Fair cop from importer or not?

[Pontiac_Tonz]

A "friend" bought a "X" brand bike with 3,000km on the clock from a private seller.

He (or she) rode it for 5 days and the gas gauge did not move off "Full". Jumped to the conclusion gauge was faulty.

Rang the importers and explained: purchased privately, but an apparent fault. Would you look at it and repair it as it is only 3,000km and a year old?

Importers advised that as it was purchased privately there is no warranty as the original warranty was not transferable.


As it was not purchased from a dealer, the consumer guarantees act does not apply either, on which point they were absolutely correct about.

The owner was basically told "too bad"!


My question is:

Should the importer have made a "Moral" decision to look at the fault and help the rider out, or is it buyer-be-aware when buying privately?

I welcome your feedback and if it is overwhelmingly against the importer, I will reveal the brand as that would only be fair.

[Tazz]

Can see both sides of this, but really if you want warranty support you buy new in my book and something like this is the risk you take with buying secondhand.

The purchase of it at a 'cheaper than new price' should be noted too as it would have been priced accordingly being a secondhand bike with NO warranty regardless of age or KM's.

Them's the breaks.

[Mike.Gayner]

Buying a used bike and expecting the importer, of all people, to fix something? LOL

[Oakie]

Caveat emptor. No obligation on the importer, moral or otherwise, to come to the party. Tough luck pretty much.

[Steve Gauge]

your friend mr x probably expects the government to pay his rent too , johnny keys fault I reckon get him to fix it lol

[nzspokes]

Caveat emptor. No obligation on the importer, moral or otherwise, to come to the party. Tough luck pretty much.

Yup, I concur.

[Laava]

So this importer, brought the bike into the country second hand? Or is the importer the brand importer that sells them new in NZ? Just to be clear.

[FJRider]

My question is:

Should the importer have made a "Moral" decision to look at the fault and help the rider out, or is it buyer-be-aware when buying privately?

I welcome your feedback and if it is overwhelmingly against the importer, I will reveal the brand as that would only be fair.

For a "Moral" decision to be expected ... you might need to prove the importer had knowledge of the issue.

And ... The importer was the owner of the bike (and as such would have such knowledge).




But ... if the importer was only an agent of the owner ... look to the original owner ...

[Virago]

The audacity of some people never ceases to amaze me.

[TLDV8]

Rang the importers and explained: purchased privately, but an apparent fault. Would you look at it and repair it as it is only 3,000km and a year old?

That might depend on the actual situation.
If the apparent fault was a recall item then the importer of the brand would be obligated even if the bike was not owned by the original purchaser.
If it is not a recall item but a fault then I doubt they would come to the party.

Suzuki were still replacing recall items on 1997 TL1000S's many years after warranty periods has expired on bikes that were not entered as having the work done prior.
There are also quite a few cases of TL1000S frames being replaced overseas when they cracked at the left hand mounting lug for the rotary damper suspension unit.

[Voltaire]

Whats a fuel guage?

Do they do one for Nortons?

[mossy1200]

Someone took the tank off and forgot to plug it back in most likely or tore the cable out taking the tank off.

Some warranties are transferable. Appliance warranty is often covered outside original ownership if proof of purchase is shown.

[JimO]

a similar thing will happen when that carsales 2 Cheap Cars starts importing new cars and undercutting the dealerships, will factory warranty still apply

[russd7]

also dose not say how old the bike is, lots of ten year old bikes out there with only 3000k on the clock, that said i never trust the fuel gauge anyway, always set the trip meter when i fuel up, (except last ride, speedo don't work with broken cable).

[Swoop]

Whats a fuel guage?

Do they do one for Nortons?

Yes. It's called a "stick"*. The amount of wet it becomes when dipped into your tank = the amount of future riding you will be doing.



* Batteries not included.