eventually agreed to cover the broken hings on warranty).
Personally, I don't think there is a single solution to the gray murky waters of Honda's warranty; and I believe that this is deliberate. Honda loses if everyone drops in to a dealerhsip looking for a warranty repair for every minor thing that goes wrong on their bike. It's definitely a short term "win" for Honda if an owner just bites the bullet and fixes a problem himself, or just writes it off as "one of those things". It turns into a long term win for them if enough people do it without complaint.
On the other hand, it's a long term loss if too many people complain that Honda (and their dealerships) won't honor warranties. So, I think Honda (and the dealers) deliberately keep it a grey area; and I don't mean this in a negative way at all - just an observation on the way things are.
Here's an example. If a large dealer sells lots of bikes for Honda, and a good chunk of those bikes are triked; they lose out if Honda makes a broad statement that any triked out bike has all warranties voided. Honda wouldn't want that dealership to lose a big chunk of their sales, but at the same time, they don't want to be stuck doing repairs on a heavily modified vehicle when the modifications may have caused major problems. So, they (and the shop) remain vague about whether or not it's covered.
Then there's the "did you buy it here". Honda's warranty is valid at any authorized dealership, which is by design. Who would be interested in buying a $20,000-$30,000 motorcycle that could only be taken to one dealer? However, it's common knowledge that some dealers don't want to work on bikes that were purchased elsewhere. Some dealers also use the "we should service it" threat to lead folks to believe that if they try to save money by doing service themselves, they risk voiding their warranty. When both of these things are talked about they're done so in a vague way because both are unenforceable. No one is going to come out and say "We won't honor your warranty because you went out of state to buy it cheaper" or "you change the oil yourself instead of paying our $110 an hour shop rate"; instead, they say things "We give VIP service to those who buy here, so yours may take longer" or "yes, you can service the bike yourself, but you must document everything you've done, and it's very simple to void your warranty by missing a service".
I think the bottom line is, you need to pick your battles, and always start off being polite. Teddy Roosevelt said "speak softly and carry a big stick", and that probably applies strongly to negotiating Honda's warranty work. It probably helps to have a good relationship with your local dealer, even if it means occasionally paying a higher price for something than you'd like.
I'd be interested in hearing some of the "personal experience" stories out there about warranty issues.
Comment: (For off-topic replies)